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"content": "\u003cp>The specter of a snake as symbol of sorcery, temptation, and duality is ubiquitous. We’ve heard about Eve’s encounter, but less familiar to Westerners is the legend of the white snake. The legend can be traced back to ancient China where it continued in the oral tradition before being written down sometime during the Ming Dynasty. The fable of the white snake itself has been retold as folktales, anime films, operas and even, last year, as the basis for a Chinese 3D action movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its newest incarnation, \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1213/6331.asp\">\u003c/a>\u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> is a stunningly-staged play recently opened at Berkeley Rep. As the play’s adaptor and director, Mary Zimmerman’s immense talents are in full bloom in this world premiere production about a supernatural snake who transforms herself into a woman to join the mortals on Earth and seduce a trusting man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like the story’s shape-shifting snake enchantress, Zimmerman uses her beguiling magic to bridge two worlds; a world that speaks to a contemporary audience and a more mysterious and exotic land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://u.s.kqed.net/2012/11/18/Cfakepathwhitesnake.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Photo: Allesandra Mello\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Zimmerman has made a career of revamping classics, reinventing ancient myths and fables in surprising ways to remind us of their relevance. This time, Zimmerman’s take even has political undertones. This adaptation reveals that the practices of religious hypocrisy and moral outrage which are alive and well in our churches and houses of Congress, are in fact, old as antiquity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amy Kim Waschke plays the White Snake, a spirit who, in this version, deceives her husband out of love instead of evil intent. Tanya Thai McBride plays the Green Snake, the comic sidekick, who has much the same role as the crafty servant stock character in the tradition of Commedia dell’Arte.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Livingston plays Xu Xian, the naïve and trusting husband of Madame White Snake, who acknowledges that people do not believe what they see, they see what they believe. For the most part, the play’s performances are stylized and the characters are more mythic than down-to-earth. But Livingston’s performance is vaguely out of place — his affect and delivery are too casual. Jack Willis plays the villainous monk, bent on restoring the natural order, a moral command that forbids a mortal from marrying an immortal. The theme of piety in the face of love and marriage equality may resonate with audiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://u.s.kqed.net/2012/11/18/Cfakepathwhitesnake2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Photo: Allesandra Mello\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Zimmerman’s previous works, including the terrific \u003ci>Metamorphosis\u003c/i>, \u003ci>Argonautika\u003c/i> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.7x7.com/arts/revamped-arabian-nights-something-ululate-about/\">\u003ci>The Arabian Nights\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, are modernized takes on classics sprinkled with contemporary wit. \u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> doesn’t have the same visual wit as its precursors. The play is something to be admired, but not adored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is the visual design that makes \u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> an extraordinary theatrical achievement. While the production is strikingly beautiful, the play itself is less engaging. It is more a performance-as-art than a piece of dramatic material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up in the realm of the immortals, the White Snake is initially seen as a puppet. First she is a silky fabric snake whose slithery motions are maneuvered by a woman moving two attached rods. Later, a choreographed line of women hold white paper umbrellas angled to become snake scales coiled in unison. Shimmering fabric billows create skies, clouds, and waves. Unfurled ribbons of paper create a rainstorm. The set — and all the movement on the set creates a gorgeous impressionistic tableau.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://u.s.kqed.net/2012/11/18/Cfakepathwhitesnake4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Photo: Jenny Graham\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Zimmerman’s artistry here has much in common with the avant-garde theatrical wonder of Julie Taymor’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.shnsf.com/online/lionking\">\u003ci>The Lion King\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, which opened last week at the Orpheum Theater. Fifteen years after the Broadway opening of \u003ci>The Lion King\u003c/i>, the stage musical continues to inspire awe — more than can be said for the new 3D version of the movie. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amy Kim Waschke plays the White Snake, a spirit who, in this version, deceives her husband out of love instead of evil intent. Tanya Thai McBride plays the Green Snake, the comic sidekick, who has much the same role as the crafty servant stock character in the tradition of Commedia dell’Arte.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Livingston plays Xu Xian, the naïve and trusting husband of Madame White Snake, who acknowledges that people do not believe what they see, they see what they believe. For the most part, the play’s performances are stylized and the characters are more mythic than down-to-earth. But Livingston’s performance is vaguely out of place — his affect and delivery are too casual. Jack Willis plays the villainous monk, bent on restoring the natural order, a moral command that forbids a mortal from marrying an immortal. The theme of piety in the face of love and marriage equality may resonate with audiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://u.s.kqed.net/2012/11/18/Cfakepathwhitesnake2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Photo: Allesandra Mello\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Zimmerman’s previous works, including the terrific \u003ci>Metamorphosis\u003c/i>, \u003ci>Argonautika\u003c/i> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.7x7.com/arts/revamped-arabian-nights-something-ululate-about/\">\u003ci>The Arabian Nights\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, are modernized takes on classics sprinkled with contemporary wit. \u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> doesn’t have the same visual wit as its precursors. The play is something to be admired, but not adored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is the visual design that makes \u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> an extraordinary theatrical achievement. While the production is strikingly beautiful, the play itself is less engaging. It is more a performance-as-art than a piece of dramatic material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up in the realm of the immortals, the White Snake is initially seen as a puppet. First she is a silky fabric snake whose slithery motions are maneuvered by a woman moving two attached rods. Later, a choreographed line of women hold white paper umbrellas angled to become snake scales coiled in unison. Shimmering fabric billows create skies, clouds, and waves. Unfurled ribbons of paper create a rainstorm. The set — and all the movement on the set creates a gorgeous impressionistic tableau.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://u.s.kqed.net/2012/11/18/Cfakepathwhitesnake4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Photo: Jenny Graham\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Zimmerman’s artistry here has much in common with the avant-garde theatrical wonder of Julie Taymor’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.shnsf.com/online/lionking\">\u003ci>The Lion King\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, which opened last week at the Orpheum Theater. Fifteen years after the Broadway opening of \u003ci>The Lion King\u003c/i>, the stage musical continues to inspire awe — more than can be said for the new 3D version of the movie. Both Taymor and Zimmerman are visionaries who put digital realism to shame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as Taymor used the colors and fabrics of Africa to create an organic mise en scène, Zimmerman furnishes \u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> with the sights and sounds of China. This includes paper umbrellas, bamboo accents, red blossoms, a minimalist and elegant amalgam of unplugged puppets, gentle, evocative projections and lighting (Shawn Sagady and T.J. Gerckens) and glorious costumes (Mara Blumenfeld). With Daniel Ostling’s brilliant scenic design, the play is a radiant reminder of the magic of low-tech theater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The White Snake\u003c/i> runs through December 23, 2012 at Berkeley Rep Theater. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1213/6327.asp\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit berkeleyrep.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When was the last time two fingers walking across a table ledge became a landscape, a battlefield, and a warrior in pursuit? And you could feel the suspense of a man destined to die? Feel awe at the beauty of such simplicity?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Berkeley Rep’s \u003ci>An Iliad\u003c/i>, the antiquated story of the Trojan War is dusted off and the ancient tradition of the storyteller is reanimated. In this artful production, language is a demigod with the power to weave stories that transcend centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, I slammed \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/performance/article.jsp?essid=109561\">\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i>\u003c/a> because, among other things, its method of contemporizing its story lost pretty much everything in the translation. But this take on Homer’s ancient text shows that a buttoned down update can work terrifically. Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s adaptation of Homer’s epic story speaks with maturity in the language of today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The adaptation, with a translation by Robert Fagles, makes the subject relevant with an informal but poetic narrative. The script’s contemporary language and references are not gratuitous. This is \u003ci>An Iliad\u003c/i> told with urgency, with the purpose of getting its modern audience to care about what happened long ago and far away, because we share a common humanity — and because war still exists and because the spoken word can still be very effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Henry Woronicz plays a grizzled storyteller, a poet who tells these legends as if he were reporting back from the battlefield. “Every time I sing this song I hope it’s the last time,” he says as he prepares to start. The passing down is his duty and it takes a lot out of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Hauck’s set design is minimal, allowing the poet to set the stage with hundreds of ships and thousands of men. He sees the enormity of the scene and repeatedly entreats us to see it, too. Do you see? Do you see? He asks. “This is what the war looks like.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Ellingsen is the poet’s muse on a perch with an upright bass; the instrument is a character conjuring the rage of Achilles, the intensity of the battlefield and the serenity of Troy. Marvelously, the bass invokes a variety of personalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director Lisa Peterson deftly employs a few more performers: shadow and sound. Floodlights on Woronicz cast daunting shadows behind him, which become mighty warriors and gods. The sonorous echo of reverb on the mike is the voice of the gods. The poet’s voice channels theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>War is hell. It is also tedious and this monologue grows tiresome at points. Battle scenes are described in detail. Backstories are reinacted. The characters mentioned are many and their long and complicated histories are hard to follow at times. And over-told. Certainly, the story-teller is long-winded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But his rambling old-timer yarns sometimes serve a rhetorical function. The script effortlessly collapses the Trojan War with other, more familiar wars. As the poet describes the scores of soldiers on the ships, their faces and names shift; these young men are from Ohio farmlands, Springfield, Illinois, The Florida Panhandle, Brooklyn, and Berkeley. The storyteller rambles like a senile man who often loses his thread, an ancient who has lived a thousand years and knows this story has been told before and will be told again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>An Iliad\u003c/i> runs through November 18, 2012 at Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Thrust Stage, 2015 Addison Street in Berkeley, CA. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1213/6327.asp\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit berkeleyrep.org or call (510) 647-2949.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All photos courtesy kevinberne.com.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When was the last time two fingers walking across a table ledge became a landscape, a battlefield, and a warrior in pursuit? And you could feel the suspense of a man destined to die? Feel awe at the beauty of such simplicity?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Berkeley Rep’s \u003ci>An Iliad\u003c/i>, the antiquated story of the Trojan War is dusted off and the ancient tradition of the storyteller is reanimated. In this artful production, language is a demigod with the power to weave stories that transcend centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, I slammed \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/performance/article.jsp?essid=109561\">\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i>\u003c/a> because, among other things, its method of contemporizing its story lost pretty much everything in the translation. But this take on Homer’s ancient text shows that a buttoned down update can work terrifically. Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s adaptation of Homer’s epic story speaks with maturity in the language of today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The adaptation, with a translation by Robert Fagles, makes the subject relevant with an informal but poetic narrative. The script’s contemporary language and references are not gratuitous. This is \u003ci>An Iliad\u003c/i> told with urgency, with the purpose of getting its modern audience to care about what happened long ago and far away, because we share a common humanity — and because war still exists and because the spoken word can still be very effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Henry Woronicz plays a grizzled storyteller, a poet who tells these legends as if he were reporting back from the battlefield. “Every time I sing this song I hope it’s the last time,” he says as he prepares to start. The passing down is his duty and it takes a lot out of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Hauck’s set design is minimal, allowing the poet to set the stage with hundreds of ships and thousands of men. He sees the enormity of the scene and repeatedly entreats us to see it, too. Do you see? Do you see? He asks. “This is what the war looks like.