While these are performances in Dutch, the director is an American – namely the acclaimed playwright of the Theatre of the Absurd classic ‘The Zoo Story’ himself: the legendary Edward Albee (‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, ‘A Delicate Balance’). To fill out the programme, Albee has also chosen to direct another one-act play dealing with miscommunication, ‘Old Friends’ by Earl Douglas Mitchell.
Archive for October, 2008
Tracey Emin: Every Part of Me’s Bleeding
No Tracey Emin show is complete without some reference to the goings-on in her bed, and for her debut American solo show, she’s included a sculpture representation of that storied piece of furniture. But this one, true to its title, is primarily concerned with the spilling of Emin’s blood – a bathtub filled with gin in reference to a botched abortion, an installation involving a welter of used tampons and such like. Emin’s work represents a brazenly frank exploration of her sexuality and the social codes that frame it, which will go down a treat in a city obsessed with tell-all memoirs.
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Wit
Terminal illness may be a traditional dramatic theme, but its black-comic treatment in ‘Wit’ is as audacious as it is compelling. The play’s protagonist conquers the pain of cancer therapy via the poetry of John Donne, in a powerful literary comedy by Margaret Edson. Derek Anson Jones directs an impressive and ironic performance by Kathleen Chalfant as the cancer-stricken Dr Vivian Bearing. It may be heartbreakingly funny, but it doesn’t compromise in its gripping portrayal of intense pain and human endurance.
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Mixfest ’99
True to its name, the Boston radio station Mix 98.5FM (aka WBMX) brings together a diverse mix of performers for this two-day music festival. The first part takes place on Oct 9, downtown at Boston’s City Hall Plaza, where 1980s veterans Duran Duran share a stage with 1990s hitmakers the Ben Folds Five, as well as the quirky roots band NRBQ, singer-songwriter Jeremy Toback and modern-rock band Train. The next day, at Foxboro Stadium, the festival continues with performances by Blondie, Luscious Jackson, the Pretenders, Natalie Merchant, Sugar Ray and Melissa Etheridge.
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Oscar Wilde: From the Collection of the Clark Library, UCLA
Wilde was one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights and certainly its most controversial. His life story is the stuff of myth and legend, and this exhibition presents virtually every book by or about Wilde and every manuscript, proof, letter, photograph and illustration done by Wilde’s contemporaries. It’s one of the best collections in the world and clearly shows the wit, flamboyance and creative genius of the ‘first modern man’.
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Gaspanic Yokohama
If you stay in Tokyo for more than two days, you’ll know about Gaspanic, a symbol of drinking and depravity in the Roppongi nightlife area of the city. So successful is the formula that it’s been transferred to Japan’s second city, Yokohama, 30 miles away. Like the original Gaspanic, the new branch is separated into a bar, a club and a kind of executive lounge, and its target clientele is unashamedly the foreign community. Thursday nights are the best time to sample its insalubrious charms, as all drinks cost Y300 (£1.70) for the entire night.
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