Tag: Drama

Deadwood: Season 1, Episode 1

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Deadwood_arrival

HBO made SO much money off of The Sopranos, the network decided to take a chance on two lavish, intricate other series- Rome (read my review) and Deadwood.  This Western drama series starts off unlike any other (that I’ve seen)- w/ the hanging of a horse thief!  As the show’s creator David Milch explained, an “unhorsed man was akin to a dead man in the Old West.”  Before he can start his new life in Deadwood, South Dakota, Montana marshall Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant, who I first discovered and LOVED on Damages) has to administer justice.  There is a large, angry crowd outside his office, men w/ torches ready to storm in and attack the prisoner.  Milch said that Bullock (whose name means “young bull”) “hated the mob,” so he decided to swiftly take things into his own hands.   

Bullock (along w/ his pal/business partner, Sol Star) travels on a wagon to Deadwood; the two men plan to set up a hardware store.  Sol (John Hawkes) is Jewish, comes from a business family from Vienna, Austria, though he was raised in Ohio.  This is Hawkes LONG before he made a name for himself on Winter’s Bone (Jennifer Lawrence’s breakout film); he was nominated for an Oscar for his role. 

Deadwood-Pilot

Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), a saloon owner and defacto leader of the camp community of Deadwood, has his own share of troubles to handle after one of his prostitutes, Trixie (Paula Malcomson), kills a regular customer who had the nasty habit of hitting her when drunk.  Doc Cochran (Brad Dourif, who some of you will recognize from the LOTR series) comes to examine the wound- it will be fascinating to study the man’s skull.  I liked Dourif as the villainous Grima Wormtongue, but I quickly grew to LOVE his character on this series! 

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Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine, the biggest name actor in S1) arrives at the camp w/ his loyal companions, Jane (Robin Weigert, most recently seen in Jessica Jones) and Charlie Utter.  It’s obvious that Jane (also a fan fave- including mine, along w/ Doc) is in love w/ Bill, though he has recently married another woman.  As for Charlie, he serves as a friend, counselor, and manager to Wild Bill.  On the road, Wild Bill’s entourage comes across a blonde family (w/ Norwegian accents) who are headed back home to Minnesota; Deadwood we gather was too rough and tumble for them.  We will find out exactly WHY in no time!           

Wow, did you see HOW fast Seth got some of the men organized after learning of the murder of the Norwegian family!  He may be a socially awkward man of few words, but he definitely has a STRONG sense of right and wrong.  Wild Bill (another man of action) goes along w/ Seth; he is another fan fave.  (Carradine wore blue contacts, which were quite uncomfortable, for his role as Wild Bill.)

 

2016 New African Film Festival (March 11-18)

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AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center  (8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910) will be hosting the 12th annual New African Film Festival, showcasing African films from ALL corners of the continent. Below is info re: the 2 films that I’m MOST interested in seeing.  (FYI: Opening Night films usually sell out quickly, so try to get tickets early!)  I may have to go see it SUN.

You can read my review of one of the films from last year’s festival here: https://knightleyemma.com/2015/03/22/2015-new-african-film-fest-triangle/

Lamb

Friday, March 11 – Opening Night/Reception (7:15 PM) & Sunday, March 13 (4:45 PM)

Yared Zeleke’s remarkable feature debut tells the story of young Ephraim, a half-Jewish Ethiopian boy who is sent by his father to live among distant relatives after his mother’s death. Ephraim uses his cooking skills to carve out a place among his cousins, but when his uncle decides that his beloved sheep must be sacrificed for the next religious feast, he will do anything to save the animal and return home.

The Price of Love

Saturday, March 12 (7:15 PM) & Wednesday, March 16 (7:15 PM)

A recovering addict, Teddy drives his cab across the sprawling Addis Ababa, in the hopes of making an honest living. But when Teddy picks up the beautiful prostitute Fere, just as she’s escaping an abusive john, he’s thrust back into the world of trouble he tried to escape. After an act of retribution, which leaves Teddy’s cab stolen, he joins forces with Fere in the hopes of saving both their lives. As romance blossoms between the two outsiders, they learn the hard way that love comes with a price.

http://silver.afi.com/Browsing/Movies/Details/m-0100000548

Interviews featuring playwright Ayad Akthar

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Ayad discusses Disgraced (on Broadway), Aasif Mandvi, etc. w/ NYC theater critics.  This convo goes from the 2:00 min mark until 17:10.

This is a lengthy, yet V interesting vid!  Ayad is in convo w/ a Lebanese writer (Rabih Almeddine- never heard of him before) while Indian writer (Amitava Kumar) serves as moderator.  There is a smart/funny Q&A section w/ interesting points made by BOTH the audience & writers!    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyh5-o3Iw8c 

Aasif played Amir in Disgraced at Lincoln Center Theater.  Josh played Isaac on Broadway (opposite Hari Dhillon).  These guys are ALL friends- pretty cool! 

WARNING: This next 2 videos contain SPOILERS for Disgraced. 

Another long, yet very recent, interview (January 14, 2016)- it includes the meaning of the title, which is explained by Abe, the young nephew of Amir (who has “legitimate historical anger,” as Akthar comments in the vid). 

For 300 years, they’ve come to out part of the world, made- drawn new borders, taken our land, made us want to be like them, look like them, and marry their women.  They disgraced us.  They disgraced us.  Then they pretend they don’t understand the rage we’ve got.

