Essays about Culture Page 229

It is said that science fiction is known as ‘the literature of change. ‘ This is mostly down to the fact that no one has ever come up with a widely accepted definition for the genre. The so called, components for science fiction remain the same; speculation of the future based around the world we…

H. G Wells was a man of new ideas and had strong political and moral views, which are prevalent throughout his 1898 novel ‘The War of the Worlds’. Wells was a staunch anti-colonialist, the very idea of Empires taking over ‘inferior’ races repulsed him and this greatly influenced his writing in the novel. Wells was…

The movie of the Shawshank Redemption is based on a short story by Steven King. The movie shows how prison life affects prisoners during their sentence in jail and after when they are released. The director concentrates mostly on the personal cost of adapting to prison life and how some convicts, once they conform, lose…

When TCG published its first annual economic survey in 1974, new theatres were springing up in every corner of the country; playing to expanding subscription audiences; touring their work widely; providing employment for a growing number of artists; attracting support from individuals, foundations, corporations, federal and state arts agencies. Acknowledging that the arts represented a…

Some called her the first French feminist. More to the point, Olympe de Gouges was quite likely the first woman to be executed for forthright opinions about women’s rights. This obscure French heroine has sparked the imagination of playwright Wendy Kesselman, and the result is a stylistic departure for the author of such powerful but…

Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz one of the most widely produced new American plays of recent seasons–confronts the scourge of modern times obliquely, never mentioning AIDS in its 30 brief scenes. Instead, the playwright reimagines the absolute through fantasy. Anna, an elementary school teacher stricken with “Acquired Toilet Disease,” tours Europe with her brother while…

The least interesting issue in M. Butterfly is ‘How do they have sex?’ And certainly the least interesting issue in this play is ‘How do I feel about Miss Saigon?’ I don’t really care about Miss Saigon. I think there are bigger issues at stake.” David Henry Hwang is trying to push discussion of his…

It’s wonderful, just as you said–beautiful music, beautifully performed, beautifully produced,” said a friend of mine who had gone to see the musical Wings at my urging. “But” she hesitated”something kept nagging at me. It’s well why would a woman with a stroke sing?”Fair question Wings, which premiered in October at the Goodman Studio Theatre…

William Finn has drunk his tea, removed his socks and stretched out on his couch to answer calmly all manner of questions about his life and career. Based on past articles about him, the clenched, frazzled speeches he gave in accepting two Tony awards for his musical Falsettos, and mostly on the variety of neuroses…

Business is booming at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Is everybody happy’sort of. Ashland, Oregon sits at the foot of the Siskyou Mountains like a favorite pair of boots at the foot of a bed, 20 miles outside of Medford, a cow pattie’s toss from Interstate 5. The nearest major metropolitan area is Portland, more than…