The WOLVES Is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist '16 by Playwright Sarah DeLappe

"The Wolves" by playwright Sarah DeLappe (b Amer. 1990) at the Raven Performing Arts Theater had its off-Broadway debut in '16.  It was a finalist for both the Blackburn and Pulitzer Prize.  It's a deceptively clever social commentary on garnering social awareness seen through the maturation of a  female club soccer team.  The 1 Act all female cast shifts from weekly soccer matches that go from fall past MLK weekend.  The team consists of a motley mix of high school girls who share a love of soccer, banter and a dawning awareness of global atrocities.  The team is called the Wolves, not Wolverines implying the fierceness amongst these competitors are forming a wolf-pack through barbs, bullying and burgeoning camaraderie.  The overlapping, loquacious dialogue broaches a variety of heady int'l topics such as genocide by the Khmer Rouge and the inhumane caging of juveniles crossing illegally in the US.  The gravitas & empathy expressed by these young women is impressive albeit their bickering & bitching with each other does degenerate into hostilities but bounces back with youthful exuberance.  The new girl on the team is an odd misfit.  She demonstrates budding talent, an impervious carapace to insults, and an ingratiating affability.  Still, she's prone to unwittingly making inappropriate outbursts.  The seating is on-stage with raked rows putting the audience in the stands as unobtrusive fans.  A few alpha-females clash for top dog but backdown when the team's leader barks orders. Their unseen coach is a useless creep who comes to their games hungover.  The pre-game warm-up stretching bends the groups into a cohesive unit. A tragedy strikes that solidifies the teammates into a grief-stricken pack.   DeLappe's dialogue scores with coming-of-age dynamics but is deemed incredulous by the new girl's naivety.  She must have been living under a rock or somewhere in a yurt. Needless, there is an inherent likability to the girls' feistiness & growing attachments.  The sagacious team leader tells the gifted newcomer "Things don't get easier, you just get better."  "The Wolves" is an entertaining, voyeuristic romp with young cubs broaching adulthood.

HARRIET-A Stirring Biopic Film on Harriet Tubman

HARRIET, the biopic film of Harriet Tubman is a compelling tribute to the courage of Harriet Tubman who fled from slavery for her freedom & her self-less determination to leed as many slaves to freedom despite overwhelming perils endangering her own life.  Cynthia Erivo's strapping and emotional portrayal of Tubman earned her an Oscar nom. for Best Actress.  The only other nom. received for this sobering & stultifying examination of slavery in America was Best Song.  The Oscar is deserved in both categories.   Moreover, the Academy's failure to acknowledge the film for Best Picture or to nominate its supporting actors is appalling.  Needless, the abhorrent practice of slavery in our country is contemptible.  HARRIET is a compelling film that scrutinizes the barbarity & inconceivable notion that a human being should ever be considered as someone's property which makes this biopic film so omnipotent.  It would be captious to fault the movie for being entertaining despite dealing with such a serious & repugnant practice in our nation's history.  It's a riveting film that's heartrending and commendable for serving to remind us of the barbarity of slavery and for depicting the moral convictions & humanity that prevails amidst an overriding evil & controlling society.  The emotional pain & disavowal of human life is keenly felt without relying on graphic images of savagery.  The movie is guilty to some extent of softening the aesthetic harshness of this epoch and for scoring (other than the beautiful & moving songs) too heavy handed.  Entertainment as education is a symbiotic hybrid at its best when it serves to remind and enlighten.  HARRIET is a film of this elk. This commanding film captures that terrifying journey with an enduring empathy.  There's an exceptional cast of supporting actors sorely overlooked for nominations that imprinted the realities of heinous institutions and the best of mankind.  Joe Alwyn as the sleek & sinister slave owner and Leslie Odom, Jr., as a free Blackman with the Underground Railroad are both convincingly despicable and honorably heroic. For those who thought they knew but in reality didn't know or forgot they knew, HARRIET is a critically historic film that is deserving of critical acclaim.  More importantly, it's a provocative work of art that expands our knowledge of Harriet Tubman, the history of slavery and our understanding of the toxic roots of systemic bigotry and hatred that persists which compels us towards establishing a civilization of justice.

