Wear black and talk softly, withdraw from the crowd and train your mind on higher things—it’s strange how much of the etiquette of grief is also a shortcut to cultivating an aura of sexy mystery. Maybe that’s the logic behind casting Ato BlanksonWood, an increasingly and justly busy actor around New York, in the title role of the new Shakespeare in the Park production of “Hamlet,” at the Delacorte. Blankson-Wood has a world-class sulk—onstage, he pouts and rolls his eyes and projects intense dissatisfaction before he ever delivers a line. A few years ago, in Jeremy O. Harris’s “Slave Play,” he played Gary, a gay Blackman whose partner couldn’t—or, more precisely, wouldn’t—acknowledge the repercussions of their racial differences. Gary was a magnetic malcontent, for whom pain and sex appeal went hand in hand and seemed to spring from the same source.
This story is from the July 24, 2023 edition of The New Yorker.
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This story is from the July 24, 2023 edition of The New Yorker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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BADDIE ISSUES
\"Wicked\" and \"Gladiator II.\"
LET'S MAKE A DEAL
\"Death Becomes Her\" and \"Burnout Paradise.\"
ANTI HEROES
\"The Franchise,\" on HBO.
FELLOW-TRAVELLERS
The surprisingly sunny origins of the Frankfurt School.
NOW YOU SEE ME
John Singer Sargent's strange, slippery portraits of an art dealer's family.
PARIS FRIEND - SHUANG XUETAO
Xiaoguo had a terror of thirst, so he kept a glass of water on the table beside his hospital bed. As soon as it was empty, he asked me to refill it. I wanted to warn him that this was unhealthy - guzzling water all night long puts pressure on the kidneys, and pissing that much couldn't be good for his injury. He was tall, though, so I decided his insides could probably cope.
WILD SIDE
Is Lake Tahoe's bear boom getting out of hand?
GETTING A GRIP
Robots learn to use their hands.
WITHHOLDING SEX FROM MY WIFE
In the wake of [the] election, progressive women, who are outraged over Donald Trump's victory at the ballot box, have taken to social media with public, vengeful vows of chastity. - The Free Press.
DEADLINE EXTENSION
Old age, reborn.
