Storming into Providence to baptize the unbelievers is the return of The Book of Mormon, the insanely irreverent Trey Parker/Matt Stone/Robert Lopez concoction that upends the classic buddy quest (and, yes, Lord of the Rings is certainly referenced) and manages to skewer both America and religion in one fell swoop. Two young Mormons are sent […]
Fictional characters are fictional, which may not seem a profound observation, but real people can be, and to some extent must be, substantially fictional, too, because it is impossible to know them perfectly. Lizzie Borden was unquestionably a real historical figure, found innocent of brutally murdering her father and stepmother with an ax in a sensational […]
In its 21st year, the 2019 Providence French Film Festival, Feb 21–Mar 1, for the first time will screen all of its events on the Brown University campus at the Granoff Center for the Arts, 154 Angell St, PVD, according to Daniel Kamil, festival programming director, because its traditional venue, the Cable Car Cinema, closed. All screenings remain open […]
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 […]
“The flashing is what we use to get people excited about” the satellite, designed and built by Brown University undergraduate students, that was launched into earth orbit from the International Space Station (ISS) in July, said Jacob Leiken, one of the project directors with Brown Space Engineering (BSE). “Our primary mission is to make space […]
Like many Rhode Islanders, I first saw Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive 20 years ago at Trinity Rep. How fitting it is, then, to celebrate this groundbreaking production with The Wilbury Theatre Group, a theater known for producing provocative and thought-provoking theater. Let’s begin with the set. Walking in, Monica Shinn’s set welcomes you […]
As the sepia-tinged blanket of fall warms the landscape with hues of burnt orange, yellow and red, college campuses across New England are coming to life with all the bustle of a new semester. At Brown University, institutions such as the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology support classroom life by providing students with extensive resources and […]
Rhode Island filmmaker Denali Tiller directed a documentary named after three boys: Tre, Maison, Dasan. At the start of the film they are 13, 11, and 6 years old, and each has a parent (two fathers and one mother) incarcerated in the state prison, the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston. The film is scheduled to […]
RIIFF programming director Shawn Quirk guided us through a selection of features and shorts. Opening night ceremonies on August 7 feature dedication of the 2018 festival to emerita professor Winifred Brownell “who was instrumental in creating the URI film program.” Short films are the “crème de la crème” of RIIFF, Quirk said, considering the Academy […]
Charlie Hall started the Ocean State Follies in 1992. Over the next two decades, it became the renowned and definitive political comedy and satire act in Rhode Island. He retired the show after 20 years, taking a hiatus for five years, but recently revived it. The Follies have a regular monthly PVD combined dinner and […]