By James Foritano CAMBRIDGE — The Bad Habit Theater Company is up to its old habits, this time acting out Lanford Wilson’s scathing indictment, loving celebration of rural, small-town America in his comic and disturbing Book of Days. Their usual venue, the Durrell Theater of the Cambridge YMCA, is appropriately “down home” for this third in a cycle of three plays Bad Habit has produced to illustrate: “the trials of being good and the temptations of being bad.” Every locale has its unique temptations and trials, not least, small towns. Here in the fictional town of Dublin, Missouri, population 4,780, give or take, “badness” is coated, and not always superficially, with a sweet layer of neighborliness. Nearly everyone knows everyone else, more or less, and loves his or her neighbor, according to the tenets of Protestant Christianity, more or less. Trouble is, self-love, especially if … [Read more...] about Theater Review: Book of Days
Artscope Online
The Artist Project NY
By Sara Farizan NEW YORK- Artscope Magazine was pleased to be a sponsor as well as host a table at this year’s The Artist Project NY. The event was a great success taken place on March 17-20 on pier 92 55th street and hosted over 150 artists from around the world. The weekend long event was an opportunity for artists, art dealers, collectors and enthusiasts to meet one another, purchase art from established and up and coming artists and just enjoy the company of like-minded people and kindred spirits. The idea of the project is for purchasers of art to buy them directly from the artist themselves rather than having to go to an art gallery or having a middleman involved. Several or the artists were also open to gallery representation. Ciaran Tully, a New York based artist originally from Dublin had this to say about his first time at APNY, "Two days before the show I schlepped all my … [Read more...] about The Artist Project NY
Theatre Review: ARTSEmerson presents The Merchant of Venice
By James Foritano BOSTON-In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” Venice is a frenetic, even a mad world. It spews up and swallows merchant princes and their hangers-on, gilded heiresses and their pursuers. In director Darko Tresnjak’s staging, the ornate Cutler Majestic theater turns high-tech. Players of all stripes scurry back and forth, cell-phones to ear, dancing on multiple levels of scaffolding to the tune of getting and (excuse the expression) lending. Three flat screens stream numbers, or, alternately, picture an unquiet ocean where fortunes are afloat. Serenissima, or the Queen of the Adriatic, might cultivate airs of aristocratic leisure, but she is a world “on the make,” of deals, clasped with a warm handshake — or not. So, Bassanio tells his friend Antonio, who, in case you didn’t know, is the merchant of Venice, that he is, well, somewhat “our of pocket,” but, has … [Read more...] about Theatre Review: ARTSEmerson presents The Merchant of Venice
Theater Review: The Grand Inquisitor
By James Foritano BOSTON --- In celebration of the stagecraft of legendary director Peter Brook, ArtsEmerson is producing “The Grand Inquisitor,” which opened March 24 at the Black Box Theater in the Paramount Center and runs through April 3. The play is based on a passage from Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” and was adapted by Marie Helene Estienne. The concept of the play is that Christ is strolling the streets of Seville on a sultry evening during the most terrible time of the inquisition in Spain, sometime in the 1500s. Around 100 heretics, give or take, have been “burned at the stake” just the other evening, so there is unusual activity in the streets. Nevertheless Christ himself is easily recognized by the citizens who not only acclaim him, but also urge him to perform a miracle — which he does. The Grand Inquisitor, played by Bruce Myers, happens on the scene and has … [Read more...] about Theater Review: The Grand Inquisitor
From Moscow, With Love…
by SARA FARIZAN CLINTON- What was supposed to be a fascinating look at Russian works of art is being cut short by Russian’s Minister of Culture who has decidedly issued a “force majeure”, ordering 37 paintings and artifacts, on loan to the Museum of Russian Icons, be returned immediately to Moscow. The Museum of Russian Icons is located in Clinton Massachusetts with 400 pieces of Russian art, the largest private collection outside of Russia and one of the biggest collections of Russian works in North America. Many of the works on display have significant historical meaning and the collections itself spans six centuries. The Treasures from Moscow exhibit was scheduled to be dismantled this morning though the exhibit was to be displayed until July, 25th. The pieces to be returned are on loan from the Andrey Rublev Museum and curator Oxana Smrinova has been sent to the U.S. to … [Read more...] about From Moscow, With Love…
“Clouds” an Art Installation of Fantastical Proportions
by SARA FARIZAN PROVIDENCE-Something extraordinary is coming from artist Suzanne Volmer and she would like you to go on her journey with her. Volmer is a renowned artist having exhibited her works in art galleries, museums and private collections in the United States and Europe, but her latest art installation “Clouds” is almost too grandiose and fantastical to describe. Volmer has had a diverse career with artistic credentials of great merit including countless awards and having taught at the Rhose Island School of Design. It is Volmer’s passion about her art however that ignites audience participation and her desire to create interactive pieces. Her last outdoor project installation, “Aquatic” was exhibited at the GASP Gallery of Brookline in 2007 which had cymbals that looked like lily pads and lit up ponds of her own making, almost as though one were in a dreamlike zen garden. … [Read more...] about “Clouds” an Art Installation of Fantastical Proportions