Get a load of William T. Vollmann’s new title: Kissing the Mask: Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater With Some Thoughts on Muses (Especially Helga Testorf), Transgender Women, Kabuki Goddesses, Porn Queens, Poets, Housewives, Makeup Artists, Geishas, Valkyries and Venus Figurines. In other words, welcome to the work of William T. Vollmann. I [...]
Category Archives: Reviews
John D’agata, About a Mountain
May 21, 2010 – 5:43 am
Shawn Vandor’s first book, Fire at the End of the Rainbow, is recently out from Sand Paper Press
Photograph by Skye Parrott
O Fallen Angel
May 16, 2010 – 9:17 pm
O Fallen Angel (Chiasmus) is the first novel by Kate Zambreno, and, if she continues in this vein throughout her career, she’s going to start a lot of fights.
The novel describes a older suburban woman named Mommy, her suicidal daughter Maggie, and a homeless and insane man named Malachi. The characters don’t have conversations, and [...]
The Aliens
April 23, 2010 – 10:51 pm
Despite the darkness surrounding the three main characters of Annie Baker’s newest play, The Aliens, the show sustains a playful levity throughout much of its less than two hour runtime. Under Sam Gold’s direction, The Aliens is most alive when the two leads, a couple of thirty-something male vagabonds, and a seventeen-year-old restaurant employee about [...]
Pat Kinevane’s “Forgotten”
February 23, 2010 – 10:27 am
Every once in a while, if we are lucky, we stumble upon a work of art so staggering that it whirls about our memories long after our initial encounter. Something about it, even if we can’t pinpoint what that “something” is (which, of course, only adds to its intrigue), resonates. A most curious kabuki-based play, [...]
Dickens’ “Hard Times”
February 15, 2010 – 3:58 pm
This week, the Pearl Theatre parts its curtains for Stephen Jeffrey’s page-to-stage adaptation of Hard Times by Charles Dickens. After sitting through the production, I contemplated suggesting an addendum to the Playbill. Perhaps, a WARNING on the cover: “This play is long, and the chairs are Amish in comfort level.” But, I realize that such [...]
