THEATER/ HELEN SHAW
The King and Who?
A pared-down Richard III, now even harder to follow.
RICHARD III DIRECTED BY ROBERT O'HARA. THE DELACORTE THEATER. ENDED JULY 17.
THE ESSENTIAL FEELING of Shakespeare in the Park is a breeze. Maybe it's a pretty evening in Central Park and the trees dreamily stir their branches; maybe the weather is hot and you fan yourself with your program. No matter the show, there's always some moment when you feel the night moving against your skin. Lighter pieces are easiest because they sway with the air.
It's therefore already a challenge to get Shakespeare's Richard III to work at the Delacorte. It's certainly a funny tragedy, full of snide asides from the sociopath at its center, but it's about as breezy as a tornado. The English duke Richard, through trickery and force, rolls like a juggernaut through his own family, murdering right and left to reach the crown. The tale requires escalating intensity, which is tricky to achieve in an environment that's always trying to lure your attention away. (Look! A duck!) You need tension, clarity, and a meticulously delivered text. Robert O'Hara's production has ideas-but is not rich in those other things, and it lets our focus waver.
In an effort to keep the audience's attention, the glittering Danai Gurira plays Richard with desperation, as though she's yoked to something heavy: She sometimes shrugs her shoulders forward as if in harness, or she takes a particularly wide turn as if a cape were flaring behind her. Her Richard is an entitled aristo rather than a calculating imp, a swaggering T. rex instead of a darting velociraptor. Her evident grace and glamour vault her over the other characters. But O'Hara's baffling production is glue under her black boots; as hard as she tugs, it fights her.
Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin July 18 - 31, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin July 18 - 31, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Drowning in Slop - A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage-and it's only going to get worse.
SLOP started seeping into Neil Clarke's life in late 2022. Something strange was happening at Clarkesworld, the magazine. Clarke had founded in 2006 and built into a pillar of the world of speculative fiction. Submissions were increasing rapidly, but “there was something off about them,” he told me recently. He summarized a typical example: “Usually, it begins with the phrase ‘In the year 2250-something’ and then it goes on to say the Earth’s environment is in collapse and there are only three scientists who can save us. Then it describes them in great detail, each one with its own paragraph. And then—they’ve solved it! You know, it skips a major plot element, and the final scene is a celebration out of the ending of Star Wars.” Clarke said he had received “dozens of this story in various incarnations.”
The City Politic- The Other Eric Adams Scandal The NYPD shot a fare evader, a cop, and two bystanders. He defends it.
On Sunday, September 15, Derell Mickles hopped a turnstile, got asked to leave by cops, then entered the subway again ten minutes later through an emergency exit. This was at the Sutter Avenue L station, out by his mother's house, five stops from the end of the line. Police said they noticed he was holding a folded knife. They followed him up the stairs to the elevated train, asking him 38 times to drop the weapon.
Can the Media Survive?
BIG TECH, Feckless Owners, CORD-CUTTERS, RESTIVE STAFF, Smaller Audiences ... and the Return of PRINT?
Status Update
Hannah Gadsby's fascinatingly untidy tour through life after fame and death.
A Matter of Perspective
A Matter of Perspective Steve McQueen's worst film is still a solid WWII drama.
Creator, Destroyer
A retrospective reveals an architect's vision, optimism, and supreme arrogance.
In Praise of Bad Readers
In a time of war, there is a danger in surveying the world as if it were a novel.
Trust the Kieran Culkin Process
First, he nearly dropped out of Oscar hopeful A Real Pain. Then he convinced Jesse Eisenberg to change the way he directs.
The Funniest Vampires on TV
What We Do in the Shadows is coming to an end. Its idiosyncratic brand of comedy may be too.
The Water-Tower Penthouse
Gigi Loizzo and Angel Molina's apartment on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx looks out on Yankee Stadium.
