Picasso’s Closet staged readings Nasher Museum of Art Oct. 29-31, Nov. 15 Playwright Ariel Dorfman views the years Pablo Picasso spent behind enemy linesin Paris during the Nazi occupation of Francefrom the perspective of an artist with firsthand knowledge of life under another brutal regimein Chile under Pinochet. Dorfman’s play Picasso’s Closet not only asks […]
Byron Woods
Bio: Byron Woods is the INDY's theater and dance critic.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/byronwoods
Posted inArt
It’s no stretch to explore Picasso’s relationship to modern dance
Picasso Carolina Ballet @ Fletcher Opera Theater Through Nov. 1 It’s one of the hazards Carolina Ballet must have anticipated while preparing its current evening-length collection of works: Any ballet company preparing an homage to Pablo Picasso has a lot of ground to coverwith elevated expectations all along the way. In part, that’s because Picasso […]
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Two shows, large and small, each with admirable qualities
West Side Story North Carolina Theatre Through Oct. 25 Stones in His Pockets Temple Theatre Through Nov. 1 Take two works that basically exist at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. One’s a major Broadway musical with all the trimmingsor nearly all the trimmings: a large cast, large set pieces, a big orchestra and choreography […]
Posted inCulture
A somewhat less than intimate interview with David Copperfield
From the printed record we surmised that magician David Copperfield wasn’t the easiest interview. The taciturn answers we’d read in most of the recent published pieces suggested a subject intent on his talking pointsand, apparently, just not into most of the conversations. But perhaps, I thought, that’s because no one poses the right questions. I […]
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New local choreography in Durham and Raleigh
Indulge Code f.a.d. Reynolds Theater, Duke University Oct. 14-15 Tickets: 684-4444 or tickets.duke.edu Artistic inspiration can spring from the most obscure experiences. But according to choreographer Autumn Mist Belk, her new work didn’t originate from foreign temples, subatomic particles or cubist art. She got hers by shopping on eBay. The result is Indulge, an evening-length […]
Posted inCulture
(Very) new playwright wins 2009 ArtsCenter Play Slam
“I’d never written a play before this spring. Since then, I’ve written nine of them.” The surprising words belong to nacent playwright Debbie Barrett, who apparently won the 2009 ArtsCenter Play Slam on Saturday night in Carrboro based on 22% of her total lifetime dramatic output — to date, at any rate. Under rules similar […]
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The passion of Matthew Shepard
The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later Burning Coal Theatre @ Meymandi Theatre at the Murphey School Oct. 12, 8 p.m. 834-4001 Eleven years ago, playwright Moisés Kaufman and members of his Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyo., shortly after the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student. After researching trial […]
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The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Taming of the Shrew Bare Theatre @ Common Ground Theater Through Oct. 11 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Cary Players @ Bond Sertoma Amphitheater Through Oct. 10 I’m on the record. I’ve stated that we’ve seen excellence at all levels of theatrical practice in this region: The best of our college, independent and community-based productionsand […]
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On the 25th anniversary of the African American Dance Ensemble, Chuck Davis reflects
Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble Carolina Theatre Oct. 2-3 In a career spanning over 50 years of dance, choreographer Chuck Davis”Baba Chuck” to the dance communityhas been instrumental in bringing African dance to a number of unlikely venues for the first time. The avuncular, 6-foot-5 mountain of a man chuckles as he recalls a […]
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Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy’s Drift
Drift Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy Through Sept. 27 A concept album is one thing; a musical theater work is another. Composer Jeremy Schonfeld’s courageous stage work, Drift, is currently caught somewhere between the two. The Sept. 12 “world premiere” at Barton College in Wilson, before its opening this week in Raleigh, came eight […]