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Ellingsen is the poet’s muse on a perch with an upright bass; the instrument is a character conjuring the rage of Achilles, the intensity of the battlefield and the serenity of Troy. Marvelously, the bass invokes a variety of personalities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Director Lisa Peterson deftly employs a few more performers: shadow and sound. Floodlights on Woronicz cast daunting shadows behind him, which become mighty warriors and gods. The sonorous echo of reverb on the mike is the voice of the gods. The poet’s voice channels theirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/iliad4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>War is hell. It is also tedious and this monologue grows tiresome at points. Battle scenes are described in detail. Backstories are reinacted. The characters mentioned are many and their long and complicated histories are hard to follow at times. And over-told. Certainly, the story-teller is long-winded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But his rambling old-timer yarns sometimes serve a rhetorical function. The script effortlessly collapses the Trojan War with other, more familiar wars. As the poet describes the scores of soldiers on the ships, their faces and names shift; these young men are from Ohio farmlands, Springfield, Illinois, The Florida Panhandle, Brooklyn, and Berkeley. The storyteller rambles like a senile man who often loses his thread, an ancient who has lived a thousand years and knows this story has been told before and will be told again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>An Iliad\u003c/i> runs through November 18, 2012 at Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Thrust Stage, 2015 Addison Street in Berkeley, CA. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1213/6327.asp\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit berkeleyrep.org or call (510) 647-2949.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All photos courtesy kevinberne.com.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,' the Populist President Speaks Mostly to the Teens",
"headTitle": "In ‘Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,’ the Populist President Speaks Mostly to the Teens | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i> is a hard-rock musical that tells the life story of this nation’s seventh president in modern lingo in an attempt to make the 19th century relevant to youth culture. Let’s just say, been there, done that, hella better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesus Christ totally became a rock star back in 1971 when \u003ci>Jesus Christ Superstar\u003c/i> transubstantiated God’s only son into someone the kids could really groove on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That innovation, of contemporizing a historical figure with pop music and hip vernacular is now a familiar way to make an archaic story pertinent to our times. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ’70s musical explained the rise of a magnetic populist figure by comparing his ascendancy to that of celebrities and rock stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-RCIUdvPus&w=480&h=270]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i> re-imagines Jackson as a guitar slinging, injin’ shooting bad boy with a potty mouth. The 2006 musical, written by Alex Timbers with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman \u003ca href=\"http://www.broadway.com/shows/bloody-bloody-andrew-jackson/\">opened on Broadway\u003c/a> to mixed reviews in 2009. Although it was nominated for several Tonys, it closed early in New York. Last week, San Francisco Playhouse launched its Tenth Season with the play at their wonderful new theater in the Kensington Park Hotel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Giddy and anarchic, the production is an accessible account of the birth of populism, the founding of the Democratic Party and Jackson’s obliteration of Indian tribes. The musical revels in it’s dumbed-down version of history. The play relies heavily on the drawn-out gag of anachronistic ineloquence. If that \u003ci>fourscore\u003c/i> stuff is a real snooze, won’t kids today perk up to hear the prez say that “James Monroe is a douche bag?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In these 1900’s, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.oed.com/\">OED\u003c/a> has been shelved and replaced by OMG and its ilk of thumb-talk and inarticulate youth-speak. And stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/bloodybloody1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ashkon Davaran plays Jackson as a petulant youth having one long hissy fit. He sings, “Life sucks and my life sucks in particular.” John Quincy Adams’ and Henry Clay’s back-up singers sing, “Jackson is a loser, Jackson is a loser.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The back-up singers make a cheery brigade of groupies and play other roles with solos and some clever lyrics. Angel Burgess plays Jackson’s wife, Rachel, who dies more or less from abandonment and heartbreak, when Jackson decides to run for president. Crushed and defeated, she sings a sad ballad: “I always thought I’d live in a house with a dog and some kids and some slaves.” El Beh plays a cello, waving it like it’s an electric guitar. She sings “Ten Little Indians,” counting down the number of Native Americans as they are pushed back off their land in the Trail of Tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Safiya Fredericks plays Black Fox, an Indian chief who negotiates with Jackson on the Indian Removal Act of 1830.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A little old lady narrator (Ann Hopkins on a scooter) narrates the story in historical context, positing, “Was Jackson a great president, an American hero or a genocidal murderer?” Jackson who does not want the history books to define him, keeps shooting her in the head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact blood, bloody ambushes, blood-stained clothes, gun shots and arrow wounds add to the over-the-top humor in this bad attitude version of a middle-school history play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>William Elsman, Michael Barrett Austin and Lucas Hatton play political foes and supporters and round out the onstage band, under the musical direction of Jonathan Fadner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jon Tracy directs a large cast of frontier cowboys, wild west militiamen, establishment politicians, Indians and womenfolk. The ragtag renegades stomp around with thrasher dance moves, hanging from ladders and scaffolding. Their defiant, rebellion rock looks a bit like the stage of \u003cb>American Idiot\u003c/b>, the show based on the music of Green Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the talent is more amateurish. In fact, it is surprising that a play that relies so heavily on music features some sub-par singers, some are off-key. Head-banger punk rock may often strive for dissonance and noise, but here, the actors are called upon to sing songs that are audible over the electric guitars and pounding percussion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show has been described as an \u003ci>emo rock musical\u003c/i>. Short for emotional hardcore. A subgenre, “screamo,” may be even more apt, as it accentuates the aggressiveness. Emo musicians have a certain look and the music has been associated with self-mutilation and suicide. In \u003cb>Bloody, Bloody\u003c/b> Jackson has a compulsion to cut his wrists. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davaran’s Jackson is certainly an interesting combination of aggression, self-pity and bravado. He struts the stage and asserts political promises such as “I’m gonna fill you with Popula-jizz-m.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Call me an old-fogey, but my favorites aspects of the show were the historical insights and the parallels to contemporary politics. Jackson’s fan base gushes that the president invited the public to attend his inauguration and that he turned to bow to the people. Of course, one thinks of the massive stadium concert that was Barack Obama’s crowd-pleasing inauguration. Candidate Obama speaks of our vital participation in his election (enough with the email blasts!) and tells us that we are the one’s we’ve been waiting for. Andrew Jackson brings his groupies, some with pom poms and sunglasses, into the Oval Office. “What The People want…” he proclaims, “is pizza!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i> runs through November 24, 2012 at the SF Playhouse. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfplayhouse.org/season1213/bloody_andrew_jackson.php\">tickets and information\u003c/a>, visit sfplayhouse.org or call 415-677-9596.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i> is a hard-rock musical that tells the life story of this nation’s seventh president in modern lingo in an attempt to make the 19th century relevant to youth culture. Let’s just say, been there, done that, hella better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesus Christ totally became a rock star back in 1971 when \u003ci>Jesus Christ Superstar\u003c/i> transubstantiated God’s only son into someone the kids could really groove on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That innovation, of contemporizing a historical figure with pop music and hip vernacular is now a familiar way to make an archaic story pertinent to our times. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ’70s musical explained the rise of a magnetic populist figure by comparing his ascendancy to that of celebrities and rock stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/O-RCIUdvPus'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/O-RCIUdvPus'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i> re-imagines Jackson as a guitar slinging, injin’ shooting bad boy with a potty mouth. The 2006 musical, written by Alex Timbers with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman \u003ca href=\"http://www.broadway.com/shows/bloody-bloody-andrew-jackson/\">opened on Broadway\u003c/a> to mixed reviews in 2009. Although it was nominated for several Tonys, it closed early in New York. Last week, San Francisco Playhouse launched its Tenth Season with the play at their wonderful new theater in the Kensington Park Hotel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Giddy and anarchic, the production is an accessible account of the birth of populism, the founding of the Democratic Party and Jackson’s obliteration of Indian tribes. The musical revels in it’s dumbed-down version of history. The play relies heavily on the drawn-out gag of anachronistic ineloquence. If that \u003ci>fourscore\u003c/i> stuff is a real snooze, won’t kids today perk up to hear the prez say that “James Monroe is a douche bag?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In these 1900’s, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.oed.com/\">OED\u003c/a> has been shelved and replaced by OMG and its ilk of thumb-talk and inarticulate youth-speak. And stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/bloodybloody1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ashkon Davaran plays Jackson as a petulant youth having one long hissy fit. He sings, “Life sucks and my life sucks in particular.” John Quincy Adams’ and Henry Clay’s back-up singers sing, “Jackson is a loser, Jackson is a loser.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The back-up singers make a cheery brigade of groupies and play other roles with solos and some clever lyrics. Angel Burgess plays Jackson’s wife, Rachel, who dies more or less from abandonment and heartbreak, when Jackson decides to run for president. Crushed and defeated, she sings a sad ballad: “I always thought I’d live in a house with a dog and some kids and some slaves.” El Beh plays a cello, waving it like it’s an electric guitar. She sings “Ten Little Indians,” counting down the number of Native Americans as they are pushed back off their land in the Trail of Tears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Safiya Fredericks plays Black Fox, an Indian chief who negotiates with Jackson on the Indian Removal Act of 1830.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A little old lady narrator (Ann Hopkins on a scooter) narrates the story in historical context, positing, “Was Jackson a great president, an American hero or a genocidal murderer?” Jackson who does not want the history books to define him, keeps shooting her in the head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact blood, bloody ambushes, blood-stained clothes, gun shots and arrow wounds add to the over-the-top humor in this bad attitude version of a middle-school history play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>William Elsman, Michael Barrett Austin and Lucas Hatton play political foes and supporters and round out the onstage band, under the musical direction of Jonathan Fadner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jon Tracy directs a large cast of frontier cowboys, wild west militiamen, establishment politicians, Indians and womenfolk. The ragtag renegades stomp around with thrasher dance moves, hanging from ladders and scaffolding. Their defiant, rebellion rock looks a bit like the stage of \u003cb>American Idiot\u003c/b>, the show based on the music of Green Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the talent is more amateurish. In fact, it is surprising that a play that relies so heavily on music features some sub-par singers, some are off-key. Head-banger punk rock may often strive for dissonance and noise, but here, the actors are called upon to sing songs that are audible over the electric guitars and pounding percussion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show has been described as an \u003ci>emo rock musical\u003c/i>. Short for emotional hardcore. A subgenre, “screamo,” may be even more apt, as it accentuates the aggressiveness. Emo musicians have a certain look and the music has been associated with self-mutilation and suicide. In \u003cb>Bloody, Bloody\u003c/b> Jackson has a compulsion to cut his wrists. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davaran’s Jackson is certainly an interesting combination of aggression, self-pity and bravado. He struts the stage and asserts political promises such as “I’m gonna fill you with Popula-jizz-m.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Call me an old-fogey, but my favorites aspects of the show were the historical insights and the parallels to contemporary politics. Jackson’s fan base gushes that the president invited the public to attend his inauguration and that he turned to bow to the people. Of course, one thinks of the massive stadium concert that was Barack Obama’s crowd-pleasing inauguration. Candidate Obama speaks of our vital participation in his election (enough with the email blasts!) and tells us that we are the one’s we’ve been waiting for. Andrew Jackson brings his groupies, some with pom poms and sunglasses, into the Oval Office. “What The People want…” he proclaims, “is pizza!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson\u003c/i> runs through November 24, 2012 at the SF Playhouse. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfplayhouse.org/season1213/bloody_andrew_jackson.php\">tickets and information\u003c/a>, visit sfplayhouse.org or call 415-677-9596.