Credit Crunch

No, I am not going to attempt to join the masses of amateur financial analysts and commentators that have been popping up all over the web (ok except maybe to remind everybody that they need to read Samir Amin’s book Obscolescent Capitalism). This blog post is actually about the current production of Strindberg’s Creditors at [...]

“Stark Sands”

The Classic Stage Company, as I’ve mentioned before, usually offers us star-driven productions of classical drama, with a mediocre supporting cast: it’s where Broadway character players come to be leading men, primarily by playing Shakespeare’s great titutal heroes: the Richards (II and III), Lear, Hamlet. The idea of offering classically trained actors a venue where [...]

Plagiarism

As the new semester begins, I am finding that I have to address this issue every single day in class. Wikipedia inevitably comes up. I have a lot of respect for Wikipedia, and the whole ideology behind t (though I lost some of that respect when a print version was announced). I struggle to explain to [...]

Vegetarians not unwelcome

Since I came back to New York, about three weeks ago, I have decided to become a vegetarian. Not for any moral reasons (exactly), and not because I believe it to be healthier, but because my friend Tobi in Germany told me far too much about the meat producing industry and the conditions under which [...]

Crabs Update

So we went to the Crabhouse, the restaurant in Long Island City I mentioned earlier, and it ROCKED! The crabcakes were amazing but among the five of us we had a pretty good range of dishes, mussels, shrimp, and some amazing clam chowder. We realized that we should have booked a table, but we were seated in [...]

Good Intentions

I am not sure why it is that most political theatre seems self-congratulatory and naive. I mean, it works so well in all the theatres: theatre revealing truths about social structure, theatre building community and solidarity, theatre urging us toward either critical thinking or radical action, pick your theory, really. Even with the best intentions, [...]

Group Therapy

I guess now that I’ve written about the food, I should write about the play which preceded it: Timothy Findley’s Elizabeth Rex, at the Center Stage on 21st street. (Only running till the 6th of September, so if you’re interested you better rush!)

I had actually seen the play before, in its Canadian premiere, several years [...]

More than fries!

One of the pleasures of being back in New York is the endless list of gastronomical delights covering essentially every imaginable cuisine. “Markt” was my latest culinary experience, and it was memorable indeed. I went with a friend, fairly late, after a play. We must have arrived around 11pm, on a Friday evening, and we were [...]