Archives for category: New York Theatre

Irish Painting of JFK Rockets in Value

February 12, 11 //

A painting of John F. Kennedy Jr. by Cork-born artist Patrick Hennessy has risen in value to almost $100,000, after it was bought for $600 at an auction in 2003, the Irish Times reports. It’s for sale at a gallery in New Orleans.

The image depicts the U.S. president boarding air force one at Shannon in 1963. That would be the last time he would set foot in Ireland. He was assassinated later that year.

Time reporter Michael Parsons writes: “In 2003, the painting appeared at a small rural auction in the United States and was spotted by a collector in Dublin who bought it for $600. He brought it back to Ireland and, a year later, consigned it to auction at Whyte’s in Molesworth Street who estimated its value at €8,000-€10,000.”

The painting is believed to have been returned to the U.S. by a London dealer, who purchased the painting for $20,000 in 2004.

The Abbey Looks to Foreign Donors for Support

February 10, 11 //

Fiach Mac Conghail, director of Dublin’s Abbey theatre, is on a mission to find financial support for his theatre abroad, Boston.com reports.

Faced with serious budget shortfall, he has teamed up with ArtsEmerson to Bring Mark O’Rowe’s “Terminus” to Boston, in an effort to generate interest in Irish cultural exchange, and perhaps a few donations. The production is part of “Imagine Ireland”, an Irish government initiative that will see over 40 arts events produced in the United States in 2011.

The Abbey relies heavily on government subsidy, receiving half of its required 14 million Euro operation costs from state sources. The rest of the budget is made up of ticket sales and fundraising.

“The Abbey wouldn’t have survived its first 25 years without’’ the United States, Mac Conghail told boston.com reporters. “The diaspora funded the Abbey at the start, before there was a functioning government that could step in.”

www.imagineireland.ie

The Aesthetics of Maurice Pialat’s ‘L’Enfance Nue.’

April 27, 10 //

lenfance
‘L’Enfance Nue’ is striking in the blandness of its imagery. There is nothing aesthetically to distinguish the reality of this film from the reality of one’s everyday life. As the film opens on a dreary day on a street lined with concrete buildings, one shivers at the truthfulness of Pialat’s world. Life would never look so real were it reflected in a mirror.
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In Review: Alice in Wonderland

March 16, 10 //

alice

Alice wears a breastplate: it’s a rather flattering breastplate, as breastplates go. Her long strawberry blond curls cascade on to its metal surface, framing her pale white cheeks and reminding us that she’s still pretty despite her new warrior image. The heroine of Tim Burton’s newest film- a remake of the Lewis Carroll story ‘Alice in Wonderland’- is thirteen years older but no more cynical. In fact, she sometimes believes six impossible things before she even has her morning frappuccino.
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In Review: Measure for Measure

February 16, 10 //

After a hugely successful debut with Othello last February, director Arin Arbus returns to Theater for a New Audience with another Shakespearian offering in the form of Measure for Measure, Shakespeare’s quintessential problem play. The story of a society dealing with extremism, puritanical religious views clashing with the reality of a sexually explicit society, the plot should pose little problem for contemporary audiences. However, we often have trouble coming to terms with the theme of chastity on which the story so desperately hinges. Despite powerful staging and strong performances from the cast, Arbus’ production fails to clear that common hurdle and, at times, the production doesn’t ring true.
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Adam Marple and the Theatre of the Necessary

December 15, 09 //

Peering out the window of a train from London to Stratford Upon Avon, Adam Marple, a young American director, admires the passing English countryside and puzzles at the ‘festival culture’ so important to the traditions of British theatre. “It’s strange”, he says, speaking in a typically slow, drawn out manner, his usual thoughtful tone bringing the conversation to the brink of a full stop. “These cities like Stratford are packed pull of theatre-goers for, say, one month of the year, and then what? What happens to the city when everyone leaves?”

I guess it’s left there, devoid of the things that give it an identity, waiting for the next round of artists to come and give it life again. The trouble is that this reality could just as adequately apply to Marple’s life. As a theatre director emerging from Columbia’s Master of Fine Arts program, he is consumed by what he considers to be his vocation- making theatre necessary. Theatre is not simply his job, nor his art. It’s his life and his foremost priority. Marple’s dedication to his craft can start to seem a little strange if one looks closely and it is clear that theatre is the most vital component of the director’s existence, taking precedence over food (he didn’t eat for three days while working on Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard), water and human relationships. Without it, he is a little like an off-season Stratford- a man without a self.
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Candice Breitz performa 09!

November 17, 09 //

Candice Breitz’ work, while definitely not purely novelty, has always been refreshing for its pure entertainment value. So often in contemporary American culture, artists strive to be artistic, to say something powerful through abstract means. Breitz has never fallen prey to this form of existential expression that requires a phD in literary criticism to decipher. She has always been an artist in and of her times, using digital technologies to make social comment on the celebrity hype cycle that pervades pop culture, and addressing issues to which even the average Joe B.A. can relate.
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Feminism and Representation: An interview with Orlan

April 29, 09 //

1. Are you a feminist?
I am feminist, neo-feminist, post-feminist and alter-feminist.

2. Do you consider your work to be a feminist project?
My work cannot be resumed to that but, of course, it explores that question. When you work with the body, and with your own body, you combine the intimate and the social; feminist struggles have made it abundantly clear that the body is political, and this awareness has become a major historical issue.
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Drag- It’s just fabulous!

March 3, 09 //

On Thursday, I went out for dinner at Lips, a drag club on Bank Street. In search of a fun night out, I found the place on the internet. Their website describes the club/restaurant as ‘the ultimate in drag dining’, ‘with a special party every night’. As I was attending on a Thursday night I was able to catch their nine o’clock dinner show, ‘Dining with the Diva’s’, described as a ‘non-stop celebrity extravaganza’ featuring performances by Diana Ross, Barbara Streisand, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Cher and many more. Coming from a conservative, mainly Protestant town on Northern Ireland’s infamous North Antrim Bible belt, I was prepared to be shocked by the events of the evening and I wasn’t disappointed. In retrospect, I can now recognise that my shock lay in my misconception that drag queen is just another word for a female impersonator; according to Julian Fleisher this is a common mistake.
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