First produced by Dublin's legendary Abbey Theatre 11 years ago, the Nobel Prize winner's play strips Sophocles' cautionary tale of honor and overreach to its dramatic core.
Read More »Jon Sobel
Theater Review (NYC): LaBute New Theater Festival at 59E59
The six short plays comprising the LaBute New Theater Festival might have been collectively titled 'Love and Murder,' two themes clearly on the playwrights' minds.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘Collaborators’ by John Hodge
Hodge's Olivier Award-winning play fictionalizes the last years of Mikhail Bulgakov, author of 'The Master and Margarita,' who lived one of the 20th century's most interesting (and saddest) literary lives, and his dealings with the dictator Joseph Stalin.
Read More »Book Review: ‘Captivity’ by György Spiró
This intensively researched historical novel follows the travels and peripatetic career of a myopic, bookish Jew who travels to great cities of the ancient world and lives through adventures thrilling and horrible that throw light on what life was like two thousand years ago.
Read More »Language Matters in Life and Business: Yes Means Yes in the Age of Consent
One reason campus sexual assault is such a tough issue to address is that it's so hard to come up with clear, effective language.
Read More »Theater Review (NYC): ‘City Girls & Desperadoes’ with Austin Pendleton at The Secret Theatre
Imagine one of Tennessee Williams's larger-than-life mother figures dropped into a Lanford Wilson play, and you'll have a hint at what to expect.
Read More »Theater Review (Broadway): ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
I didn't know how fresh a new revival could be after more than half a century. But thanks to bright performances, crisp staging, and dashing new dances and musical arrangements that respect their sources, this 'Fiddler' doesn't feel dated at all.
Read More »Music Review: Love – ‘Reel to Real’ [Deluxe Edition]
The 1974 album from Arthur Lee's reconstituted Love is out for the first time on CD and digital, with plenty of bonus tracks.
Read More »Language Matters in Life and Business: Downton Abbey Talk
Talk to the organ-grinder.
Read More »Travels in Turkey: Part 3 – Istanbul: Topkapı, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and More
Visiting the great monuments of Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square district
Read More »
Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment