Posts from — October 2008

Based on Yvonne Latty’s book In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive, “In Conflict” vividly portrays the aftermath of sixteen Iraq war veterans whose lives have been drastically changed, mostly, for the worst. Adapted and directed by Douglas C. Wager, the play was a series of candid testimonies on the effects of the experience in Iraq. Several of them describe the unfortunate loss of limbs, the drastic toll the experience took on their daily lifestyles, and the insurmountable physical and mental pain. [Read more →]

Source: www.irenasvow.com

Terri Sue “Tovah” Feldshuh is the most acclaimed artist in the cast of ten performing in Dan Gordon’s Irena’s Vow. While the play succeeds in delivering a satisfying and occasionally chilling plot, the production fails to fully comprehend the true depth of its own characters and thus realize the narrative’s full potential. [Read more →]

Source: www.broadway.com

As Luther Billis and company declare what exactly is unlike anything else in the world while Nellie Forbush washes charming Emile de Becque out of her hair, it becomes obvious that spunk is something Rodgers’, Hammerstein’s, and Logan’s South Pacific delivers in spades.  Drawing from James A. Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific, Bartlett Sher’s endeavor is an enjoyable experience that fails to be anything more socially responsible. [Read more →]

It was over fifty years ago that James Michener wrote Tales of the South Pacific. It was fifty years ago that Michener’s play was first made into a movie. And now, Richard Pearce directs his own version of the critically acclaimed novel. Pearce’s musical adaptation of the book and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s play is impeccable. A wonderful cast, beautiful music, and a stunning setting, come together to create a great film portraying the hardships and tensions of life at war and away from home. [Read more →]

We have all heard Anne Frank’s famously tragic story, and Dan Gordon’s Irena’s Vow is just another “Anne Frank” story. It is a story based on a very serious matter, the heroic efforts of Christians putting their own life at stake to save the lives of Jews. I never lose interest in reading various accounts of this sad part of our history, and the text of Irena’s Vow was indeed a wonderful chronicle of Irene Gut Opdyke’s account of her role during the holocaust. However, the performance was just sub-par.
First and foremost, Michael Parva’s casting was not very accurate. Even so much as the main role of Irena, being played by highly esteemed Tovah Feldshuh, was not acted out at its best. Although Feldshuh’s techniques of sharp breathe intakes and quivering lips definitely added to the emotions that the play was supposed to convey, it just was not strong enough. [Read more →]

Portraying a passionate subject about a passionate war, “In Conflict” puts the Iraq War into perspective in this Off-Broadway production. Yvonne Latty, the brains behind this play, captures the personal accounts of seventeen soldiers who serve or have served in the war, and brings them to the public. There is much confusion and hidden information from the American people about the war. People do not know what to believe anymore. Are we winning? Are we losing? Are we doing the right thing? With its wonderful script, casting and setting, “In Conflict” succeeds at conveying the ambiguities of the war and exposing them to the public eye.
As the play starts off, images of the American flag can be seen on the stage and on the flat- screens around it. Truly, a sense of patriotism is evoked in the audience. A group of seventeen soldiers enters the scene, and throughout the two hours of the play, we listen to each of their accounts of their role in the Iraq War. As involved or not involved in politics and international affairs as you may be, the stories grip your interest immediately. A combination of deeply emotional and sad stories and ones that are courageous and uplifting create a great balance which really gives the play a good flow. In addition to the scripting, the music during the acts sets the mood as well. [Read more →]

What I thought to be a one-person play, was, in fact, not. In Dan Gordon’s new play, “Irena’s Vow”, Irena retells the true story of her hiding 12, or rather, 13, lives in the cellar of a German major’s house, as well as endangering her own. Centered around life and death, she devises a plan to help them and lives to tell the story. At first exposed to the script, I thought Irena would be playing the voices of several different characters, with photographs projected on the panel behind her, but it was a one-person play in that she retold her story through herself, with the help of the supporting cast invented from her memories. [Read more →]

If you want to experience romance forbidden by society’s morals and ideals, then South Pacific tells the story and draws you in it. The irresistible new revival of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein’s South Pacific since 1949 brought to attention the theme of love and racial tolerance, a concept still relevant today. Held at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, South Pacific captivated its audience with its dreamy setting, blast-from-the-past costumes, catchy melodies, and adept cast. [Read more →]

I was born in a small town near city Wen Zhou, China. Opportunity was limited. People were expected to work in the fields or seek minimum payment jobs in the city. My mother was the exception. She, dropped out of middle school in order to support her family, started a successful door knob manufacturing business when I was three years old. By the time I reach eight years old I was rebellious. I was fascinated with the city life and envied those that who attended elementary school in the city —their parents would bring them to KFC. I begged my mother to let me go to school in the city and promised her I would behave. She finally succumbed, “promise me you will study hard.” It was my mother’s determination to provide the best learning environment for me that I entered the most prestigious elementary school in the city at the age of eight. [Read more →]

images.theglobeandmail.com/ archives/RTGAM/ima

I went to see the show, In Conflict, in Greenwich Village. I was looking forward to seeing this play, especially because I was never in the area before. I expected the play to be a little bit depressing but to mostly portray the war in Iraq as necessary and its veterans as heroes. However, this is not at all what I actually watched, it was something of a completely different nature.
The play is based on the book that a journalist wrote about the stories of Iraqi war veterans. She interviewed about 12 people and asked them about their experiences in the war and their life when they came back home to the United States. Most of the people she interviewed, tell her all of the negative experiences they have had in the war. Some suffered from horrible injuries, while others spoke about the loss of a relative or friend. Students from Temple University acted out the veterans in the book. [Read more →]