Criticultura em Portugal

Uncle Vanya By Anton  Chekhov Directed by Richard Nelson Hunter Theater Project Manhattan, NYC September 26, 2018 Chekhov’s plays create a world of boredom and unfulfilled hopes and dreams. The mystery and wonder of the plays is that we can sit and listen to people complaining for 2-3 hours without leaving the theater. His dialogue is so revealing, and the characters so subtle and parsimonious in revealing their true identities, that one must concentrate steadily in order to truly enter  Chekhov ’s world. Some modern directors overcompensate for this demand by making the characters too overt and emotive, not repressed enough. The excellent debut production of Uncle Vanya at the new Hunter Theater Project does just the opposite. It doubles down on introversion, making the extremes of the play even more intense, and immerses you in  Chekhov ’s universe of stasis and disappointment unlike other productions I have seen. This immersion seems to be part of the ...

Symphonie Fantastique Music by Hector Berlioz Christopher O’Reilly pianist Puppetry by Basil Twist HERE Theater, Manhattan August 31, 2018 Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique ( Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts) was composed in 1830, and is one of those iconic pieces that defines an era. Romanticism in music has certain harmonic and musicological characteristics, but also some extra-musical ones that also present themselves the visual arts: exotica, dreams, terror, overt (often over-the-top) emotion. This was the first symphony that exhibited all of those things. In addition, it was one of the first explicitly programmatic symphonic works, where there were not just multiple movements, but each had program or literary description attached. Berlioz insisted that the piece was not wedded to this program to succeed, but I cannot think of a piece which more evokes specific images. The symphony tells the story of a frustrated love—the hero meets his love (mov...

Call Me by Your Name Directed by Luca Guadagnino Written by James Ivory Starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer Love, Simon Directed by Greg Berlanti Written by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker Starring Nick Robinson and Jennifer Garner Young gay man coming-of-age movies are a tried and true commodity in European film, and some American low budget indies, but are not so mainstream in Hollywood (young lesbians even show up even less, perhaps because of the relative paucity of woman directors). Recently two such films have cracked a mainstream US audience, likely reflecting the inclusiveness of today’s young people. For them, gay movies need not show marginalized, ostracized, or unhappy victims. Nor must they cater to a niche minority audience simply wanting affirmation and titillation. Both movies are well done, entertaining, and remarkable for their matter-of- fact approach to the subject. That said, they strikingly reflect the differing mainstream US ( Love...

Mary Page Marlowe Written by Tracy Letts Directed by Lila Neugebauer 2 nd Stage Theater Group August 13, 2018 Writing a timeless classic work must be a form of a curse. The rest of your output will always be compared to it, and nearly always fall short. Just think of Georges Bizet ( Carmen ), Marcel Proust ( In Search of Lost Time ) and Toni Morrison ( Beloved ). We ask “What else did they write?”, even though each did create other works, often with excellent results. This separates these artists from the mega-stars like Shakespeare, Eugene O’Neill, James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, and Verdi, who wrote multiple outstanding works, and for whom the question instead is “Which is their best work?”. It now seems that playwright/actor Tracy Letts may join the first list, but not the second. His August, Osage County (2008) is the best theatrical work of our century. But two of his other plays I have seen recently, Man from Nebraska (2003) and Mary Page Marlowe (2017), while powerfu...

Carousel Music by Richard Rodgers Words by Oscar Hammerstein II Directed by Jack O’Brien Choreography by Justin Peck Starring Joshua Henry, Jessie Mueller, Lindsay Mendez, and Renée Fleming Imperial Theater, Manhattan August 8, 2018 This dynamic revival of Carousel (1945) did full justice to the complexity and richness of the show that Richard Rodgers called his best, even better than Oklahoma and South Pacific . In the first act we meet Billy Bigelow, a dark antihero type who seduces innocent girls at carnivals. He falls for and marries the innocent Julie Jordan, who has a bit of spunk and independence and ignores the social stigma of associating with such a shady man. Billy hits her, and this abuse eventually prevents him from entering heaven after he later kills himself during a failed attempt to rob a local businessman. He is given a chance to go back to earth to help and redeem himself with his wife and daughter, who is becoming wild like her father. He conne...