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In May, President Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly endorse gay marriage. Two weeks ago, a whole line-up of Democrats spoke up for marriage equality on stage at their national convention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amplified and well-lit and standing center stage at the Convention, Obama, Michelle and Biden affirmed their party’s support for gay rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Wednesday, the Broadway revival of \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/1213/normalheart/index.html\">\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>\u003c/a> opened at A.C.T. and underscored the world of difference between 2012 and 1982.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>, Larry Kramer’s agit-prop saga shouts at the outpouring of silence that met the mushrooming AIDS epidemic in 1982.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one scene, AIDS activists struggle to get government to address the AIDS epidemic. When The \u003ca href=\"http://www.gmhc.org/\">Gay Men’s Health Crisis\u003c/a> (a newly formed organization consisting of four bickering guys) finally meets with City Hall, their long-awaited meeting takes place — literally — in the basement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>The cast of \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Kevin Berne.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>There in the basement of City Hall, a closeted assistant to \u003ca href=\"http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Ed-Kochs-Outraged.html/\">Mayor Ed (closeted) Koch\u003c/a> finally agrees to quietly meet the group led by the angry, abrasive Ned Weeks (Patrick Breen as the Larry Kramer character) and Bruce Niles, “the reasonable one.” (Nick Mennell plays the hunky and hesitant closet case.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That year, there were 41 deaths from AIDS. When the play opened on Broadway last year, where it won a Tony for Best Revival, the tally of AIDS deaths was up to approximately 30 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Ned Weeks (Patrick Breen, left) and his lover Felix Turner (Matt McGrath) in \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Kevin Berne.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Larry Kramer was right. And lots of the time belligerent, obnoxious, and relentless yelling and screaming is necessary to wake us up. But does it make for stunning theater? I’m not sure about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> has been restaged by the brilliant George C. Wolfe and stars the marvelous Patrick Breen as a charismatic pain in the ass. But, theatrically speaking, it’s mostly yelling monologues and single-note outrage. Still, with AIDS itself as the play’s heart-breaking leading man, how could \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> not win three Tony Awards? It’s the “Whoops, we royally F–ed up, but here’s this” — award. A Lifetime Achievement Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Mickey Marcus (Michael Berresse, left) accompanies his friend Craig Donner (Tom Berklund) to his doctor’s appointment in \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Scott Suchman.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>As Kate Winslet said, (playing a farcical version of herself) \u003ca href=\"http://www.7x7.com/arts/nuns-nazis-and-pedophiles-and-oscar-goes/\">“you do a film about the Holocaust, guaranteed an Oscar.”\u003c/a> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes there are scenes of real good drama. When Ned pleads with his brother (Bruce Altman) to say that he is normal and Ben cannot say it. This is an emotionally specific scene, which comes with family history and complex feelings. But most of the other characters are little more than their casting call descriptions: “handsome and scared,” “Southern and sassy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Dr. Emma Brookner (Jordan Baker) is one of the first physicians to speak out about the mysterious disease plaguing New York’s gay community in \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Kevin Berne.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>I admire the strength and courage of Dr. Emma Brookner, a character based on Dr. Linda Laubenstein, one of the first doctors to treat AIDS patients. Helpless to stop these men from dying, Emma is mad as hell on wheels. She contracted polio just months before the vaccine was discovered and she is in a wheelchair. But Emma, played by Jordan Baker (in the role that Ellen Barkin won a Tony for) is simply the Righteous Disabled Doctor. She raises her voice in frustration and keeps it up there almost all of the play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is quite possible that the play works better now, as historical drama, rather than as autobiographical agitprop. (Agitprop theater is really, really hard to pull off unless you have Kurt Weill writing the songs.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Kramer was inspired to write \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> after a visit to Dachau, where he learned that Jews were being exterminated as early as 1933, back when Germans could have spoken out. Germany didn’t stop it, America ignored it. No one “Acted Up” or “Fought Back.” As the play starts, Ned Weeks points out that the first time \u003ci>The New York Times\u003c/i> reported on Hitler’s Final Solution, the article appeared on page 28. (\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Times-Holocaust-Important-Newspaper/dp/0521607825\">Much has been written\u003c/a> since about the Jewish-owned paper’s concern of public perception.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ned Weeks rages against \u003ci>The Times\u003c/i> for ignoring the mounting deaths of gay men in New York. He points out that that year, \u003ci>The New York Times\u003c/i> featured daily cover stories about the seven deaths in Chicago that resulted from Tylenol bottles that had been tampered with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weeks lobbies reporters at \u003ci>The Times\u003c/i> (many who were gay and reluctant to report on the gay disease). He confronts the Mayor’s office (gay, closeted, reluctant). And, what with Reagan in the White House, it becomes clear that this is a perfect storm of political asphyxiation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This revival of \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> arrives some thirty years after the action occurs. We watch Ned Weeks denounce the silence = death Holocaust coverage just thirty years before him. The symmetry is poetic. But as \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/site/DocServer/normalheart_wop_pleaseknow.pdf\">Larry Kramer tells us\u003c/a> in a letter tucked into the program, it’s not like we’ve learned from the past. And it’s not over yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> runs through October 7, 2012 at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/1213/normalheart/index.html\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit act-sf.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In May, President Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly endorse gay marriage. Two weeks ago, a whole line-up of Democrats spoke up for marriage equality on stage at their national convention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amplified and well-lit and standing center stage at the Convention, Obama, Michelle and Biden affirmed their party’s support for gay rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Wednesday, the Broadway revival of \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/1213/normalheart/index.html\">\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>\u003c/a> opened at A.C.T. and underscored the world of difference between 2012 and 1982.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>, Larry Kramer’s agit-prop saga shouts at the outpouring of silence that met the mushrooming AIDS epidemic in 1982.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one scene, AIDS activists struggle to get government to address the AIDS epidemic. When The \u003ca href=\"http://www.gmhc.org/\">Gay Men’s Health Crisis\u003c/a> (a newly formed organization consisting of four bickering guys) finally meets with City Hall, their long-awaited meeting takes place — literally — in the basement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>The cast of \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Kevin Berne.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>There in the basement of City Hall, a closeted assistant to \u003ca href=\"http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Ed-Kochs-Outraged.html/\">Mayor Ed (closeted) Koch\u003c/a> finally agrees to quietly meet the group led by the angry, abrasive Ned Weeks (Patrick Breen as the Larry Kramer character) and Bruce Niles, “the reasonable one.” (Nick Mennell plays the hunky and hesitant closet case.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That year, there were 41 deaths from AIDS. When the play opened on Broadway last year, where it won a Tony for Best Revival, the tally of AIDS deaths was up to approximately 30 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Ned Weeks (Patrick Breen, left) and his lover Felix Turner (Matt McGrath) in \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Kevin Berne.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Larry Kramer was right. And lots of the time belligerent, obnoxious, and relentless yelling and screaming is necessary to wake us up. But does it make for stunning theater? I’m not sure about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> has been restaged by the brilliant George C. Wolfe and stars the marvelous Patrick Breen as a charismatic pain in the ass. But, theatrically speaking, it’s mostly yelling monologues and single-note outrage. Still, with AIDS itself as the play’s heart-breaking leading man, how could \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> not win three Tony Awards? It’s the “Whoops, we royally F–ed up, but here’s this” — award. A Lifetime Achievement Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Mickey Marcus (Michael Berresse, left) accompanies his friend Craig Donner (Tom Berklund) to his doctor’s appointment in \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Scott Suchman.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>As Kate Winslet said, (playing a farcical version of herself) \u003ca href=\"http://www.7x7.com/arts/nuns-nazis-and-pedophiles-and-oscar-goes/\">“you do a film about the Holocaust, guaranteed an Oscar.”\u003c/a> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes there are scenes of real good drama. When Ned pleads with his brother (Bruce Altman) to say that he is normal and Ben cannot say it. This is an emotionally specific scene, which comes with family history and complex feelings. But most of the other characters are little more than their casting call descriptions: “handsome and scared,” “Southern and sassy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/normalheart4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Dr. Emma Brookner (Jordan Baker) is one of the first physicians to speak out about the mysterious disease plaguing New York’s gay community in \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i>; Photo by Kevin Berne.\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>I admire the strength and courage of Dr. Emma Brookner, a character based on Dr. Linda Laubenstein, one of the first doctors to treat AIDS patients. Helpless to stop these men from dying, Emma is mad as hell on wheels. She contracted polio just months before the vaccine was discovered and she is in a wheelchair. But Emma, played by Jordan Baker (in the role that Ellen Barkin won a Tony for) is simply the Righteous Disabled Doctor. She raises her voice in frustration and keeps it up there almost all of the play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is quite possible that the play works better now, as historical drama, rather than as autobiographical agitprop. (Agitprop theater is really, really hard to pull off unless you have Kurt Weill writing the songs.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry Kramer was inspired to write \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> after a visit to Dachau, where he learned that Jews were being exterminated as early as 1933, back when Germans could have spoken out. Germany didn’t stop it, America ignored it. No one “Acted Up” or “Fought Back.” As the play starts, Ned Weeks points out that the first time \u003ci>The New York Times\u003c/i> reported on Hitler’s Final Solution, the article appeared on page 28. (\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Times-Holocaust-Important-Newspaper/dp/0521607825\">Much has been written\u003c/a> since about the Jewish-owned paper’s concern of public perception.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ned Weeks rages against \u003ci>The Times\u003c/i> for ignoring the mounting deaths of gay men in New York. He points out that that year, \u003ci>The New York Times\u003c/i> featured daily cover stories about the seven deaths in Chicago that resulted from Tylenol bottles that had been tampered with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weeks lobbies reporters at \u003ci>The Times\u003c/i> (many who were gay and reluctant to report on the gay disease). He confronts the Mayor’s office (gay, closeted, reluctant). And, what with Reagan in the White House, it becomes clear that this is a perfect storm of political asphyxiation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This revival of \u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> arrives some thirty years after the action occurs. We watch Ned Weeks denounce the silence = death Holocaust coverage just thirty years before him. The symmetry is poetic. But as \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/site/DocServer/normalheart_wop_pleaseknow.pdf\">Larry Kramer tells us\u003c/a> in a letter tucked into the program, it’s not like we’ve learned from the past. And it’s not over yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Normal Heart\u003c/i> runs through October 7, 2012 at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/1213/normalheart/index.html\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit act-sf.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Wrong Words Make Us Laugh at Superpowers in David Henry Hwang's 'Chinglish'",
"headTitle": "Wrong Words Make Us Laugh at Superpowers in David Henry Hwang’s ‘Chinglish’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Chinese signs with unintentionally comical English translations — crack me up no end. “Slip carefully.” “You can enjoy the fresh air after finishing civilized urinating.” These mangled translations are known as \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/03/world/asia/20100503_CHINGLISH.html/\">Chinglish\u003c/a> (or Engrish), egregiously mistranslated Chinese with accidentally hilarious consequences. The documenting of such “found humor” is a pastime that has resulted in numerous blogs and \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Chinglish-Translation-Oliver-Lutz-Radtke/dp/1423603354/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346444610&sr=8-2&keywords=chinglish/\">books\u003c/a> — and now a play at Berkeley Rep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Chinglish\u003c/i>, written by David Henry Hwang, is really about communication and social protocol between Americans and Chinese. As an American Midwesterner learns the fine art guanxi and Chinese business etiquette, this slight comedy touches upon the theme of the shifting balance of power and the China/America top/bottom relationship. These are themes that were addressed ever so brilliantly and beautifully in \u003ci>M. Butterfly\u003c/i>, Hwang’s 1988 play about the love affair between an American diplomat and a Chinese opera diva, who is in fact a man masquerading as a woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Alex Moggridge plays a fresh-faced American business man, representing the Ohio Signage Company who is angling for a big contract in a small Chinese city. Well aware of the pitfalls of Chinglish, he promises to save the town from \u003ca href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8219427.stm/\">embarrassment\u003c/a> by getting the translations right. We learn that in Chairman Mao’s efforts to simplify the tens of thousands of ancient Chinese characters, many characters have more than one meaning, often leading to speech that gets lost in translation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as we all know from Shakespeare and sit-coms, misunderstanding is the stuff on which comedy is made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Larry Lei Zhang and Michelle Krusiec\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Chinglish\u003c/i>, directed by Leigh Silverman, is performed in both English and Mandarin, with projected subtitles. In the play, diplomacy is often undermined by inept translators who provide lousy and often unintentionally honest translations. With language conversions that distort and/or cut to the chase, the transmuted sentiments remind me (somewhat) of Stephen Colbert’s segment called “the Word,” in which the written word mischievously defies the spoken word.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Austin Ku, Celeste Den and Vivian Chiu\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>In a town where bureaucrats think Enron felons are Bonnie and Clyde-type heroes, the Minister of Culture is eager to become a high roller (“you roll the big crap” is the translated compliment.) Larry Lei Zhang plays the affable and seemingly honorable minister. Michelle Krusiec is terrific as his assistant minister, a hard-boiled broad with an agenda of her own. Krusiec’s performance skillfully bridges the play’s tricky balance between noir and romantic comedy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quick scene changes accompanied by booming club music seek to emulate the high stakes energy of the heist or sting operation genre. And indeed, there are allegiances, betrayals and some wheeling and dealing. But this is no Mamet drama, nor is it a full throttle comedy, nor a particularly thought-provoking cultural ponderation, although it dabbles in each genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Reviewers have called the play sexy because a knock-out actress (Michelle Krusiec) plays the secretive tough-cookie with a passionate side, and who isn’t turned on by that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even passion is played for light laughs as pillow talk also has chinglistic misfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Longer than an episode of \u003ca href=\"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/ThreesCompany?from=MainThreesCompany\">\u003ci>Three’s Company\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, David Henry Hwang’s play is entertaining for a while. But websites like \u003ca href=\"http://www.engrish.com/\">Engrish.com\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://chairmanlol.com/\">Chairman LOL\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.signspotting.com/\">Sign Spotting\u003c/a> (with their snarky remarks) will do the job too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Chinglish\u003c/i> runs through October 7, 2012 at The Roda Theatre in Berkeley, CA. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1112/5420.asp/\">tickets and information\u003c/a>, visit berkeleyrep.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Chinese signs with unintentionally comical English translations — crack me up no end. “Slip carefully.” “You can enjoy the fresh air after finishing civilized urinating.” These mangled translations are known as \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/03/world/asia/20100503_CHINGLISH.html/\">Chinglish\u003c/a> (or Engrish), egregiously mistranslated Chinese with accidentally hilarious consequences. The documenting of such “found humor” is a pastime that has resulted in numerous blogs and \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Chinglish-Translation-Oliver-Lutz-Radtke/dp/1423603354/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346444610&sr=8-2&keywords=chinglish/\">books\u003c/a> — and now a play at Berkeley Rep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Chinglish\u003c/i>, written by David Henry Hwang, is really about communication and social protocol between Americans and Chinese. As an American Midwesterner learns the fine art guanxi and Chinese business etiquette, this slight comedy touches upon the theme of the shifting balance of power and the China/America top/bottom relationship. These are themes that were addressed ever so brilliantly and beautifully in \u003ci>M. Butterfly\u003c/i>, Hwang’s 1988 play about the love affair between an American diplomat and a Chinese opera diva, who is in fact a man masquerading as a woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Alex Moggridge plays a fresh-faced American business man, representing the Ohio Signage Company who is angling for a big contract in a small Chinese city. Well aware of the pitfalls of Chinglish, he promises to save the town from \u003ca href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8219427.stm/\">embarrassment\u003c/a> by getting the translations right. We learn that in Chairman Mao’s efforts to simplify the tens of thousands of ancient Chinese characters, many characters have more than one meaning, often leading to speech that gets lost in translation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as we all know from Shakespeare and sit-coms, misunderstanding is the stuff on which comedy is made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish4.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Larry Lei Zhang and Michelle Krusiec\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Chinglish\u003c/i>, directed by Leigh Silverman, is performed in both English and Mandarin, with projected subtitles. In the play, diplomacy is often undermined by inept translators who provide lousy and often unintentionally honest translations. With language conversions that distort and/or cut to the chase, the transmuted sentiments remind me (somewhat) of Stephen Colbert’s segment called “the Word,” in which the written word mischievously defies the spoken word.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Austin Ku, Celeste Den and Vivian Chiu\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>In a town where bureaucrats think Enron felons are Bonnie and Clyde-type heroes, the Minister of Culture is eager to become a high roller (“you roll the big crap” is the translated compliment.) Larry Lei Zhang plays the affable and seemingly honorable minister. Michelle Krusiec is terrific as his assistant minister, a hard-boiled broad with an agenda of her own. Krusiec’s performance skillfully bridges the play’s tricky balance between noir and romantic comedy. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quick scene changes accompanied by booming club music seek to emulate the high stakes energy of the heist or sting operation genre. And indeed, there are allegiances, betrayals and some wheeling and dealing. But this is no Mamet drama, nor is it a full throttle comedy, nor a particularly thought-provoking cultural ponderation, although it dabbles in each genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/chinglish2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Reviewers have called the play sexy because a knock-out actress (Michelle Krusiec) plays the secretive tough-cookie with a passionate side, and who isn’t turned on by that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even passion is played for light laughs as pillow talk also has chinglistic misfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Longer than an episode of \u003ca href=\"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/ThreesCompany?from=MainThreesCompany\">\u003ci>Three’s Company\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, David Henry Hwang’s play is entertaining for a while. But websites like \u003ca href=\"http://www.engrish.com/\">Engrish.com\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://chairmanlol.com/\">Chairman LOL\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.signspotting.com/\">Sign Spotting\u003c/a> (with their snarky remarks) will do the job too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Chinglish\u003c/i> runs through October 7, 2012 at The Roda Theatre in Berkeley, CA. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1112/5420.asp/\">tickets and information\u003c/a>, visit berkeleyrep.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Bay Area Playwrights Festival: What, Who and Why Bother",
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"content": "\u003cp>Did you hear the one (so the joke goes) about the Polish actress? She slept with the writer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now this is a joke about screenwriters and Hollywood. Not playwrights and San Francisco. But it pretty much holds true everywhere that writers don’t have a lot of control of the final product. But at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, a Polish actress could do a lot worse than schtuping the writer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=263\">The 35th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival\u003c/a>, which runs July 20-29, 2012 at the Thick House in San Francisco, is a theater festival with the emphasis on the writing. “The playwright is in the leadership position during our festival,” explains Playwrights Foundation’s Artistic Director, Amy Mueller. “This festival is about the playwright’s process, which, counter-intuitively, often gets side-lined in the process of a full production.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The festival’s productions are “plays in the making,” staged readings that are the end result of much rewriting, research and discussion. “The playwrights voice is important to us,” says Mueller. “While the festival presents staged readings, they feel very performative, because they feature amazing actors and are the result of much rehearsal.” Mueller notes that this year, the selections all have an unintended unity of theme. “They question the ways in which advanced technologies are changing ‘the very humanness of modern man.'” she says, quoting Vaclav Havel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s why each of these plays is so very worth your time:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=271\">\u003ci>Tea Party\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Gordon Dahlquist\u003cbr>\u003cb> What’s the quote unquote “plot”?\u003c/b> \u003ci>Tea Party\u003c/i> is a scary journey into a world that could very well come to pass if an extremist fringe political system comes into power.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b> It creates this world with a barest minimum of exposition — and it turns time on it’s head so that you have to figure out what is happening by unpacking it backwards.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b> Dahlquist’s first novel, \u003ci>The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters\u003c/i>, was a \u003ci>NY Times\u003c/i> bestseller and has been published in 30 countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=272Brahman/i\">\u003ci>Brahman/i: A One Hijra Stand Up Comedy Show\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Aditi Brennan Kapil\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b> The play explores the journey of a young intersexual person (a Hijra), someone born both male and female, coming of age along with the colonial history of India.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b> Staged as a stand-up routine, the play concerns gender identity, the history of colonialism in Southeast India, and modern medicine. It’s intelligent, fun, fascinating and it is fall down funny, truly comic.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright, anyway? \u003c/b>Aditi Brennan Kapil is a playwright, actress, and director, of Bulgarian and Indian descent, raised in Sweden. Her most recent play, \u003ci>Agnes Under The Big Top\u003c/i>, a tall tale, was selected as a 2009 Distinguished New Play Development Project by the NEA New Play Development Program hosted by Arena Stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=268\"> \u003ci>Grounded\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by George Brant\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b>A one person play about a female fighter pilot who is ‘grounded’ after having a baby — and returns to the air force reassigned to control a drone in Afghanistan from a computer screen near Las Vegas.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother?\u003c/b> “Because of the badassery of the character,” says Mueller.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b>George Brant has been awarded the Kennedy Center’s David Cohen National Playwriting Award, the Smith Prize, the Keene Prize for Literature, an OAC Individual Excellence Award for 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=269/\">\u003ci>Ideation\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Aaron Loeb\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b>Without knowing who they will be working for, American management consultants compete for a contract to solve a thorny high-security problem. The contract is extremely lucrative but the project will no doubt annihilate their morals, their relationships and maybe also their lives.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b>To get a scary peek into the ruthless, and morally questionable day-to-day boardroom of corporate America.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b>Aaron Loeb’s \u003ci>Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party\u003c/i> had its Off-Broadway debut in 2010 and received the Outstanding Play recognition from the New York International Fringe Festival and was a GLAAD Media Award Nominee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=270\">\u003ci>Samsara\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Lauren Yee\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b> In one last attempt at procreation, an American couple go to India to find a way to create a baby of heir own. Don’t ask me how because I haven’t seen the play yet but — their tiny zygote will somehow escape and grow up. Flash forward 25 years.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b>So you can tell me what happens. The play promises to be a hilarious yet unsettling look at reproduction in the 21st century.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b>Lauren Yee was born and raised in San Francisco, her play \u003ci>Ching Chong Chinaman\u003c/i> was a finalist for the Princess Grace Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=267/%22\">\u003ci>The Hundred Flowers Project\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Christopher Chen\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b>So this is more of a “meta-theatrical journey” than a plot-based narrative. \u003ci>The Project\u003c/i>‘s play-within-a-play structure mirrors Mao Tse Tung’s impact on modern-day China and his regime’s profound effect on political and social engineering on the world stage.