Free Play’s 'Next to Normal' overwhelms and impresses
I have to be honest: I walked into Schwartz thinking I would hate Free Play’s production of “Next To Normal.” “Next To Normal” is one of my favorite musicals, and I actually saw it on Broadway about a year and a half ago, a month before it closed. When I saw it, I started sobbing […]
‘In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)’ satisfies
“In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)”: The show with two possible titles leaves the audience wondering what the show is about. It could either prove that the audience member in question has a dirty mind, or just prove that the audience member was naive in not expecting this from a Brandeis theater production. […]
‘Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy’ brings self-loathing to new levels
I picked up “Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy” for the same reason I pick up most books—its cover looked pretty. The book is only slightly larger than my palm and boasts a hot pink cover with a scribbled-on rat. I assumed it was a book about neuroscience or weird psych cases, but instead it was the “poetry” of […]
Free Play’s ‘Gabler’ gives Brandeis a ‘Hedda’-ache
The play “Hedda Gabler” by Henrik Ibsen was put on last weekend by Free Play in the Mandel atrium. The show was put on to almost universal derision due to incredibly poor emoting, misinterpretations of the play itself and inconsistent acting. This may or may not be due to poor casting—it was difficult to tell […]
Loving Liquid Latex: unique show turns flesh into canvas
Last Tuesday night, the annual Liquid Latex performance reminded us of why we should be proud to be Brandeisians. It was personally my first time watching Liquid Latex (my first-year self decided that it would be much better to watch the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra last year than to see almost-nude dancers), but now I understand why […]
‘Brandeis Cares’ raises HIV/AIDS awareness through variety show
“Brandeis Cares” was put on last night in the Sherman Function Hall to raise money for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation’s leading industry-based HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. The show was put on as a series of performances of popular Broadway songs, featuring many of the students involved in the Brandeis […]
Don’t ‘Bash: Latter Day Plays’
“Bash: Latter Day Plays,” put on by Free Play this weekend, is a show that’s particularly hard to swallow. On one hand, it is a show about Mormons and their sins that, given the background of Mormons, sounds terribly dull. As a result of the play, on the other hand, the writer Neil LaBute, was […]
Who’s annoyed with ‘Ordinary’ Virginia Woolf?
To be fair, I have read about two pages of Virginia Woolf’s work, specifically two pages of “Mrs. Dalloway.” From those two pages, I gathered that party planning was a big deal way back when. This was the only knowledge I had about Woolf when I went to watch “Ordinary Mind, Ordinary Day,” a play […]
Uneven 'Cabaret' boasts great performances
Woodland Theatre Company put on the musical “Cabaret” by Christopher Isherwood, John Kander and Fred Ebb last weekend. The musical takes place in Germany in the 1930s. The show begins with a flamboyant man welcoming the audience with the song “Willkommen” as several cabaret girls seductively dance on stage. This man is the Emcee (a […]
‘Beauty and the Beast’ in 3D
At the 9 p.m. screening of the award-winning classic “Beauty and the Beast” that I attended, the audience uniformly consisted of college-aged students. Although the Disney franchise is definitely trying to relive the Disney Renaissance by repackaging old movies and making them “new,” they are still directed toward the same audience, just 10 years older. […]
'Proof' explores insanity and mathematics
“Too often evidence is confused with proof.” This is what director Jessie Field ’13 wrote in her director’s note about Free Play’s “Proof,” put on last weekend. It is an apt line to keep in mind when thinking about the show. The play begins with Catherine (Jamie Perutz ’13), a pretty but tired-looking 26-year-old woman […]
‘Breaking Dawn’ potentially best comedy of 2011
The “Twilight” series has a negative reputation, and for good reason. On the surface, it appears to be somewhat exciting, revolving around a woman’s interaction with an elusive vampire family living among humans. Upon reading the first pages of the novels or watching the first minutes of any of the four films, however, it is […]
‘Merely Players’ more than just a side-project for HTP
“Merely Players” was a wholly successful side-project put on by the Shakespeare group Hold Thy Peace this past weekend. A comedy by Brandeis graduate Phoebe Roberts ’09, M.A. ’12, “Merely Players” playfully mocks theater troupes’ and actors’ constant bid for the spotlight while still glorifying them. The play was put on in Schwartz Auditorium, a […]
‘Godot’ well worth the wait
The show begins with a ragged man trying to remove his boot. He yelps in anguish as he fails to remove it. Another man appears, almost as scruffy looking, and does not assist in removing the boot. Eventually, the first man gets it off, looks inside and notices nothing is there. This is how “Waiting […]
Last Friday night: becoming a Goth dancing queen
When one thinks Goth club, the following imagery may come to mind: a cold, damp room in some obscure basement, the floor covered in dust and spiders, and angst-filled teenagers bathed in black and eyeliner. There may or may not be dancing, if by dancing you mean shuffling back and forth in one spot, or […]
Getting reacquainted with 'Harry Potter'
It is bizarre to think that “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” was released in the United States in 1997. I remember first picking it up and being bewildered at why so many people were interested in reading these books. Pretty soon, though, I had breezed right through it, along with “The Chamber of Secrets” […]
Upscale 'Puccini for Beginners' almost entertains
Movies, in many cases, are a way to get away from the stresses and demands of real life. Why deal with a pressing issue when you can sit on a couch and watch a movie about people who have sillier issues that will inevitably get resolved? Or watch a movie about people with worse issues […]
On DVD: ‘Submarine’ navigates first love
“Submarine” is an indie British comedy-drama that has recently come out on DVD. In short, it is the epitome of an indie film. The hero of this film is 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), who is exactly how you would imagine an adolescent Brit to be: a tad sensitive, more than a smidge strange and, […]
‘(500) Days’ and ‘Pretty Woman’ feature quirky femmes
We are in the midst of midterms. There is always work that should be done or work that should have been done already looming overhead. Although this stresses me out as much as it does anyone else, I find that this is the optimal time to watch movies non-stop. And that is what I’ve been […]
Candlepin bowling: mastering the New England art
Last weekend marked my first venture in candlepin bowling. My friends and I originally found out about candlepin bowling when we wanted to go bowling for my birthday. Upon arriving at Sacco’s Bowl Haven in Somerville, we were appalled to notice that, not only was there a pretty fancy looking restaurant attached to the bowling […]
