Film (2016)
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and
John Requa
Screenplay by Robert Carlock
Based on the memoir
The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days
in Afghanistan and Pakistan
by Kim Barker
With Tina Fey, Margot Robbie,
Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina,
Billy Bob Thornton
A wonderfully done and surprisingly amusing account based somewhat loosely on the life and career of Kim Barker who became a war correspondent in Afghanistan in 2003.
Richard II
Play (1597)
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Allyn Burrows
Actors’ Shakespeare Project
Cambridge YMCA
Central Square, Cambridge
February 17 – March 13, 2016
A very good rendition of the history play – rich with poetry – about the reign of Richard II and the succession of Henry IV.
Further reflections on
Hail, Caesar!
Film (2016)
Written and Directed by
Joel and Ethan Coen
With Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand
Considering narrative choices in the Coens’ portrait of 1950s Hollywood.
Back The Night
Play
by Melinda Lopez
Directed by Daniela Varon
Boston Playwrights’ Theater
Boston University, Boston
February 4- 28, 2016
An artfully written play, overtly about sex and violence on campus, but subliminally about ends, means, trust, and social change.
1984
Play
by George Orwell
Adapted and Directed by
Robert Icke & Duncan Macmillan
A Headlong, Almeida Theatre,
and Nottingham Playhouse Production
American Repertory Theater
Loeb Drama Center
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
February 14 – March 6, 2016
A brief but pungent adaptation of the notorious futuristic Orwell novel about the horrors of an autocratic dystopia.