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b>Because Christopher Chen believes he can dismantle your smug presumption that “meta” is so over. He has heard the grousers grouse that “this play-within-a-play thing’s been done ad nauseam,” and yet he is brave enough to go there.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway?\u003c/b> Chris Chen’s \u003ci>The Hundred Flowers Project\u003c/i> is a co-production with Crowded Fire Theater, and will be further developed and produced fully in the fall. He is a resident playwright at the Playwrights Foundation. He has received a Ford Foundation Emerging Writer of Color Grant and finalist status for the Jerome Fellowship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Polish actresses, on your marks…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Playwrights Festival runs July 20-29, 2012 at Thick House in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=263\">more information\u003c/a> visit playwrightsfoundation.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Did you hear the one (so the joke goes) about the Polish actress? She slept with the writer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now this is a joke about screenwriters and Hollywood. Not playwrights and San Francisco. But it pretty much holds true everywhere that writers don’t have a lot of control of the final product. But at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, a Polish actress could do a lot worse than schtuping the writer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=263\">The 35th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival\u003c/a>, which runs July 20-29, 2012 at the Thick House in San Francisco, is a theater festival with the emphasis on the writing. “The playwright is in the leadership position during our festival,” explains Playwrights Foundation’s Artistic Director, Amy Mueller. “This festival is about the playwright’s process, which, counter-intuitively, often gets side-lined in the process of a full production.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The festival’s productions are “plays in the making,” staged readings that are the end result of much rewriting, research and discussion. “The playwrights voice is important to us,” says Mueller. “While the festival presents staged readings, they feel very performative, because they feature amazing actors and are the result of much rehearsal.” Mueller notes that this year, the selections all have an unintended unity of theme. “They question the ways in which advanced technologies are changing ‘the very humanness of modern man.'” she says, quoting Vaclav Havel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s why each of these plays is so very worth your time:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=271\">\u003ci>Tea Party\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Gordon Dahlquist\u003cbr>\u003cb> What’s the quote unquote “plot”?\u003c/b> \u003ci>Tea Party\u003c/i> is a scary journey into a world that could very well come to pass if an extremist fringe political system comes into power.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b> It creates this world with a barest minimum of exposition — and it turns time on it’s head so that you have to figure out what is happening by unpacking it backwards.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b> Dahlquist’s first novel, \u003ci>The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters\u003c/i>, was a \u003ci>NY Times\u003c/i> bestseller and has been published in 30 countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=272Brahman/i\">\u003ci>Brahman/i: A One Hijra Stand Up Comedy Show\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Aditi Brennan Kapil\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b> The play explores the journey of a young intersexual person (a Hijra), someone born both male and female, coming of age along with the colonial history of India.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b> Staged as a stand-up routine, the play concerns gender identity, the history of colonialism in Southeast India, and modern medicine. It’s intelligent, fun, fascinating and it is fall down funny, truly comic.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright, anyway? \u003c/b>Aditi Brennan Kapil is a playwright, actress, and director, of Bulgarian and Indian descent, raised in Sweden. Her most recent play, \u003ci>Agnes Under The Big Top\u003c/i>, a tall tale, was selected as a 2009 Distinguished New Play Development Project by the NEA New Play Development Program hosted by Arena Stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=268\"> \u003ci>Grounded\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by George Brant\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b>A one person play about a female fighter pilot who is ‘grounded’ after having a baby — and returns to the air force reassigned to control a drone in Afghanistan from a computer screen near Las Vegas.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother?\u003c/b> “Because of the badassery of the character,” says Mueller.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b>George Brant has been awarded the Kennedy Center’s David Cohen National Playwriting Award, the Smith Prize, the Keene Prize for Literature, an OAC Individual Excellence Award for 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=269/\">\u003ci>Ideation\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Aaron Loeb\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b>Without knowing who they will be working for, American management consultants compete for a contract to solve a thorny high-security problem. The contract is extremely lucrative but the project will no doubt annihilate their morals, their relationships and maybe also their lives.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b>To get a scary peek into the ruthless, and morally questionable day-to-day boardroom of corporate America.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b>Aaron Loeb’s \u003ci>Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party\u003c/i> had its Off-Broadway debut in 2010 and received the Outstanding Play recognition from the New York International Fringe Festival and was a GLAAD Media Award Nominee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=270\">\u003ci>Samsara\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Lauren Yee\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b> In one last attempt at procreation, an American couple go to India to find a way to create a baby of heir own. Don’t ask me how because I haven’t seen the play yet but — their tiny zygote will somehow escape and grow up. Flash forward 25 years.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b>So you can tell me what happens. The play promises to be a hilarious yet unsettling look at reproduction in the 21st century.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway? \u003c/b>Lauren Yee was born and raised in San Francisco, her play \u003ci>Ching Chong Chinaman\u003c/i> was a finalist for the Princess Grace Award.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=267/%22\">\u003ci>The Hundred Flowers Project\u003c/i>\u003c/a> by Christopher Chen\u003cbr>\u003cb>What’s the quote unquote “plot”? \u003c/b>So this is more of a “meta-theatrical journey” than a plot-based narrative. \u003ci>The Project\u003c/i>‘s play-within-a-play structure mirrors Mao Tse Tung’s impact on modern-day China and his regime’s profound effect on political and social engineering on the world stage.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Why bother? \u003c/b>Because Christopher Chen believes he can dismantle your smug presumption that “meta” is so over. He has heard the grousers grouse that “this play-within-a-play thing’s been done ad nauseam,” and yet he is brave enough to go there.\u003cbr>\u003cb>Who’s the playwright anyway?\u003c/b> Chris Chen’s \u003ci>The Hundred Flowers Project\u003c/i> is a co-production with Crowded Fire Theater, and will be further developed and produced fully in the fall. He is a resident playwright at the Playwrights Foundation. He has received a Ford Foundation Emerging Writer of Color Grant and finalist status for the Jerome Fellowship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Polish actresses, on your marks…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Playwrights Festival runs July 20-29, 2012 at Thick House in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=263\">more information\u003c/a> visit playwrightsfoundation.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In \u003ci>FWD: Life Gone Viral\u003c/i>, two of the four characters in this two-actor play are tiny flies on the wall — spying on their exes. That is, they are spying through the lens of minute, unarmed drones that appear, to the unassuming eye, to be flies on the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridiculous you may say. But wait — in our age of nanotechnology and compromised standards of privacy, such a thing is already out there. On the other hand, yes, its implausible because this premise is put forth by Charlie Varon, the satirist-monologist who made a name for himself in 1995 with \u003ci>Rush Limbaugh in Night School\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Rush Limbaugh\u003c/i> follows the conservative radio host as he goes undercover as a liberal wacko in Birkenstocks, falls in love with a femi-nazi and performs Shakespeare in the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That cockamamie concoction was set in the near future. \u003ci>FWD: Life Gone Viral\u003c/i> is set in the here and now — an especially interesting time because it is midway between past and future. Here and now is where middle age adults stumble forward, saying, “What the heck is this you tube? Why would private citizens want to publicize their thoughts, philosophies, grievances, revenges and funny pets?” Some of them are very uncomfortable with such exhibitionism, while others compulsively hit “refresh” to see how many new views they have received.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/fwd.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under David Ford’s direction, \u003ci>FWD: Life Gone Viral\u003c/i> is keenly observed and vastly appealing and much more substantial than the “it’s funny because it’s true” brand of humor. Like the best comic writers, Charlie Varon, and co-writers Jeri Lynn Cohen and David Ford, are wise cultural analysts. Varon’s character Adam breaks it down to YouTube Newbie, Dr. Lillian Steinberg. Adam points out that Oprah is the mother of YouTube, ushering a society that has given up our secrets. He eloquently argues that YouTube broadcasters have a far greater reach, and potential significance, than did Aristotle. He articulates that broadcasting yourself (the YouTube motto) has supplanted broadcasting the truth. And that The Truth has been replaced by A Truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, much of this has been said before. (See Stephen Colbert’s discussion of \u003ca href=\"http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality/\">Wikiality: Truth by Consensus\u003c/a>). But not in the context of a play about love and death and relationships. The play spoofs cultural trends, but (mostly) the characters are not caricatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Adam and his doctor discuss death, dying, end-of-life philosophies and social media self-promotion, what transpires is a surprisingly touching, intelligent and very honest discourse that is much meatier than a mere satire about these crazy high-tech times we live in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he had thought he was dying, Adam’s medical files had been mixed up and he does not, in fact, have pancreatic cancer. When he thought he was dying, Adam had taken comfort in a YouTube video that expresses that dying is a courageous journey of enlightenment and that impending death is a beautiful experience. Lo and behold, the video was made by Dr. Steinberg’s ex-husband, an unfaithful insincere schmuck. And, in a world where good things happen to bad people, this video has gone viral; its been embraced by multitudes and has earned Donald rock star guru fame and money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeri Lynn Cohen is wonderful as Dr. Lillian Steinberg, a smart, sharp physician, who is bewildered and enraged that her ex-husband’s video has gone viral. She tentatively weighs her professional reputation against her desire to expose her ex-husband for the fraud he is. Cohen’s Lillian is an arrestingly real person who reveals thoughtfulness and vulnerability as she ventures into the new terrains of romance and internet fame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adam whips out his iPhone to video-tape Lillian’s response to her ex-husband’s sermon, “Death,” she says, “is not noble, not heroic, not peaceful.” Above them, on the wall, Donald and Ellen, Adam’s ex-wife, spy, scoff and ridicule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the brash, abrasive and flagrantly Jewish Ellen, Cohen is marvelously entertaining with her mocking, running commentary. As Donald, Varon is an irritating blowhard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the four of them, YouTube videos are made and volleyed — racking up views and ratings and comments and thumbs up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>FWD: Life Gone Viral\u003c/i> runs through June 10, 2012 at The Marsh in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://themarsh.org/Charlie_varon.html\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit themarsh.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under David Ford’s direction, \u003ci>FWD: Life Gone Viral\u003c/i> is keenly observed and vastly appealing and much more substantial than the “it’s funny because it’s true” brand of humor. Like the best comic writers, Charlie Varon, and co-writers Jeri Lynn Cohen and David Ford, are wise cultural analysts. Varon’s character Adam breaks it down to YouTube Newbie, Dr. Lillian Steinberg. Adam points out that Oprah is the mother of YouTube, ushering a society that has given up our secrets. He eloquently argues that YouTube broadcasters have a far greater reach, and potential significance, than did Aristotle. He articulates that broadcasting yourself (the YouTube motto) has supplanted broadcasting the truth. And that The Truth has been replaced by A Truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, much of this has been said before. (See Stephen Colbert’s discussion of \u003ca href=\"http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality/\">Wikiality: Truth by Consensus\u003c/a>). But not in the context of a play about love and death and relationships. The play spoofs cultural trends, but (mostly) the characters are not caricatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Adam and his doctor discuss death, dying, end-of-life philosophies and social media self-promotion, what transpires is a surprisingly touching, intelligent and very honest discourse that is much meatier than a mere satire about these crazy high-tech times we live in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he had thought he was dying, Adam’s medical files had been mixed up and he does not, in fact, have pancreatic cancer. When he thought he was dying, Adam had taken comfort in a YouTube video that expresses that dying is a courageous journey of enlightenment and that impending death is a beautiful experience. Lo and behold, the video was made by Dr. Steinberg’s ex-husband, an unfaithful insincere schmuck. And, in a world where good things happen to bad people, this video has gone viral; its been embraced by multitudes and has earned Donald rock star guru fame and money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeri Lynn Cohen is wonderful as Dr. Lillian Steinberg, a smart, sharp physician, who is bewildered and enraged that her ex-husband’s video has gone viral. She tentatively weighs her professional reputation against her desire to expose her ex-husband for the fraud he is. Cohen’s Lillian is an arrestingly real person who reveals thoughtfulness and vulnerability as she ventures into the new terrains of romance and internet fame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adam whips out his iPhone to video-tape Lillian’s response to her ex-husband’s sermon, “Death,” she says, “is not noble, not heroic, not peaceful.” Above them, on the wall, Donald and Ellen, Adam’s ex-wife, spy, scoff and ridicule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the brash, abrasive and flagrantly Jewish Ellen, Cohen is marvelously entertaining with her mocking, running commentary. As Donald, Varon is an irritating blowhard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the four of them, YouTube videos are made and volleyed — racking up views and ratings and comments and thumbs up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>FWD: Life Gone Viral\u003c/i> runs through June 10, 2012 at The Marsh in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://themarsh.org/Charlie_varon.html\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit themarsh.