Tag: 02.21.04

Make It Real (But What Is Real?)

“The way we perceive what we call ‘real’ speech in drama is constantly changing: the mirror held up to nature is a lens whose focal length changes with time. In the theatre the search for documentary truth is the logical extension of an art form that seeks to present slices of life while always reminding the spectator (unlike film) that what they are watching is a simulation of life, a metaphor for it, not the real thing. The desire to make that experience of simulated reality more “real”, more like life as it is rather than how it’s supposed to be, is the motor of modern theatre.”

Classic Zappa – Understanding The Avant Garde

“The wary romance between Frank Zappa and the classical world was never fully consummated. It also never really ended. A decade after his death, Zappa is still a surprise guest at concerts by classical musicians, who can rent his published works almost as easily as they can music by Richard Strauss or John Williams. Some treat Zappa as a naughty kindred spirit, while others seem to deploy his works as props for the construction of a hip image.”

Mr. Wolfe’s Public

George Wolfe is strongly identified with New York’s Public Theatre. But what is Wolfe’s legacy at the Public? “Mr. Wolfe the director shone brightly during his time at the Public. The Public Theater itself usually seemed to hang back in the shadows, like the timid offspring of a glamorous star.”

Sentenced To Listen – The Music We Don’t Like

Recently a Florida judge sentenced a man who was playing his music too loud to listen to opera. Andrew Mueller believes this is enlightened thinking: “It is time, surely, to update the legal code in this country, to enable judges to sentence the noisy to a punishment that fits their crime. Few things are as distressing to the spirit as music we don’t wish to hear.”