A theme you will find in my reviews of Luminato shows is that I tend to feel like the festival is not really for me. I have fairly conventional theatre taste and fairly passive political beliefs (at least among the liberal consensus of my community) so Luminato’s artsy, brazen, avant-garde vibe is really just not […]
George Thomson’ s Practical Calligraphy is a small book full of big ideas. It introduces the history and uses of calligraphy in straightforward and inspiring ways, from ancient Mesopotamia, through medieval monks to modern wedding invitations. The examples and step-by-step instructions for projects look very accessible, and they are clear. The big problem for me […]
Cannibal Galaxy: A Love Story, currently running at The New Ohio Theatre on Christopher Street, benefits from strength of concept and cast-demographic. It relies on a relatively small cast of well-featured eccentrics, each bringing their own troubled, idiosyncratic journeys to the table. We have a group of distinct, diverse, psychologically interesting characters and relatively strong […]
Luminato 2018 promised to interrogate the issues of human-rights, justice and inclusion, and Swan Lake/Loch na hEala does not disappoint with its dark themes of loss—of innocence, of purpose, and of hope—rape, suicide, police brutality and populist politics all feature. Written, directed and choreographed by Michael Keagan-Dolan, performed by Teac Damsa dance theatre and accompanied […]
It is remarkable that the principal themes of Machinal, an expressionist 1928 play by Sophie Treadwell, should resonate so acutely with the dominant questions of the modern world. Ideas of a woman’s role in an industrial and patriarchal society, whether one can be trapped by society and whether there is any ‘way out’ are in many […]
With a sharp and witty script delivered with crisp precision, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives is highly entertaining throughout, combining comedy and drama gracefully to produce a wonderfully crafted story. A highly entertaining new play, based on Lola Shoneyin’s novel, it tells the tale of a polygamous relationship in modern day Nigeria and […]
This week on the prequel to Aquaria’s coronation episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10: Singing! Choreography! Making me watch Katya’s verse of All Stars 2’s final four challenge Read U Wrote U for the thousandth time because it is the greatest verse in Drag Race herstory and these challenges always make me think of […]
A memoir from a Mormon woman raised in Idaho by fundamentalist parents, who survived a violent childhood and sub-par homeschooling and managed to attain a PhD. Interesting logline, right? I was excited to read about this; it’s obviously a fascinating journey. But Tara Westover is not Jeanette Walls. This story is less an account of […]