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp> On the corner of \u003ci>then\u003c/i> and \u003ci>now\u003c/i> is Maple and Vine. The house on that corner is part of a planned community that gives the word “planned” a rigorous new meaning. Here, in suburban America, 1955 has become a lifestyle choice. Here, Americans can reject the cacophonous distractions of 2012 and find sanctuary in a place where every day is 1955.All you need are the right gloves, the right fedora and the desire for a cocoon of simplicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such is the cumbersome premise of \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/1112/mapleandvine/index.html\">\u003c/a>\u003cb>Maple and Vine\u003c/b>, Jordan Harrison’s curious new play about an overwhelmed Manhattan couple who stumble into a sect who call themselves The Society of Dynamic Obsolence. The SDO have isolated themselves into a self-sufficient community that exists in a perennial 1955. In modern day Manhattan, Katha and Ryu gaze into their back-to-back laptops and curse the noisy upstairs neighbors they’ve never met. He’s a plastic surgeon, she’s a harried editor who pops sleeping pills. At the breakfast table, she’s watching the 1985 miniseries Anne of Green Gables on YouTube, remembering how she watched it as a kid. “I don’t know if I’m nostalgic for the 1880s or the 1980s,” she tells her husband.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But all of a sudden, she becomes nostalgic for the 1950s. Or, I guess, since she’s thirty-something, her notion of the era. Or maybe just a \u003ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJsnR-KDbFc/\">Calgon-Take-Me-Away\u003c/a> colony. But she’s had it up to here with her job (a flaming assistant and his bitchy BFF give the office a straight out of \u003cb>Ugly Betty\u003c/b> vibe.) When a dapper, 50s-fashioned gent (Jamison Jones as Dean) who asks the time of day turns out to be a SDO recruiter…addax yadda, yadda…Katha and Ryu quit their jobs and move to an ersatz era where you can say Tupperware but you can’t say Velcro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m pretty sure there’s a yadda yadda there. Or Jordan Harrison’s vague narrative progresses like a lazy yada yada. Eventually, Act II delivers the money shot: 1950s stylin’ costumes (Alex Jaeger) and set (Ralph Funicello) and the amusing premise of urbane New Yorkers who are tourists in provincial I-Like-Ike olden days. One wonders if the whole shaky thing hopes to ride on the (retro/vintage) coattails of our recent \u003ca href=\"http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men/\">\u003cb>Mad Men\u003c/b> \u003c/a> craze. The 2010’s TV audiences love Mad Men’s clothes, the pocket squares and the martini lunches — but we also enjoy deconstructing the mores of the Sterling Cooper crowd. From our perch in the post-chauvinist 21st century and through the lens of Mad Men’s crack directors and writers, the 1950s are so much more interesting than a Doris Day movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Jamison Jones’ dapper Dean is no Don Draper. And while director Mark Rucker might hope to combine the seer and the seen, the tourist and the local, into the same character, \u003cb>Maple and Vine’s\u003c/b> faux fifties residents don’t have nearly as much insight as you and me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katha and Ryu (an appealing Emily Donahoe and Nelson Lee) are charmed by cocktails with the next door neighbors, the construction of pigs in a blanket, ladies who lunch and men who wear the pants. They are happy to trade hummus and Portobello mushrooms for Sanka and salt. And sex is so much hotter in the age of repression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed Katha (she is now Kathy) seems to get off on her neighbor’s referring to her Asian husband as Oriental. For a truly authentic experience, she suggests other forms of subtle racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SDO’s Authenticity Committee meets regularly to discuss what products and practices will disrupt their fourth wall. Birth control, for instance, was not yet legal in 1955. Julia Coffey offers a precise performance as Ellen, the committee head and strict proprietor of standards and verisimilitude.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could do anything we wanted so we didn’t want anything,” 1950s Kathy says, describing a nightmare in which she is 2012 Katha. In the intentional community of 1955, turpitude is made all the more thrilling — or is it tortured? — within the confines of a self-imposed rigid morality. But are the transgressors tortured souls or are they fake tortured? Are their emotions even real or is this all some kind of Truman Show? In this intentionally absurdist play, why ask why when a yadda yadda will do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Maple and Vine\u003c/b> runs through April 22, 2012 at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.act-sf.org/1112/mapleandvine/index.html/\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit act-sf.org or call 415.749.2228.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>Eight years ago, Brian Copeland debuted his one man play, \u003ci>Not a Genuine Black Man\u003c/i> at the Marsh theater in the Mission. Kudos ensued. What was scheduled to be a 6-week run became the longest running solo show in San Francisco history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, many who loved the show have been anticipating Copeland’s sophomore solo performance, which opened Saturday at the Marsh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s title, \u003ci>The Waiting Period\u003c/i>, refers to the 10 days Copeland was required to wait before his gun license cleared. It refers to the 10 days Copeland needed to wait before he could commit suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a great structural concept for theater — an autobiographical clock-ticking countdown to a life or death choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/theater/newsandfeatures/26erik.html?_r=2&ex=1141448400&en=ff84e01674825b5f&ei=5070&emc=eta1\">\u003ci>Not A Genuine Black Man\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, this is a play born of a distinctive experience with true human interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last time, Copeland wrote about his childhood in the 99.4% white San Leandro and his adulthood as a man accused of not being black enough. A radio personality at KGO, (now a TV host of \u003ci>7 Live\u003c/i>), Copeland had received a letter — the umpteenth of its kind — accusing him of not being “a genuine black man.” He knew this would be his subject when comedy maestro Carl Reiner imparted a bit of writing advice to Copeland; “find the piece of ground that you alone stand on, and write from there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copeland’s singular story started in 1972, when, at age 8, his family moved to San Leandro, which had recently been named one of the country’s most racist suburbs. His account of his experiences with racism, police harassment and housing discrimination was historically illuminating, funny and dare I say, poignant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new show is likewise intrinsically interesting. And potentially poignant; what does one do during the 240 hours when one is waiting to kill oneself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copeland tells us, more or less, what he did do — and what he made his kids for dinner. (Spoiler Alert: Chinese take-out.) His persona is affable and familiar and he has an easy, appealing humor. This in itself goes a long way to win the audience. But his articulation of what he thought and felt during those 10 days is too often too vague.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly there’s an unique challenge in crafting a play about emotional numbness. But if one is going to write from a particular piece of ground that he alone stands on, particularity is key. Copeland’s goal of explicitly conveying the universality of his experience muddies his ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shifts to other people’s ground in his effort to bring light to this dark place, to the subject of depression and suicide. On a number of occasions he refers to people who are “one of us” — they are part of an unseen community of dangerously despairing people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In between quite a few warmly amusing scenes (he’s clueless at the gun shop, requesting a revolver because he knows its name from the Beatles album), the play slips into an earnest P.S.A.-type inspirational speech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the performance I attended was a benefit for \u003ca href=\"http://bringchange2mind.org/\">Bring Change 2 Mind\u003c/a>, a non-profit that focuses on the stigma of mental illness. And the monologue works very well as a companion to this group’s mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At times in the play, Copeland reflects the experiences of some suicidal young people who he had interviewed. He performs their interviews \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/performance/article.jsp?essid=56938\">Anna Deavere Smith-style\u003c/a>, presenting the character verbatim.\u003c/p> \n\u003cp>He also plays his daughter, who is really worried about him. And we become really worried about her. Her fear and stress are well-conveyed even tough Copeland’s gift for playing anyone other than himself (particularly kids) is somewhat lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d like to have heard more about his kids, and the wife who left him, and the people he is planning to leave. In \u003ci>The Waiting Period\u003c/i>, context and storytelling are a bit wanting. And while the 10 day time-frame is precise, the experience itself is sharp but not vivid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Waiting Period\u003c/i> runs through Marsh 24, 2012 at The Marsh in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.themarsh.org/Brian_Copeland.html\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit themarsh.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last time, Copeland wrote about his childhood in the 99.4% white San Leandro and his adulthood as a man accused of not being black enough. A radio personality at KGO, (now a TV host of \u003ci>7 Live\u003c/i>), Copeland had received a letter — the umpteenth of its kind — accusing him of not being “a genuine black man.” He knew this would be his subject when comedy maestro Carl Reiner imparted a bit of writing advice to Copeland; “find the piece of ground that you alone stand on, and write from there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copeland’s singular story started in 1972, when, at age 8, his family moved to San Leandro, which had recently been named one of the country’s most racist suburbs. His account of his experiences with racism, police harassment and housing discrimination was historically illuminating, funny and dare I say, poignant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new show is likewise intrinsically interesting. And potentially poignant; what does one do during the 240 hours when one is waiting to kill oneself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copeland tells us, more or less, what he did do — and what he made his kids for dinner. (Spoiler Alert: Chinese take-out.) His persona is affable and familiar and he has an easy, appealing humor. This in itself goes a long way to win the audience. But his articulation of what he thought and felt during those 10 days is too often too vague.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certainly there’s an unique challenge in crafting a play about emotional numbness. But if one is going to write from a particular piece of ground that he alone stands on, particularity is key. Copeland’s goal of explicitly conveying the universality of his experience muddies his ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shifts to other people’s ground in his effort to bring light to this dark place, to the subject of depression and suicide. On a number of occasions he refers to people who are “one of us” — they are part of an unseen community of dangerously despairing people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In between quite a few warmly amusing scenes (he’s clueless at the gun shop, requesting a revolver because he knows its name from the Beatles album), the play slips into an earnest P.S.A.-type inspirational speech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the performance I attended was a benefit for \u003ca href=\"http://bringchange2mind.org/\">Bring Change 2 Mind\u003c/a>, a non-profit that focuses on the stigma of mental illness. And the monologue works very well as a companion to this group’s mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At times in the play, Copeland reflects the experiences of some suicidal young people who he had interviewed. He performs their interviews \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/performance/article.jsp?essid=56938\">Anna Deavere Smith-style\u003c/a>, presenting the character verbatim.\u003c/p> \n\u003cp>He also plays his daughter, who is really worried about him. And we become really worried about her. Her fear and stress are well-conveyed even tough Copeland’s gift for playing anyone other than himself (particularly kids) is somewhat lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d like to have heard more about his kids, and the wife who left him, and the people he is planning to leave. In \u003ci>The Waiting Period\u003c/i>, context and storytelling are a bit wanting. And while the 10 day time-frame is precise, the experience itself is sharp but not vivid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Waiting Period\u003c/i> runs through Marsh 24, 2012 at The Marsh in San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.themarsh.org/Brian_Copeland.html\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit themarsh.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Too Cool by Half: 'The Wild Bride' is Cluttered with Creativity",
