Culture
“Keep the Aspidistra Flying”: A visit with George Orwell’s 1936 proletarian novel
October 2, 2017We cannot allow the name of George Orwell to be known only in connection with the fictional works Animal Farm and 1984, or with Homage to Catalonia.
Read more“The Madwoman of Chaillot”: An anti-capitalist method to her madness
September 29, 2017PASADENA, Calif. — In The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald famously quipped, “There are no second acts in American lives.” I’m glad this isn’t true about drama, because I started drifting off during the first act...
Read moreOperatic soprano Brenda Lewis remembered by a friend
September 28, 2017I had the singular privilege of knowing the American soprano Brenda Lewis for almost forty years. She died at her Westport, Conn., home on September 16, at the age of 96. When I last spoke with...
Read more“Head of Passes”: A play inspired by Job but without the redemption
September 27, 2017Academy Award winner and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Head of Passes, i In two acts set in “the distant present, recounts a Black family birthday gathering at the well appointed home of Shelah, the matriarch, at...
Read moreJohnny Cash pilgrimage: The Man in Black’s social justice legacy
September 25, 2017Cash’s songs were known for their complete truth and honesty. And so was his activism for peace and social justice.
Read more