ALL MY SONS-Nat'l Theater Live Stars Sally Field

Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize & Tony winning play "All My Sons" was revived in London at the Old Vic and on Broadway in 2019.  The star packed cast included Acad. Award winner Sally Field & Bill Pullman as Kate & Joe Keller, a longtime married couple with two sons.  Both sons served in WWII but only one returned home; Chris (Colin Morgan).  Kate remains aggressively steadfast that their elder son MIA will return home.  Kate turns vicious towards anyone suggesting otherwise.  Her hostility is vehemently aimed at Ann (Jenna Coleman, "Victoria") her missing son's sweetheart with unacceptable, disloyal designs on Chris.  The Nat'l Theater Live broadcast puts the audience front & center with the action making the filmed version come alive.  Miller's play contains a timeless theme of avarice at any cost but it's buried beneath an arid and dated Aristotelean plot.  "All My Sons" is Miller's 2nd play on Broadway.  His nascent brilliance is apparent but dims in comparison to his next play, "Death of a Salesman" and his legacy amongst America's most significant playwrights of the 20th C.  The fraught tensions spewed from ephiphanies of Joe's reprehensible actions & their consequences are ramrodded into Act II.  The emotional tolls feel off-set by the banal love story & family drama of Act I.  Pullman plays Joe through an irritating clenched jaw & whiney voice.  Field plays Kate with too much hostility & too little nuance as to vanquish empathy for her grief.  The supporting British actors, Moran & Coleman fare far better bringing an electricity to their characters & precise American accents.  Other minor roles include neighbors who are either facile or too fractious.  The underpinnings of Miller's skill with dialogue & despair are apparent but fraught with signs of fissures.  

French Film Director Ladj Ly's Debut "Les Miserables"

Incredible, Ladj Ly (b. France 1980)  marks his directorial debut with "Les Miserable."  Ly's parents are from Mali.  This remarkably shot & provocative film has garnered a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film & an An Acad. Award nom. for Best Int'l Feature.  Set in contemporary Paris, as in Victor Hugo's 19th C novel, the film is rife with oppression, anarchy, and warring convictions.   Gavorche, the rebellious young hero in the novel is represented by the charismatic & uncontrollable Issa.  "Our acts make or mar us, we are the children of our deeds."*   Jean Valjean's character is mirrored by officer Stephane who wrestles with conscience.   Stephane just relocated to be in closer proximity with his son.  Stephane's the new recruit on a police force responsible for maintaining order in the impoverished housing projects in Montfermeil. "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."* The opening scenes show massive crowds brandishing French banners reveling France's soccer win around the Arch de Triumph. The camera places the audience within all the frenetic activities.  A group of black youths shove their way past transit cues & over turnstiles avoiding fares.  Issa is amongst the group.  We next meet Issa at police headquarters where we hear his father furiously disavow his uncontrollable son & his constant run-ins with the law.  Stephane notes the ruckus when going to meeting the officers with whom he'll be partnering.  There are numerous gangs, sects & factions sparring with each other & vying for power.  Chris, the lead officer tells Stephane, "Never apologize, we're always right."  Chris' methods are unorthodox & illegal but that's the modus operandi used to instill fear & retain power.  Issa's impulsive stealing of a lion cub from a circus run by gypsies sets in motion a clamoring  skirmish for control that gets shockingly out of control.  One of the officers fires a weapon striking Issa in the face, disfiguring & nearly killing him.  Rather than getting the boy immediate medical care, the officers concern is for covering their incriminating tracks.  Ly's provocative and perceptive film uncovers the harsh & tribalistic lives amidst the squalor of the overrun suburbs in the shadows of Paris.  The film blurs the boundaries of fear & respect, of compassion & neglect.  The climatic vicious clash is horrifying & yet noble.  "Les Miserables" is a masterful work that sonorously gongs a prophetic toll of savage revolt should the call for morality continue to prevail upon deaf ears.   "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come"*.
* Victor Hugo

"Jojo Rabbit" Nom. for Best Picture Might Get Lucky

WWII Nazi Germany films are not known for their comedic, quirky storytelling.  But, the most poignant depictions of Hitler's Germany have the power to override the horrors of man's inhumanity by shedding light on the compassion & courage that resides within friendships, families, love and the celebration of life.  "Jojo Rabbit" is a profound coming of age film seen from the perspective of a 10 yr. old German boy Clone (Roman Davis) inducted in the final vestiges of the Nazi recruiting regime.  Clone is an angelic, Aryan looking boy wanting to fit in with the older boys in a Nazi training camp but he doesn't have the heart to prove himself a killer by ringing the neck of a rabbit thrust in his arms.  This perceived act of cowardice earns him ridicule & the deriding nickname "Jojo Rabbit."  To redeem himself Clone tries to unleash a grenade but it ricochets back ("oh shit") causing disfiguring scaring to his face. Clone's only friend within this brutish camp is Yorki (Archie Yates) a pudgy, gentle boy {think Piggy in "Lord of the Flies"} also devoid of a menacing nature.  The reluctant leader of this odd lot wanna be soldiers is played brilliantly by Sam Rockwell with Rebel Wilson as his humorous, female cohort.  Clone lives alone with his mother (Scarlett Johansson) and his imaginary companion; a cross-eyed, bumbling Hitler (Taika Waititi).  Waititi (b. New Zealand 1975 "Hunt for the Wilder People") also directs this film which is a pastiche of a Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," Mark Herman's "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas," Mel Brooks' "The Producers" and Mark Twain's masterpiece "Huckleberry Finn."  Clone discovers his mother has been hiding Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) a young Jewess in their home.  Clone becomes perplexed by the fed Nazi propaganda against Jews & his mother's benevolence along with his growing fondness for Elsa being held in captivity.  The ensemble cast is superb especially Thomasin McKenzie (b. New Zealand '00) and Roman Davis (b. UK '07) who received a Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe nomination for his role.  Waititi directs with a luminescence that's neither overly sentimental nor shies away from the heinous brutalities of Nazi Germany. Within this horrendous epoch in history "Jojo Rabbit" shows the grandeurs of life and the ability of love to conquer all. Perhaps, Twain's characters Huck & Jim best parallel the unremitting beauty in the acknowledgement of humanity in everyone  regardless of pressures or norms from a misguided & erroneous society.  There is an enduring fortitude with this captivating film.  Should "Jojo Rabbit" win a well deserved Oscar for Best Picture, the first thing I'll do is dance.  