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"content": "\u003cp>Aiming for boldly eclectic, Kneehigh Theater’s \u003ci>The Wild Bride\u003c/i> throws every artistic choice — including the kitchen sink — at its audience. Archetypal mythology is respun with stylized hipness, ethereality, puppetry, black humor, vaudevillian escapades, rhythm and blues music, tinged with Euro-Appalachian Anglo-Slavic-Arabic influences — and lots of Tim Burton. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a valiant effort at avant-garde eclecticism that results in a barrage of clutter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cornwall-based theatre company wowed me in ’09 with its inventive, cinematic and tightly knit \u003ca href=\"http://www.7x7.com/arts/brief-encounter-vintaged-import-delivering-cheeky-wit\">\u003ci>Brief Encounter\u003c/i>\u003c/a> at ACT. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this time around, a little Ritalin wouldn’t hurt. For all its panache, \u003ci>The Wild Bride\u003c/i>falls rather flat. Under Emma Rice’s creative and hectic direction, the whole is somehow lesser than the sum of its parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/12/13/wildbride1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Stu McLoughlin\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>The story begins with a Faustian bargain with the devil. Stuart McLaughlin’s devil is a slippery rogue but none-too-menacing. Dressed in a dirt-poor man’s long johns, (a la \u003ca href=\"http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3025574144/tt0094721\">Tim Burton’s \u003ci>Beetlejuice\u003c/i>\u003c/a>), or a shady, 1930s suit, this devil is part Brit, part bumpkin and more of a dirty varmint than a demon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as a musician, McLaughlin is an impish entertainer. Accompanying himself on banjo or guitar, McLaughlin plays a few bluesy songs about the devil, invoking blues great, Robert Johnson who, legend has it, achieved his guitar expertise through a deal he made with the devil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/12/13/wildbride2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Audrey Brisson, Stu McLoughlin, Stuart Goodwin and Eva Magyar\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>The music itself is a success. Stu Barker brings together accordion, violin, bass and some great vocals to create an unadorned country-blues mood that hits the spot. The play hits some speed bumps when McLaughlin narrates in lackluster — and eventually grating — rhymed couplets. Carl Grose’s text isn’t especially inspiring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The devil sets his sights on a young girl and fast talks her father into a trade. Stuart Goodwin plays the girl’s foolish father in a vaudevillian manner; later, he plays her Scottish (why?) prince offering up some amusingly wacky antics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/12/13/wildbride3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Audrey Brisson, Patrycja Kujawska and Eva Magyar\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Audrey Brisson stands out as the girl, a wordless role that is well conveyed through unsettling and powerful gestures. At other times, she sings and scats, revealing another side of her talent. Her movements are often mirrored by two other women, who will take turns inhabiting her older selves. Patrycja Kujawska plays the runaway girl, roaming the wild and learning to survive. Éva Magyar plays her older self beating the devil. All three fairly much dance their parts with artful grace. Still, Etta Murfitt’s choreographing is often on the flatulent side of arty-farty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Wild Bride\u003c/i> runs through January 1, 2012 at The Roda Theatre in Berkeley. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1112/5420.asp\">tickets or information\u003c/a>\u003ca> visit berkeleyrep.org.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Aiming for boldly eclectic, Kneehigh Theater’s \u003ci>The Wild Bride\u003c/i> throws every artistic choice — including the kitchen sink — at its audience. Archetypal mythology is respun with stylized hipness, ethereality, puppetry, black humor, vaudevillian escapades, rhythm and blues music, tinged with Euro-Appalachian Anglo-Slavic-Arabic influences — and lots of Tim Burton. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a valiant effort at avant-garde eclecticism that results in a barrage of clutter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Cornwall-based theatre company wowed me in ’09 with its inventive, cinematic and tightly knit \u003ca href=\"http://www.7x7.com/arts/brief-encounter-vintaged-import-delivering-cheeky-wit\">\u003ci>Brief Encounter\u003c/i>\u003c/a> at ACT. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this time around, a little Ritalin wouldn’t hurt. For all its panache, \u003ci>The Wild Bride\u003c/i>falls rather flat. Under Emma Rice’s creative and hectic direction, the whole is somehow lesser than the sum of its parts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/12/13/wildbride1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Stu McLoughlin\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>The story begins with a Faustian bargain with the devil. Stuart McLaughlin’s devil is a slippery rogue but none-too-menacing. Dressed in a dirt-poor man’s long johns, (a la \u003ca href=\"http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3025574144/tt0094721\">Tim Burton’s \u003ci>Beetlejuice\u003c/i>\u003c/a>), or a shady, 1930s suit, this devil is part Brit, part bumpkin and more of a dirty varmint than a demon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as a musician, McLaughlin is an impish entertainer. Accompanying himself on banjo or guitar, McLaughlin plays a few bluesy songs about the devil, invoking blues great, Robert Johnson who, legend has it, achieved his guitar expertise through a deal he made with the devil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/12/13/wildbride2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Audrey Brisson, Stu McLoughlin, Stuart Goodwin and Eva Magyar\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>The music itself is a success. Stu Barker brings together accordion, violin, bass and some great vocals to create an unadorned country-blues mood that hits the spot. The play hits some speed bumps when McLaughlin narrates in lackluster — and eventually grating — rhymed couplets. Carl Grose’s text isn’t especially inspiring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The devil sets his sights on a young girl and fast talks her father into a trade. Stuart Goodwin plays the girl’s foolish father in a vaudevillian manner; later, he plays her Scottish (why?) prince offering up some amusingly wacky antics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/12/13/wildbride3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Audrey Brisson, Patrycja Kujawska and Eva Magyar\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Audrey Brisson stands out as the girl, a wordless role that is well conveyed through unsettling and powerful gestures. At other times, she sings and scats, revealing another side of her talent. Her movements are often mirrored by two other women, who will take turns inhabiting her older selves. Patrycja Kujawska plays the runaway girl, roaming the wild and learning to survive. Éva Magyar plays her older self beating the devil. All three fairly much dance their parts with artful grace. Still, Etta Murfitt’s choreographing is often on the flatulent side of arty-farty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Wild Bride\u003c/i> runs through January 1, 2012 at The Roda Theatre in Berkeley. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1112/5420.asp\">tickets or information\u003c/a>\u003ca> visit berkeleyrep.org.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Fela! Is That Rare Broadway Musical That Earns Its Exclamation Point",
"headTitle": "Fela! Is That Rare Broadway Musical That Earns Its Exclamation Point | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Pulsing and throbbing and glistening in flashy turquoise or salmon pink, Fela tells us to get up off our feet and “leave the shy outside.” The audience is reluctant (we’re mostly white) but Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician, is very effective at rabble rousing. He knows how to incite a crowd to feel the Afrobeat, to coax them to shake booty and to shake things up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Fela!\u003c/i>, Bill T Jones’ Tony-winning dance-theater production, which opened last week at the Curran, charts the phenomenal career of Fela Kuti, who was an adored icon and the originator Afrobeat music in the late ’60s and the ’70s. A political activist, an agitprop firebrand and, according to Nigeria’s oil industry-fed military government, Fela was a seditious enemy of the state. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The musical is really a “dancical,” a nearly non-stop spectacle of movement, set to Afrobeat music and featuring traditional tribal dance, jazz, stylized dance as well as improvisiational free-form hybrids. The play is set in 1976 during a stadium-style concert in which Fela (who died of AIDS in 1997) speaks to his audience between sets. With humor and eloquence, Fela tells us about his country’s troubles, the government’s corruption and greed, and he talks about his life and work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/fela2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>The cast of Fela!; Photo by: Monique Carboni\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruminating about colonialism, Fela says, “at first it’s quite nice having new faces around. But then you start noticing things going missin’. Ashtrays. Towels … Petroleum. Diamonds. People! And what do they leave in return? Gonorrhea and Jesus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show was conceived, directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, who co-wrote the book with Jim Lewis. Sahr Ngaujah is quite stupendous as Fela. Although the stage is full of other dancers — men and women (the women also play his 27 wives), the show is essentially a one-man, 2 and 1/2 hour monologue and mega concert. It is Ngaujah’s charm, charisma and boundless energy that is truly the show’s be-all and end-all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, the dancers are talented and exciting. The harem of females is also often funny as the huffy, competitive and territorial wives. And the on-stage Brooklyn Afrobeat band is on fire. But it is Ngaujah as Fela who captivates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between tokes from his joint, (he warns the front row of a contact high) Fela tells us stories of his musical and political education and his innovative, artistic work as a populist activist. He brings us along to London and New York, where he picks up tips from the music of Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and James Brown. New York is where — thanks to a woman he wants to bed — he reads Angela Davis and Malcolm X. “I had to go all the way to America to understand things my mother was trying to teach me all along,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/fela1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Melanie Marshall and Sahr Ngaujah; Photo by: Tristram Kenton\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A saint-like portrait of his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti hovers over the stage throughout the play, inspiring and haunting Fela, and moving, like a too realistic hologram. Fela’s mother was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Songs include “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense,” “Suffering and Smiling,” “Sorrow, Tears and Blood/Shine.” The lyrics are sometimes (but not enough for me) subtitled on the wall, but even so, the Pidgin English is not always easy to comprehend. And Ngaujah’s thick accent can also be difficult to discern in speech and song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some of the most stirring numbers, signs and placards help bring the message home. During the song “International Thief,” the performers parade with placards displaying the names of these thieves: Buhari, Shagari, The World Bank, Shell, Enron, Halliburton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disturbing climax of the play is a vivid description of a massive government raid of Fela’s compound. Even though the scene is mostly recounted by Fela, it’s very powerful. In a break from the monologue format, women’s voices are heard, accompanied by their images. The wives have been raped and tortured during the raid and the women do not spare the details as they impassively list the abuses they endured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fela describes how his 77 year-old mother was thrown from a window to her death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less powerful is a more theatrical scene in which Fela ascends a heavenly ladder to where his mother is seated. As Fela’s mother, Melanie Marshal has a powerful, compelling voice, but the dream sequence scene is too stagey and willfully dramatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final song, “Coffin for Head of State,” Fela carries his mother’s coffin to the locality of Nigeria’s president. Other colorful child-sized coffins follow, each inscribed with a name, an injustice, a slogan, a condemnation. Noting the price of freedom, Fela asks, “Whose coffin are you willing to carry?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Fela!\u003c/i> runs through December 11, 2011 at The Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St., San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.shnsf.com/shows/Fela\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit shnsf.com.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Bill T Jones' Tony-winning dance-theater production charts the phenomenal career of Fela Kuti, an adored icon, a political activist, an agitprop firebrand and the originator Afrobeat music in the late '60s and the '70s.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Pulsing and throbbing and glistening in flashy turquoise or salmon pink, Fela tells us to get up off our feet and “leave the shy outside.” The audience is reluctant (we’re mostly white) but Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician, is very effective at rabble rousing. He knows how to incite a crowd to feel the Afrobeat, to coax them to shake booty and to shake things up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Fela!\u003c/i>, Bill T Jones’ Tony-winning dance-theater production, which opened last week at the Curran, charts the phenomenal career of Fela Kuti, who was an adored icon and the originator Afrobeat music in the late ’60s and the ’70s. A political activist, an agitprop firebrand and, according to Nigeria’s oil industry-fed military government, Fela was a seditious enemy of the state. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The musical is really a “dancical,” a nearly non-stop spectacle of movement, set to Afrobeat music and featuring traditional tribal dance, jazz, stylized dance as well as improvisiational free-form hybrids. The play is set in 1976 during a stadium-style concert in which Fela (who died of AIDS in 1997) speaks to his audience between sets. With humor and eloquence, Fela tells us about his country’s troubles, the government’s corruption and greed, and he talks about his life and work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/fela2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>The cast of Fela!; Photo by: Monique Carboni\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruminating about colonialism, Fela says, “at first it’s quite nice having new faces around. But then you start noticing things going missin’. Ashtrays. Towels … Petroleum. Diamonds. People! And what do they leave in return? Gonorrhea and Jesus.