News-Letter

In Rachel Cusk's Arlington Park, suburban living is the closest us humans can ever get to paradise. There, life can be lived at its most slickly comfortable. Rows of neat houses are filled with bright-eyed kids, dependable homemakers and luscious master suites.… Post the First Comment

Unlike last year's United 93 and World Trade Center, little controversy or commotion has surrounded the release of writer and director Mike Binder's new film, Reign Over Me, a work that also concerns the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. While it is true that the film is not exploitative and feels quite genuine, one cannot help feeling that this lack of fanfare was because it was truly boring.… Post the First Comment

If it had not been pointed out in the production notes of the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival's rendition of All's Well That Ends Well, you might never guess that this take on the Bard's complicated comedy was set in 1814. And that's a good thing. By jerking Shakespeare's scripts into unexpected historical periods, directors usually replace the artistry of the original dialogues and monologues with an overbearing on-stage atmosphere, or clobber the master dramatist's words into theses and talking points that he may not have intended.… Post the First Comment

As the lights in the Music Center at Strathmore dimmed, and the stage was bathed in blue light and lit by globular white lanterns, the eclectic fan base of the Decemberists roared in anticipation. The grey and beige backdrop of a village situated by a waterfall lay shadowed behind the instruments.… Post the First Comment