My review of Geek Theater: 15 Plays by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers will come out in short bursts. Sometimes I will devote these mini posts to a single play as in the below, other times I might discuss a couple of plays per post. For the Living is a simple but elegantly crafted short play by Chie-Goon Lee, and it kind of blew my … Continue reading GEEK THEATER REVIEW PART 3: FOR THE LIVING
I changed my mind – instead of a three more very long parts, my review of Geek Theater: 15 Plays by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers will come out in short bursts. Sometimes I will devote these mini posts to a single play as in the below, other times I might discuss a couple of plays per post. There will be *SPOILERS* in these reviews. … Continue reading GEEK THEATER REVIEW PART 2: MISSION TO MARS
Every once and a while I stop what I’m doing and look around. This is the world, right? The real world? I wonder to myself: when did it happen? Was it the emergence of the internet? Or of convention culture? At what point did the geeks for reals inherit the Earth? When I was a teenager in Georgia in the 90s it felt like there … Continue reading GEEK THEATER REVIEW PART 1: INTRODUCTION
*SPOILERS, if you care about such things* There is a concept of terrifying beauty at the center of Asymmetric, an idea that encapsulates decades of American foreign policy with chilling accuracy. This idea doesn’t emerge until about midway through the show, so it helps that this svelte, deeply political espionage drama from playwright Mac Rogers clicks along so doggone fast. Produced by Gideon Productions in … Continue reading REVIEW: ASYMMETRIC
I have been dragging my feet on putting together this Pre-Game for Gideon Productions’ Asymmetric before my proper review posts in the next few days. There are a number of things contributing to this – two other reviews already in the queue for the site, a bigger project that I’ve been working on for Pop Matters about Joss Whedon, and also the wonderful and frenetic … Continue reading PRE-GAME: GIDEON PRODUCTIONS’ ASYMMETRIC
In preparation for The Debate Society’s new play Jacuzzi, I wrote a very long thing about the different narrative effects and meanings water has had in all of their plays. I was delighted to find that the fully functionally hot tub that is the centerpiece of this new production actually represents something very simple and obvious: wealth and status. Presented as the culmination of the company’s three-year residency with … Continue reading REVIEW: JACUZZI
This week I will be seeing Jacuzzi, a new play by The Debate Society that is being presented at Ars Nova. My proper review will post sometime after it opens on October 13. I have a lot to say about The Debate Society company and their remarkable body of work – probably enough to fill a book at this point. It is always difficult for … Continue reading PRE-GAME: THE DEBATE SOCIETY’S JACUZZI
*Some Big Spoilers for Snowpiercer* There was a time when I loved nothing more in a movie, TV show, or comic than a good old fashioned eleventh hour betrayal. There’s obviously a proud literary tradition of betrayal in fiction that includes the Bible, Milton, and Shakespeare, but here are a couple of random but well-known contemporary examples: The Empire Strikes Back. The first season of … Continue reading I THINK WE’RE ALL BASICALLY DONE WITH BETRAYAL, RIGHT?
*Mild Spoilers* The spinning globe of a 76 gas station in a redwood jungle. The first iPad “charge complete” chirp in a decade. The palm frond surgical masks worn by a group of ape doctors. Director Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a terrific action movie that earns its keep by building in time to let us appreciate stylish little details … Continue reading A HIP LITTLE DETAIL IN DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Back in February I posted a thing about The CW show Arrow, which is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. I fell off watching it for a while, because of things like Mad Men, House of Cards, and Game of Thrones, but now I am back, smack in the doldrums of the middle of the first season. The series started very strongly and … Continue reading THE CW’S ARROW: ONE LAST THOUGHT AND THEN I WILL SHUT UP ABOUT IT
Surreal Time Press 