The Useless Tree

Theater

  • In the company of actors

    This summer I am acting.  I have a small part in a regional theater production.  Rehearsals began yesterday and I want to write a bit about the experience, but I am going to do so in a circumspect manner, to… Continue reading

  • Sondheim on Creativity

    子曰：“述而不作，信而好古，竊比於我老彭.” The Master said: "Transmitting insight, but never creating insight, standing by my words and devoted to the ancients: perhaps I'm a little like that old sage, P'eng. (7.1) Last Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Sondheim, a… Continue reading

  • A Taoist Reading of Chekhov

    On Saturday night my summer students and I took in the Williamstown Theater Festival’s production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters.  It was a very good show.  Performances across the board were strong, and the director effectively drew out the discomforting interweave… Continue reading

  • The Tao of “The Tempest”

         We went to see a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest last night, put on by the students here at Williams.  It was a fine performance.  Prospero was aloof and callous, Caliban was Gollum-like in his torment, and Ariel… Continue reading

  • Frost/Nixon

        While in the city last week, I went to see Frost/Nixon, a Broadway play about the 1977 interviews done by David Frost with Richard Nixon.  It was a great show.  Frank Langella, who played Nixon, was masterful, as… Continue reading

  • Narcissism

     This review in the NYT caught my eye just now: Vacuousness and self-absorption, it appears, never go out of style. In a new play with an unpublishable title, Michael Domitrovich introduces five 20-somethings who are awash in both — irritating… Continue reading

  • Broadway Tao

          Last week was my daughter’s thirteenth birthday – the first teenage year.  I took her into Manhattan, as I have done each of the prior three years, to see a Broadway show.  In fact, we saw two, a… Continue reading

  • There’s Only This

        I went to see the musical "Rent" today with my twelve year-old daughter.  I know it has been around for a long time, and I have heard a lot about it, but I never had the chance to… Continue reading