Leave it to a group of Americans–the Californian-born Reduced Shakespeare Company–to condense all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays, plus the sonnets, into 97 minutes of comedy. Chapel Hill’s Open Door Theatre performed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) three years ago, and will bring the play back to the Triangle this month. Traveling to some […]
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In nether parts
It’s a guarantee that when people got word that Eve Ensler’s continuously touring theatrical paean to the–say it with us, folks–vagina was making a stop at Raleigh’s BTI Center, they scanned the ads to see which famous actress had joined the rotating cast. Aside from the regular eye popping and blushing that comes from contemplating […]
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In music-lit collaborations
The “Making a Living” tour is the brainchild of 27-year-old Brooklyn-based Andy Friedman (pictured), an artist and New Yorker contributor who started City Salvage Records to put out record albums for visual artists. Friedman’s debut book, Drawings and Other Failures, is a collection of Polaroids, delicate pencil drawings and poetry that share an earthy sensibility. […]
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In klezmer music
The Magnolia Klezmer Band is a 12-piece group that updates traditional Yiddish-American dance music. Incorporating elements of brass bands, jazz, classical and Balkan music–with nods to Russia and Eastern Europe–the MKB’s potent musical brew is known to intoxicate even the most staid of crowds (they’re regulars at the many Triangle street fairs and at Raleigh’s […]
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The 2002 Indies
For each of the past 13 years, The Independent has presented Indies Arts Awards to individuals, groups and organizations who’ve made significant contributions to the local arts scene. Each year we convene a new panel to choose winners, and every year the criteria are slightly different, as befits the Triangle’s ever-changing cultural landscape. Last year’s […]
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WSHA-FM
Jazz has always been a jumbled fruit basket of musical artistry, both in its performance and in its perception. To some people, jazz represents the most American of the musical arts, embodying an exhilarating and maddening variety of styles and cultures, typical of America itself. To others jazz is doggerel, a lowbrow collection of disjointed […]
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In tribute bands
Tribute bands can be a little scary. Are they kitsch? A steady gig? A chance to step into the shoes of an established, beloved musical figure and bask in the second-hand adoration? With two of the actual Beatles now rocking the Elysian Fields and Sir Paul McCartney busy getting remarried and managing his billions, “1964” […]
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In open source novels
Last year Douglas Rushkoff posted his second novel, Exit Strategy, on the World Wide Web and invited readers to annotate it. Over a thousand people from around the world participated in the project by adding their own footnotes. (Rushkoff calls Exit Strategy an “open source” novel.) Structured as a found text, its central premise is […]
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In television
The Smiths of Salt Lake City may have the country’s most common surname, but their story is anything but ordinary. With two boys, a dog, a nice house and a strong commitment to the Mormon church, Steve and Kim Smith believed that they had achieved the American Dream. But after nine years of marriage, shattering […]
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African Diary
Since July 2000, Dr. Charles van der Horst, professor of medicine and director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s HIV/AIDS clinic, has made periodic visits to Africa to study and implement HIV/AIDS treatment practices there, continuing an almost two decades-long UNC presence on the continent. In return, the university has hosted African researchers, including Sam Phiri, a clinical […]
