Category — Anna

As Jeff Mermelstein displayed his collection of photographs, all went silent except for the old-fashioned whirring sounds of the projector. At times, he stopped at a photo and briefly gave a caption. The class burst out in laughter at some of his photos: a model’s almost-naked photo shoot, a woman’s badly sun-burnt back, a yawning businessman, and the behinds of elephants. Mermelstein’s photos were amusing and filled the room with laughter. Not only did he share his collection of street photography, but he also displayed his humorous personality. [Read more →]

“Waltz with Bashir” was definitely out of the ordinary and separated itself from the usual documentary. Although a bit unusual, the animated documentary, directed by Ari Folman, was unique in that it was a surreal depiction of the guilt, death and shock of war – to the soldiers and of what really happened.

“Waltz with Bashir” is based on a true story of Folman’s life and experiences in the Lebanon War in 1982, a time of violence and conflict when Israel forces invaded southern Lebanon. At a bar, he meets a friend who tells him of the persistent nightmare that comes back to haunt him everyday – an image of 26 menacing dogs. Ari realizes that he does not remember anything during his service in the Israeli Army mission and decides to travel around the world to find the missing pieces of his life and relive his memory. [Read more →]

Everybody has, at least once, skimmed books or passages for plot, whether it was a school reading assignment or choosing a book to read. However, we never actually read between the lines, scrutinizing each and every word. In her book Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them (2006), Francine Prose provides the handy guidebook to writing and reading because ultimately, “reading morphs into writing.” She uses passages as examples from the masters of classic novels and analyzes them, showing readers the different techniques of “good writing”. [Read more →]

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 →]

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 →]

It is easy to overlook the things we take for granted, to take advantage of, to accept without question. Often, as human beings, we do not realize what we take for granted unless it is taken away from us. For me, I realized that I took my family for granted because I only realized how precious they were when my family was torn apart. [Read more →]