Keeping calm while carrying on – quite a lot of carrying on, really – is the theme of The Night Watch, the Gamm Theatre’s US premiere of Hattie Naylor’s adaptation for the stage of Sarah Waters’ novel set in London during World War II and its immediate aftermath. The first act is set in 1947 […]
It is difficult to summarize or even explain what Thom Pain (based on nothing) is about: a one-man monologue with surreal references to everything from Shakespeare (repeatedly) to the Song of Songs. Much of the material involves a somewhat central narrative about a child and a remarkably literal shaggy dog story, to which the monologist often returns after his […]
Since 2008, federal law has required “parity” for most health insurance coverage of mental illness (including substance abuse) on the same terms as physical illness, and many states including Rhode Island impose additional requirements on nearly all health insurance coverage even in cases that would be exempt from federal rules. The Affordable Care Act of […]
Life expectancy is not supposed to decline in wealthy First World countries. As I wrote two years ago reporting that 2015 saw the first decrease since 1993 at the height of the AIDS epidemic (“American Life Expectancy Unexpectedly Declines”, Jan 11, 2017), “Life expectancy is a measurement that summarizes almost everything about quality of life […]
[See also, “News Analysis: RI to Legalize Recreational Cannabis,” Jan 16, 2019] The more I talk to people on both sides of RI Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposal to legalize recreational cannabis, the more pessimistic I become that anything at all can be passed by the General Assembly: the proposal is almost custom-crafted to displease everyone and […]
Four public high school girls and an intelligent, caring teacher study and rehearse Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. This may seem nothing very unusual, but that play is a classic story of cliques forming within small groups, politicking for advantage. Its subject, the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693, were driven in large part by the testimony […]
[See also “Opinion: Governor’s Proposal to Legalize Recreational Cannabis – A Self-Inflicted Wound”, Jan 16, 2019] Gov. Gina Raimondo will soon formally propose to legalize recreational use of cannabis, citing pressure from legalization already accomplished in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont; and from legalization widely regarded as imminent in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Norman Birenbaum, of […]
Newport Playhouse deploys an obviously talented cast in their production of A Doublewide, Texas, Christmas who struggle valiantly to elevate a script from the writing team billing themselves as “Jones, Hope, Wooten” – actually Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten – who collectively have authored nearly two dozen plays that possess all the humor, charm, and […]
The most significant change affecting the ordinary person in the last few decades has been the volume and immediacy of information. Almost every one of us voluntarily carries a smart phone now, which generates a record of everywhere we have been every few minutes, going back months or years. We voluntarily install apps that promise […]
The 1946 Frank Capra film It’s a Wonderful Life has become such a beloved classic that nearly everyone has seen it at least once and knows the story, so I’m going to assume that “spoilers” are impossible in describing the stage musical by the Community Players at Jenks Auditorium in Pawtucket. If you’ve somehow managed […]