Bad Will Hunting Bad Will Hunting
Two new books on Shakespeare examine his shadowy life, his times and the origins of his imagination. A third explores whether the Bard of Avon was, in fact, Edward de Vere.
Feb 28, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Swift
Harold Pinter: Art, Truth and Politics Harold Pinter: Art, Truth and Politics
The pursuit of truth in drama is elusive, but in life it is mandatory, wrote Harold Pinter, who died Wednesday at 78. When he won the 2005 Nobel Prize for literature, he condemned ...
Dec 8, 2005 / Books & the Arts / The Nation
I Act, Therefore I Am I Act, Therefore I Am
Admired from a distance and reviled up close, Laurence Olivier could establish a relation with his audience that was like an infection. His official biography chronicles a personal...
Nov 17, 2005 / Books & the Arts / David Thomson
The Most Revolutionary Art Form The Most Revolutionary Art Form
Can a vibrant and cosmopolitan artistic scene heal the wounds of Afghanistan's traumatic past?
Aug 5, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Ishaan Tharoor
Arthur Miller: 1915–2005 Arthur Miller: 1915–2005
The politics of a progressive playwright.
May 26, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Tony Kushner
Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent
Unlike news reports, theater isn't expected to stick to the facts. By nature, the form is duplicitous, built on a sandy foundation of make-believe and pretense.
Oct 14, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon
Advertisements for Myself Advertisements for Myself
Solo theatrical performances are like ads. Everyone claims to hate them but nevertheless finds the good ones irresistible. A good ad acts like a tonic, making a new idea easy to sw...
Mar 4, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Kalb
Company Man Company Man
The name Shakespeare in Britain is rather like the names Ford, Disney and Rockefeller in the United States. He is less an individual than an institution, less an artist than an a...
Feb 12, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Terry Eagleton
The Closest of Strangers The Closest of Strangers
Tony Kushner's latest play, Caroline, or Change, left me contemplating its curious title, which suggests an indecisive playwright. Why not just Caroline, or simply Change?
Jan 8, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Baz Dreisinger
What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?
"People try to be so fussy and particular when they look at politics," observes Zillah, a character in Tony Kushner's 1987 play, A Bright Room Called Day, "but what I think an un...
Dec 22, 2003 / Books & the Arts / William Johnson