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show was conceived, directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, who co-wrote the book with Jim Lewis. Sahr Ngaujah is quite stupendous as Fela. Although the stage is full of other dancers — men and women (the women also play his 27 wives), the show is essentially a one-man, 2 and 1/2 hour monologue and mega concert. It is Ngaujah’s charm, charisma and boundless energy that is truly the show’s be-all and end-all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, the dancers are talented and exciting. The harem of females is also often funny as the huffy, competitive and territorial wives. And the on-stage Brooklyn Afrobeat band is on fire. But it is Ngaujah as Fela who captivates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between tokes from his joint, (he warns the front row of a contact high) Fela tells us stories of his musical and political education and his innovative, artistic work as a populist activist. He brings us along to London and New York, where he picks up tips from the music of Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and James Brown. New York is where — thanks to a woman he wants to bed — he reads Angela Davis and Malcolm X. “I had to go all the way to America to understand things my mother was trying to teach me all along,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/fela1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Melanie Marshall and Sahr Ngaujah; Photo by: Tristram Kenton\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A saint-like portrait of his mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti hovers over the stage throughout the play, inspiring and haunting Fela, and moving, like a too realistic hologram. Fela’s mother was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Songs include “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense,” “Suffering and Smiling,” “Sorrow, Tears and Blood/Shine.” The lyrics are sometimes (but not enough for me) subtitled on the wall, but even so, the Pidgin English is not always easy to comprehend. And Ngaujah’s thick accent can also be difficult to discern in speech and song.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some of the most stirring numbers, signs and placards help bring the message home. During the song “International Thief,” the performers parade with placards displaying the names of these thieves: Buhari, Shagari, The World Bank, Shell, Enron, Halliburton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disturbing climax of the play is a vivid description of a massive government raid of Fela’s compound. Even though the scene is mostly recounted by Fela, it’s very powerful. In a break from the monologue format, women’s voices are heard, accompanied by their images. The wives have been raped and tortured during the raid and the women do not spare the details as they impassively list the abuses they endured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fela describes how his 77 year-old mother was thrown from a window to her death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less powerful is a more theatrical scene in which Fela ascends a heavenly ladder to where his mother is seated. As Fela’s mother, Melanie Marshal has a powerful, compelling voice, but the dream sequence scene is too stagey and willfully dramatic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final song, “Coffin for Head of State,” Fela carries his mother’s coffin to the locality of Nigeria’s president. Other colorful child-sized coffins follow, each inscribed with a name, an injustice, a slogan, a condemnation. Noting the price of freedom, Fela asks, “Whose coffin are you willing to carry?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Fela!\u003c/i> runs through December 11, 2011 at The Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St., San Francisco. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.shnsf.com/shows/Fela\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit shnsf.com.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Desdemona Speaks Her Piece in New Toni Morrison-Peter Sellars Production",
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"content": "\u003cp>The last time Peter Sellars tackled \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> his efforts weren’t particularly appreciated. Some audience members left at intermission, critics panned it. \u003ci>The New York Times\u003c/i> called it \u003ca href=\"http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/theater/reviews/28brantley.html/\">“exasperatingly misconceived.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, Sellars is still mulling over the play that some ten years ago, he called “a non-stop 400-year-old racist affliction in every high school career.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sellars, a theater director renowned for brazenly refashioning classics, set his \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> in the modern-day world of the United States military. But Sellars newest riff on the play is not a new take on an old play. It is an original play, written by Toni Morrison, about Othello’s wife, Desdemona.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Desdemona Project\u003c/i>, a musical theater work, will have its world premiere on October 26, 2011 at Cal Performances in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"274\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/aeWN71gokhU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>The new play stems from seeds that Shakespeare planted within his text. In a sense, the project is Morrison’s theatrical codicil, a new story which lets the murdered wife have the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enthusing about the new production on the phone from France, Sellars told me that the idea was born of a challenge he put to Toni Morrison over lunch one day, “I happened to mention that there’s a very bad play by Shakespeare called \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> that makes no sense, the characters are not plausible and that Shakespeare never knew any Africans.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Toni spent the next four hours telling me how wrong I was and quoting the play from memory, saying it was one of the great plays, particularly for our time, because it’s not about how they kill what you love, it’s about how they convince you to kill what you love,” said Sellars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Sellars, this really sharpened his thoughts about race in America. His 2009 \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i>, (starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Iago) about “a Black man who had risen to the highest level in power in history,” was being performed just as extreme racism towards the new American President was becoming apparent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sellars said he challenged Morrison to respond to Shakespeare, “to reply to some of the things that really still need to be dealt with in Shakespeare. And she decided to begin with the women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A largely overlooked line in Act IV of \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> has become the key ingredient in Morrison’s play. Desdemona, who has already been threatened by her husband, sings a melancholic song and says, “I learned it from my maid, Barbary, who died while singing it from a broken heart.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/10/22/desdemona1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>“To use the name Barbary is a deliberate provocation,” says Sellars. In 16th century England, Barbary meant Africa and so this line “leads you to this astonishing thing — that Desdemona was raised by an African woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morrison and Sellars interpret this iota of the character’s backstory as a window into Desdemona’s heart, a means to understand her in a deeper way; to understand her affinity with an African man. “She knows him,” Sellars explains. Desdemona was raised by an African woman with African stories and African songs. “When Othello starts telling her stories, she knows those stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ci>The Desdemona Project\u003c/i>, Morrison tells the stories that Othello had told Desdemona, the stories that, as she tells her father in Act I, made her fall in love with Othello. And we meet Barbary, Desdemona’s maid. They meet on the other side of the grave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malian singer-songwriter \u003ca href=\"http://www.rokiatraore.com/_sites/ROKIA_TRAORE/html/rokia_bio.htm/\">Rokia Traoré\u003c/a> sings the role of Barbary and has written the music for the production. An award-winning and acclaimed musician and singer, she and Morrison collaborated, exchanging text and song from New York to Mali and back, over the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On stage, both Barbary and Desdemona get to say their piece. “Toni says, for the dead the past and future are the same,” said Sellars. “So she let these women speak. Both retrospectively and also prophetically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Desdemona Project\u003c/i> runs October 26-29, 2011 at The Zellerbach Playhouse in Berkeley. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/performances/2011-12/theater/desdemona.php\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit calperformances.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The last time Peter Sellars tackled \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> his efforts weren’t particularly appreciated. Some audience members left at intermission, critics panned it. \u003ci>The New York Times\u003c/i> called it \u003ca href=\"http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/theater/reviews/28brantley.html/\">“exasperatingly misconceived.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two years later, Sellars is still mulling over the play that some ten years ago, he called “a non-stop 400-year-old racist affliction in every high school career.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sellars, a theater director renowned for brazenly refashioning classics, set his \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> in the modern-day world of the United States military. But Sellars newest riff on the play is not a new take on an old play. It is an original play, written by Toni Morrison, about Othello’s wife, Desdemona.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Desdemona Project\u003c/i>, a musical theater work, will have its world premiere on October 26, 2011 at Cal Performances in Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"274\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/aeWN71gokhU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>The new play stems from seeds that Shakespeare planted within his text. In a sense, the project is Morrison’s theatrical codicil, a new story which lets the murdered wife have the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enthusing about the new production on the phone from France, Sellars told me that the idea was born of a challenge he put to Toni Morrison over lunch one day, “I happened to mention that there’s a very bad play by Shakespeare called \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> that makes no sense, the characters are not plausible and that Shakespeare never knew any Africans.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Toni spent the next four hours telling me how wrong I was and quoting the play from memory, saying it was one of the great plays, particularly for our time, because it’s not about how they kill what you love, it’s about how they convince you to kill what you love,” said Sellars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Sellars, this really sharpened his thoughts about race in America. His 2009 \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i>, (starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Iago) about “a Black man who had risen to the highest level in power in history,” was being performed just as extreme racism towards the new American President was becoming apparent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sellars said he challenged Morrison to respond to Shakespeare, “to reply to some of the things that really still need to be dealt with in Shakespeare. And she decided to begin with the women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A largely overlooked line in Act IV of \u003ci>Othello\u003c/i> has become the key ingredient in Morrison’s play. Desdemona, who has already been threatened by her husband, sings a melancholic song and says, “I learned it from my maid, Barbary, who died while singing it from a broken heart.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.org/2011/10/22/desdemona1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>“To use the name Barbary is a deliberate provocation,” says Sellars. In 16th century England, Barbary meant Africa and so this line “leads you to this astonishing thing — that Desdemona was raised by an African woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morrison and Sellars interpret this iota of the character’s backstory as a window into Desdemona’s heart, a means to understand her in a deeper way; to understand her affinity with an African man. “She knows him,” Sellars explains. Desdemona was raised by an African woman with African stories and African songs. “When Othello starts telling her stories, she knows those stories.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ci>The Desdemona Project\u003c/i>, Morrison tells the stories that Othello had told Desdemona, the stories that, as she tells her father in Act I, made her fall in love with Othello. And we meet Barbary, Desdemona’s maid. They meet on the other side of the grave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malian singer-songwriter \u003ca href=\"http://www.rokiatraore.com/_sites/ROKIA_TRAORE/html/rokia_bio.htm/\">Rokia Traoré\u003c/a> sings the role of Barbary and has written the music for the production. An award-winning and acclaimed musician and singer, she and Morrison collaborated, exchanging text and song from New York to Mali and back, over the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On stage, both Barbary and Desdemona get to say their piece. “Toni says, for the dead the past and future are the same,” said Sellars. “So she let these women speak. Both retrospectively and also prophetically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Desdemona Project\u003c/i> runs October 26-29, 2011 at The Zellerbach Playhouse in Berkeley. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/performances/2011-12/theater/desdemona.php\">tickets and information\u003c/a> visit calperformances.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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},
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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}
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"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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