 

For DC Area Theater Fans

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Othello (Sidney Harman Hall: FEB 23-MAR 27)

This is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy; I love it even MORE than Hamlet!  In this production Othello will be played by a Pakistani-American actor- Faran Tahir. VERY exciting…  I’m going to be seeing it SUN, FEB 28 (7:30PM).

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Some of you will recognize him from the first Iron Man movie and the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot films.

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Link to 2014 podcast interview with Faran Tahir

Link to play website

Use promo code OTHELLO20 for 20% off price.

Disgraced (Arena Stage: APR 22-MAY 29)

I’m VERY excited to go see this play; one of my gal pals and I got tickets as part of a package!  Actor-turned novelist and playwright, Ayad Akthar (who I blogged about before) won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for this play, which was also his first. 

This play is being produced in 40 different theaters in the 2015-2016 season- WOW!  In some ways, it looks to be a simple domestic play, as it has only one set and five actors.  The play is set in the Upper West Side Manhattan apartment of South Asian American corporate lawyer, Amir, and his artist wife, Emily.  They hold a small dinner party w/ Amir’s work friend Johri, an African-American woman, and her secular Jewish husband, Isaac.  As the night goes on, more and more alcohol is consumed, the conversation gets  heated- the mood of the play turns serious.  Amir, who seems to have totally separated himself from his Pakistani and Muslim identities, is revealed as a complex and troubled man.

I read this play less than 2 years ago, after seeing clips about the Lincoln Center production (which starred The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi).  One of my acquaintances saw it when it premiered on Broadway; Hari Dhillon (an Indian-American of Sikh heritage) played the lead role. The PBS Newshour piece (see video below) features Dhillon and How I Met Your Mother actor Josh Radnor (who played Isaac). 

Akthar said that he wrote this play “for the global Muslim audience” (many of whom will never see it, given restrictions on freedom of speech) and the “typical (mostly white) theatergoing audience here in the U.S.”  Something important to keep in mind- the major influences for Disgraced were Othello and Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller. 

Link to play website

The Who & The What (Round House Theatre – Bethesda: MAY 25 -JUNE 16)

“The Who & the What” (the title of Zarina’s novel)… explores intergenerational and interfaith conflicts with fluid eloquence and intelligence. Mr. Akhtar writes dialogue that, while often funny and always natural, crackles with ideas and continually reveals undercurrents of tension that ratchet up the emotional stakes.  -Charles Isherwood (NYT) re: 2014 Lincoln Center production

I read this play soon after Disgraced.  It focuses on an upper-class Pakistani-American family in Atlanta, which includes the father, a widower and religious Muslim- Afzal (who runs successful donut shops) and his two daughters- complicated and intellectual Zarina and the more simple and beautiful Mahwish.  Since his younger daughter is almost done w/ grad school and unofficially engaged to her  (father-approved, Pakistani-American) beau, Afzal is eager to find a husband for Zarina, who is around 30 at the start of the story.  (It may remind you a bit of The Taming of the Shrew.)  Like MANY people, Afzal turns to an online platform for Muslim singles; he meets a smart and caring man who is a white convert.  Eli, who grew up in Detroit with liberal parents and many Muslim friends, is the imam of a small and humble masjid.  Zarina decides to give Eli a chance, but her main focus is a book on the life and times of Prophet Muhammad.  The topic of this book is VERY controversial- it could jeopardize her closest relationships!

Link to play website

PWYC: WED, MAY 25 (7:30 PM) & SAT, MAY 28 (2 PM)

Related Videos

Ayad Akthar’s TED Talk

 

 

 

Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph

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Rajiv_Joseph

I first learned about playwright Rajiv Joseph (pictured above) from a brief theater piece on PBS.  Though only in his early 40s, he has achieved much in his brief career, including being a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize.

Theater Review Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Yes, that is comic genius Robin Williams (above w/ castmates)- he appeared a few years back as the tiger in Joseph’s critically-acclaimed play, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.

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Mr. Joseph dramatizes a dark myth about its building that stands as a grim allegory of the supreme divide between the powerful and the powerless in 17th-century India and, perhaps by extension, many places today.

Babur’s lively imagination drives the conversation, as he fantasizes about elaborate flying machines and wonders about the provenance of the stars. “I think God wants us to learn more and more things,” he says.

-Charles Isherwood (NYT Review: June 11, 2015)

This play can be seen from FEB 1-28 at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in DC. It consists of only 2 characters, Humayun and Babur, lowly imperial guards in the city of Agra, India (referred to then as Hindustan).  Their duty it is to stand in front of the building site of the Taj Mahal, facing away from it.  Babur has the energy of an overgrown kid.  He arrives late and keeps breaking the silence that the guards are supposed to maintain, to the disapproval of Humayun. Obeying the rules is something Humayun takes seriously. There are severe punishments for various levels of civil disobedience.

I saw an existential allegory about the struggle of incompatible universal impulses within human nature.  –Comment from NYT reader

We will probably never know what was done to the artisans who built the Taj, but we do know, like those who slaved for years to build the Pyramids, the Taj artists have remained invisible.  –Comment from another NYT reader

The Taj is a memorial tomb for Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, has been hidden by a wall during its  16 years of construction. The guards, longtime friends (who call each others “bhai,” meaning brother) are awaiting dawn, when the tomb will be unveiled to the public.