Drama
Drama
Kevin’s Much-Loved Poems: from As You Like It
This is the fifth in a series of columns that feature a much-loved poem, and a second poem that speaks to, or resonates with, that poem. This week’s poem is “All the World’s a Stage” by William Shakespeare, written around 1600. The Poetry Foundation states, “While William Shakespeare’s reputation is based primarily on his plays,
Can Shakespeare Save Lives?
I have taught many resistant students: gang members, drug dealers, disaffected kids with no direction, shy introverts, you name it. But the one thing I could always use to level the playing field was Shakespeare. You’d think something more in line with The Outsiders or some other gang-themed novel would have done the trick, but
Does Philip K. Dick Dream of Unfaithful Adaptations?
Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, hailed by many readers as one of the most prolific and influential visionaries of the twentieth century, died in the early 1980s, but his legacy remains relevant today to an extent that he probably could never have imagined. What viewers of Dick-inspired films and series like Minority Report, Total
Tarkovsky and Stalker: In the Zone
Andrei Tarkovsky once said, “It is a mistake to talk about the artist looking for his subject. In fact, the subject grows within him like a fruit and begins to demand expression. It is like childbirth.” This means that art springs from somewhere other than the controlling elements of the conscious, rational mind. In such a
Affected
SCENE I Dell is returning from a business trip and is shown tiredly walking to her car at Reagan National airport. She fumbles for her keys, unlocks the car, throws her suitcase in the back seat, collapses into the driver’s seat, shuts her door, then silence. Snow falls lightly outside her window. She starts the
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Novels and Collected Works
Infinite Passion
“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life.” Federico Fellini
Ten Reasons to Enjoy Shakespeare’s Works
In Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare did more than just shape the structure and content of the English language—he created human nature as we understand it today. As James Shapiro explains, “Shakespeare remains so popular and his most memorable characters feel so real because through them Shakespeare invented something that hadn’t
Are You Honest?
When people think of Will Shakespeare’s Hamlet, they either think of “alas poor Yorick” and some dude with a skull, or Hamlet’s “To be or not to be.” The latter speech is incandescent in the play. But I would argue that the scenes which follow “To be or not to be” would tell you more
The Revenant as Historical Reinvention
In time, The Revenant might be best remembered for an underlying historical question. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of frontiersman Hugh Glass with great conviction, delivering an impressive physical performance that few actors would even attempt. In order to capture the perfect mood for this ambitious recounting of an American legend, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu relied
Ten Reasons to Go to a Play and Support Local Theatre
“The stage is not merely the meeting place of all the arts, but is also the return of art to life.” — Oscar Wilde, 1891 It has been said that the theatre dies every night, only to be reborn each day, for it exists whenever actors perform before an audience. Therefore, a primary characteristic of