DIRECTOR TIMOTHY DOUGLAS gives Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" an update in the Folger Theatre's current production -- it's set in modern-day D.C. and is inspired by the city's annual Caribbean Carnival.
"Much Ado About Nothing" is about two couples -- Claudio (Alexis Camins) and Hero (Roxi Victorian), who are about to be married, and Beatrice (Rachel Leslie) and Benedick (Howard W. Overshown) won't admit they love each other. Claudio and Hero try to trick their friends into admitting their feelings, and they conspire with Don Pedro (Tony Nam), a prince, to get them together. As if that's not complicated enough, the prince's brother Don John (Joel David Santner) is jealous of Claudio's favor with the prince and decides to undermine the wedding.
Continue Reading "Shakespeare Goes to Carnival: 'Much Ado About Nothing'" »
FOR JONATHAN LETHEM, Brooklyn is a playground for the imagination, at once real and unreal.
First in 1999's "Motherless Brooklyn" and later in 2003's "The Fortress of Solitude," he mapped out the streets and parks, the schoolkids and the shady characters, the street ball games and the back-alley deals that once defined the borough where he grew up and currently lives. He is, however, interested in realism only insofar it provides a backdrop for his often fantastical tales about henchmen with Tourette's or music critics with a superhero dreams.
For his latest novel, "Chronic City," Lethem moves the action northwestward to Manhattan, which has the feel of a video game or an alternate universe. Allusions to real-world celebrities and movies mix with obviously fictionalized artists and television shows. A former child actor named Chase Insteadman befriends an eccentric cultural critic named Perkus Tooth, who holds forth on Marlon Brando, Norman Mailer, and Stanley Kubrick, all while smoking different blends of weed nonstop. Thus, the title.
"Chronic City" is Lethem's most otherworldly novel since 1998's "Girl in Landscape," and while it may not carry the grit and grime of his Brooklyn books, it nevertheless shows him to be a deeply imaginative and adventurous writer. For his appearance in D.C., we asked Lethem to discuss the boroughs and help us decode the book.
Continue Reading "New York, New York: Jonathan Lethem, 'Chronic City'" »
THIS WEEK: Theaters are constantly trying to think of ways to make Shakespeare new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's Secret Agent "Richard II."
We're excited for the Folger's Caribbean-themed "Much Ado About Nothing" -- the setting seems like a perfect fit for the cheerful, boisterous comedy. We hope they keep the calypso dance interludes to a minimum though. Shakespeare's long enough as it is.
» Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE; through Nov. 29, $30-$60; 202-544-7077. (Capitol South)
Photo by James Kegley
THIS WEEK: Take a break from the daily grind to browse countless works of Spanish-language literature during a free tour of the Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room, part of the SpainDC festival.
There's even an audio collection, featuring authors reading from their own books, in case reading seems like too much trouble. A talk follows the tour. Reservations required.
» Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, 1st Street and Independence Avenue SE; Tues., Oct. 13, 1 p.m.- 3 p.m., free; RSVP at Spaindc.org. (Capitol South)
Photo by Michaela McNichol
JUST AS Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery boasts, this really is "good stuff". Every day this quaint burger joint dishes out piping-hot burgers and hand-spun shakes to the nines, but with such a limited menu, it can grow old...and very quickly. How many times can you honestly eat the same twelve burgers? Well, you"ll be happy to hear that a new burger has now officially been added to the menu. Finally! A little more variation! What would an Obama burger be without a Michelle's Melt by its side? This new, Michelle Obama-inspired addition is comprised of a free-range turkey burger topped with sweet caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, a ruby red tomato, crisp lettuce, and South Lawn Herb Garden mayo with herbs plucked straight from the garden, all on a freshly baked wheat bun.
Continue Reading "Ben Franklin Would Be Proud: Michelle's Melt Debuts" »
GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS look back as well as forward this fall with a slew of shows that focus on history -- James Osher's photographs, a look at industrialization in Japan, a visit from China's most famous army. There's even a jaw-dropping Hirshhorn exhibition that's been open for a while but won't be around forever.
William T. Wiley: Multitasker
Contemporary American artist William T. Wiley does it all, from drawing to sculpture to film. This retrospective features 88 of his works from the 1960s and on and takes a look at Wiley's ideas on war, global warming, racial tensions, pollution and practically every other problem facing the world today. Educational -- yes. Depressing -- possibly.
» Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1661 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; opens Oct. 2, through Jan. 24, free; 202-633-2850, americanart.si.edu. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)
AUTUMN IS THE SEASON for literary blockbusters, when publishers haul out the biggest authors — and sometimes their weightiest tomes — for readers who left their thrillers and romances on the beach. This year is no different, and, locally, autumn means big events that are musts for bookhounds.
WE KNOW YOU WANTED to go out of town and enjoy the beaches of Delaware or North Carolina before the unofficial end of summer on Tuesday. You wanted to stroll the boardwalk in your seersucker suit before you put it away for the winter.
But you can't. Because this is the season of the staycation, and you're poor just like everyone else. They're even taking away your Metro this weekend. But you must fight back! Don't sit in your house! This is Labor Day weekend, during which we avoid labor at all costs and embrace excess and hedonism — within reason. Don't do anything you'll be sad to see Facebook pictures of on Tuesday.
We've got your whole weekend planned out — and we'll try to save you as much cash as possible. Try this:
» Jazz in the Garden
Start off the weekend on Friday evening with the second-to-last jazzy evening in the National Sculpture Garden. Bring a bottle of three-buck chuck and any friends you can find who would rather drink and sit on grass than work in an office at 5:30 on a Friday. That should be most of them.
The music is provided by jazz guitarist Phil Mathieu this week, but it's really all about sitting on the grass and drinking either the bad wine you brought or the sangria you can pick up in the garden.
Continue Reading "Delicious Burdens: What to Do Over Labor Day Weekend" »
MONDAY: Underground theatre company Taffety Punk returns with its yearly "Bootleg Shakespeare," for which the actors have one day to rehearse one of the Bard's more obscure plays.
This year it's "Troilus and Cressida," that time-tested tale of love and betrayal set during the Trojan War. Sex, misogyny and violence abound, as is generally the case with Shakespeare. Oh, and tickets are free!
» Folger Shakespeare Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE; Mon., July 27, 7 p.m., free; 202-261-6612, Taffetypunk.com. (Capitol South)
Photo courtesy National Portrait Gallery
SATURDAY: With a double bill like this, how could you possibly stay home on a Saturday night?
We feel kind of silly for even telling you this — surely it's been shouted from every rooftop — but Sir Elton John and Billy Joel are reuniting for a reprise of their 2008 Face 2 Face Tour. Expect to see the two superstars with twin pianos, banging out their Grammy award-winning, chart-topping hits. You all know "Tiny Dancer," "Your Song" and "Bennie and the Jets," don't you? Now what about "An Innocent Man,"Just the Way You Are" and "Uptown Girl"? Thought so.
Now get out there and listen to your favorites live! Betcha 20 bucks they sing "Piano Man."
» Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol St. SE; Sat., July 11, 7 p.m., $56.50-$182, 888-632-6287. (Navy Yard)
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo by Frank Johnston/The Washington Post
Addison Road