The arrival of intermission at Cirque du Soleli’s Quidam comes as a somewhat disarming surprise. The classical circus feats and arena-worthy hippie tricks that make up the show are so packed with show-stopping moments that the dropping of jaws and clapping of hands becomes nearly perpetual. When the mid-show break occurs the applause does not crescendo. It […]
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Howard Barker is a sixty-four-year-old enfant terrible. He is a playwright who does not believe in collaboration, who has no interest in sympathetic characters, and who dismisses politics in theater. And he is ruthlessly attached to the idea that “a good play puts the audience through a certain ordeal” while a good author “produce[s] a […]
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In a letter to Professor George R. Noyes of UC Berkeley, Vladimir Nabokov declared, “[I] am prepared to fight to the last drop of my ink … the deliberate moralizing which to me kills every vestige of art in a work however skillfully written.” I tend to agree with Nabokov, though Bill W. and Dr. […]
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In the decaying, Midwestern town of Rantoul, Illinois, the word “tenderhearted” seems to really mean “sissy.” Rallis (Derek Ahonen) is tenderhearted. Fresh out of a marriage that is clearly over to everyone except Rallis, he spends his days moaning on the couch, eating handfuls of off-brand Fruit Loops, and seeking solace in the wisdom of […]
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