Berg's WOZZECK Opera MET Transmitted Live

The Metropolitan Opera was broadcast live at the Rialto in Sebastopol early Saturday morning   For opera aficionados or mildly enthusiastic opera fans, The Metropolitan Opera magnanimously avails itself to a larger audience who don't have access or disposable affluence to attend live opera productions in NYC.  I'm less than  a devoted opera buff but appreciate the opportune access - to a simultaneous broadcast on the big screen.  Tickets at the Rialto are $26 v. the average price of a ticket at the MET costing over $100; although $25 tickets are available on the day of the performance.  I noted the mean age of the almost sold out performance was 80 something (& they were a mean crowd). There were more walkers & motorized-chairs than spaces to accommodate them.  More officious were the ambulatory seniors who aggressively entered into rows as if to enter into a row.  Perhaps I'm being petty, but I didn't have the mindset, despite foreknowledge of Alban Berg's opera being very dark & dismal.  The German opera is set during WWI.  Berg (b. Austria 1885-1935) a prominent 20th C composer served in WWI 1915-18 as a soldier with the Austrian-Hungarian army.  Many of Berg's compositions were barred in Germany during  the 1930s & 40s because of his close association with Jewish composers & artists.  Berg's opera has a bleak musical score with a dark melodrama.  Before the opera commenced, the host who welcomed viewers inside the Metropolitan Opera House as the audience was getting seated appeared jittery and aroused sympathy.  The conductor, Yannick Nezet-Seguin (b. Canada 1975) and production director William Kentridge (b. S. Africa 1955) were interviewed and asked for an overture for the opera.  Nezet-Sequin discussed the complex & difficult aspects of performing Berg's opera.  Kentridge, born into a Jewish family during apartheid is a multi-media artists best known for his drawings & animated films.  The dimly lit set, animated films and transforming abstract figurative backdrop were impressive & prominent.  Utilizing an actor manned puppet with a gas mask face Wozzeck's young, son was disturbing.  Moreover, I wasn't in the frame of mind to sit through 2 hours of distressing entertainment. I left an hour into the screening having to maneuver through a battleground of wheelchairs and extended limbs.  I will attend future MET HD Live performances but with a more discerning proclivity for luminescent fare (fair enough).

Dolemite is My Name-Eddie Murphy Dyn O Mite Disaster

"Dolemite is My Name" starring Eddie Murphy in a biopic of an irrepressible comic who wants to come up big in the world.  Based on the life of Rudy Ray Moore (b Amer. 1927-08) a comic, actor and low budget filmmaker who found a niche audience in the black community.  "Dolemite is My Name" is as flippant and forgettable as Jimmie Walker from the 70s sitcom "Good Times."  Good times were not had by all who viewed this straight to Netflix film that would've been a resounding flop at the box office.  The film was nominated for this year's Golden Globe for Best Picture and Eddie Murphy received a nomination for Best Actor.  Murphy was playing his stock comedy schtick which was a perfect fit for this feckless flick.  Murphy's performance was mostly one note and not noteworthy of accolades.  The film should hold appeal for a similar niche audience for which the original "Dolemite" films gained notoriety.  There was little variety amongst the 7 films of Moore's genre which can be politically incorrect labeled black action/hillbilly hick & titties.  Rudy's ditty is now being touted as the father of rap.  I think that's a bunch of crap; just like the movie.  There were performances worth mentioning; Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Lady Red was phenomenal and the bankable, unheralded Craig Robinson - coo coo ca Choo.  Keegan-Michael Key was a lost cause in the film and Snoop Dog was spot on as DJ Roj.  "Dolemite is My Name" did not have game.