The Arts Fuse Newsletter, March 27
From The Editor's Desk:
I argued in a recent commentary that Boston’s theaters have become “fearful and defensive … curling up into provincial balls — and squeezing the imaginative life out of themselves.” Case in point: the dearth of stage productions that present the voices of playwrights and theater companies in Israel and Gaza. The dramatic pickings from the Middle East have been depressingly slim since Israeli Stage called it quits in 2019. Artistic Director Guy Ben-Aharon said that the purpose of the company was to create “a cultural bridge.” There’s nothing there now but a vacuum.
A month ago, Shakespeare & Company staged a revival of Golda’s Balcony, William Gibson’s 2002 salute to Golda Meir. The play became the longest running one-woman show in Broadway history. Two decades ago, a Boston-area production starred Annette Miller as Meir, and she was terrific. No doubt Miller was powerful in her reprisal of the role now. But is this the best Boston can do? Granted, a Yom Kippur War drama suggesting that an Israeli prime minister used the threat of the atomic bomb to harness the support of the US isn’t a complete antique: there’s a perverse, Putin-esque kick there. But I am confident Israeli dramatists have written far more penetrating, less nostalgia-ridden plays. Might there not be a script out there that dares to probe the right-wing leadership of Bibi Netanyahu? A production of that would generate challenging debate. Or is that what we are afraid of?
As for Palestinian drama, the only recent production in the Boston area took place earlier in March: Palestine, written and performed by Najla Said, was presented by The Center for Arabic Culture. The script dates from 2010. The 2020 anthology Stories Under Occupation and Other Plays from Palestine (Seagull Press) contains 7 forceful, stylistically varied plays that are more up-to-date. In his preface, co-editor Gary M. English asserts that “taken together these plays portray how men, women, and children struggle with their moral consciousness in circumstances that have kept them trapped in delimited lives with little chance of physical or spiritual movement.” Cultural bridges like these — from Israel and Palestine — should be produced. As should the plays that will be penned by both sides grappling with the Israel-Hamas War.
Errata: Last week’s column on An Enemy of the People claimed that there had been no recent productions of the play in New England. I overlooked Gamm Theatre’s 2021 staging of A Lie Agreed Upon, a new version of Ibsen’s script written and directed by the company’s artistic director, Tony Estrella. Providence and now New York — it would seem to be Boston’s turn.
—Bill Marx, Editor-in-Chief
Coming Attractions: Through April 8 — What Will Light Your Fire
Compiled by the Arts Fuse Editor
Our expert critics supply a guide to film, dance, visual art, theater, author readings, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.
Theater Review: “Cost of Living” — A Powerful Drama About Our Longing to Connect
By Martin Copenhaver
Critical to the success of Cost of Living is playwright Martyna Majok’s refusal to resort to tropes about people with disabilities and those who care for them.
Album Review: “Art Songs of the Jewish Diaspora” — Compelling Music with Equally Compelling Backstories
By Susan Miron
This is an album that I recommend heartily to anyone who enjoys heartfelt, exquisite music-making, stunning booklet artwork, and serious scholarship.
Film Review: “Late Night with the Devil” — Retro Occult Wizardry
By Peg Aloi
The Cairnes brothers explore how the analog media trickery of a bygone era may illuminate our current obsession with what is real.
Opera Album Review: A Gold-Medal Recording of a Baroque Opera about the Ancient Greek Olympics
By Ralph P Locke
The shamefully belated release of the first recording (1992!) of “L’olimpiade,” a major work by Hasse (a renowned contemporary of Handel and Vivaldi), featuring some of the best singers of the day, including male soprano Randall K. Wong.
Book Review: “3 Shades of Blue” — Transcendent Art, Despite Personal Demons
By Allen Michie
3 Shades of Blue is at its most compelling seen as an extended essay about drugs, creativity, the jazz life, and the mysterious nature of musical genius.
Film Review: “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” — Shell Shocked
By Peter Keough
Faith is a very elusive thing in the transcendent Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.
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Questions, comments, concerns?
Editor-in-Chief
Bill Marx
wmarx103@gmail.com
