Theatre – Page 2 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

David Mamet’s Woke Pain Behind His Masks

“Always tell the truth. It’s the easiest thing to remember.” -David Mamet

I first arrived in Chicago in 1999 aiming for a theatre career. I arrived just as David Mamet, one of the bright lights in the theatre firmament at the time, was spreading his wings and moving on from the city that birthed the characters in his plays. Here’s the thing, I was never that big a fan of his work.

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I saw the genius in it, but in the viewing it was always as predictable as it was entertaining. In later years after Mamet had found success in film I actually came to believe that his work for the big screen was actually better than it ever was on a stage. As an example, I enjoy the film version of Glengarry Glenn Ross more than I ever have on stage and I attended the Amrerican premiere of that play at The Gooodman Theatre back in 1984. The Spainish Prisoner and State and Main are delights that I always enjoy revisting.

To be fair, I’m in a minority among my professional peers. There’s no denying Mamet’s influence in the theatre and film. Personally, I was more a fan of Sam Shepard’s work. The two ran neck and neck in popularity in my early days in the theatre. But that’s not what this is about.

Somewhere along the way, Mamet became even more of an enigma when he opened up about his political views, which in some ways spun in counter orbit to the milieu of much of what his plays seemed to profess. His plays had a power dynamic that while not completely in sync with the “eat the rich” vein, both celebrated and condemned the powerful, alongside empathy with the downtrodden or less capable.

He was always a gadfly who reveled in that reputation. But there’s reveling, and then there’s reveling. At times it seemed as if he aspired to assume a Bertolt Brecht-like influence. I’m referrring more about his views on theatre, than his political views. Check out his book True and False, or the videos and articles you can find all over the Internet.

No matter what you thought of his work on the stage or in the cinema, once he began commenting about politcal and social issues he became, I dare say, more entertaining than any piece of dramatic literature he created.

In a recent podcast with Sam Fragoso, Mamet revealed that part of the reason for his seemingly 180 degree turn in professing his political beliefs was because those in the media and literary circles that had always promoted him turned away from his work. No criticism stings more than being ignored. I’m not sure what’s the chicken or what’s the egg in that discussion, but it was a statement that did leave quite a bit of egg on his face. He later got fed up with Fragaoso and walked off the podcast.

Continuing to stay in the entertainment news this week, Mamet authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal called Sorry, Billionaires — There’s No Escape, essentially saying we’e all doomed regardless of how we’re measured on the wealth scale in life. Biilionaires who think they’ve built doomsday hide-aways will be undone by the laborers they hire to keep the places running. Of course those less privileged don’t even matter in the equation. It’s a reguritation of the history of the world that Brecht and Sondheim did better.

The thing of it is, for many Mamet was always as entertaining as he was enigmatic . I find him more so in these later chapters of his story, even with its odd and often confusing mix of woke hurt feelings bouncing up against his conservative bent.

But then, as Mamet, contradicting his maxim about truth says, “it’s not a lie. It’s a gift for fiction.”

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

A bit of this, a bit of that. All good bits.

It’s the Dog Days of Summer and it’s been a hot one so far. We’re traveling again, but there’s still some interesting Sunday Morning Reading to share. Some of it hopeful, some elegiac. Some just geeky and fun. Enjoy.

Kicking things off is a piece in The Atlantic from Anna Deavere Smith called When You Don’t Look Like Anything. She’s a singular artist always worth paying attention to. Her story of her 50-year search for the American character is certainly more than worth your time. Damn good stuff.

A.R. Moxon popped up on my radar this week with a piece called Total Eclipses. It’s part 2 of a series, the first being Be Bolder, Not a Boulder. If you’re like me and looking for any light at the end of any tunnel these days, do give both pieces a read.

NatashaMH offers up An Ode To The Poetic Detours. It’s about writing and where she finds inspiration, but more broadly, it’s about observing, noticing, listening, seeing, and feeling between the lines we sometimes get trapped within.

Will Dunn asks Are Emoji’s Killing Language? I’ve been saying they are for quite some time. For the life of me I don’t understand why we seem intent on regressing back to an age of hieroglyphics instead using the complex beauty of words and language.

Mathew Ingram says The Google Link Economy Is Dying and It’s Not Coming Back. He’s not wrong. Actually, he’s very right.

Health is a big deal in tech these days, especially when it comes to adding features to improve monitoring what’s going on in our bodies. Frankly, as someone who uses medical devices for monitoring my diabetes, the promises to add that kind of monitoring to smart devices, along with blood pressure and other conditions, sound hollow, seeming as realistic to me as self-driving cars. We may get there one day, but for now it’s mostly a clever way to market something new to increase the bottom line. Victoria Song takes a look at Samsung’s recent effort to check out our level of antioxidants with their smartwatch in I ‘Fooled’ Samsung’s New Antioxidant Feature With a Cheez-It.

Much has been made of Paramount’s caving to Donald Trump, leading to the firing of late not comedian Stephen Colbert. That was quickly followed up by the Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s skewering new season opener of South Park. Paramount paid up, got its merger, and in an Aristotelian, if not Mel Brooksian sense there’s some grand comedy in the entire thing. I’m a fan of Alexandra Petri’s piece examining the moment pre-South Park titled Are You Laughing Yet?

Sometimes we just need to laugh at what feels like no laughing matter.

(Image from Milen Kolev on Unsplash)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

CNN Will Air George Clooney’s ‘Good Night and Good Luck’ Live From Broadway on June 7

This paradox should be a must watch.

I’d mark your calendar for this one. CNN will be airing George Clooney’s production of the play Good Night, and Good Luck, live on June 7th from the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway. It will be the first time that a live play performance has been televised.

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The play is adaptation of the 2005 movie of the same name that Clooney co-wrote, directed, and starred in, based on CBS journalist’s Edward R. Murrow’s work to expose Joe McCarthy during the Red Scare in the 1950s. In the movie Clooney played Fred Friendly, Murrow’s producer. On the stage he plays Murrow.

The Broadway production has met with critical acclaim and just recently announced that it had recouped its initial investment during its run that began in March of 2025.

I’m a big fan of the movie (I wrote a little about it here) and imagine I will also be of the stage version. I’m sure the story’s central message of standing up to bullies and demagogues translates just as well in a live version as it does on film.

I’m looking very much forward to watching this and would encourage you to as well. I know there are some who see Clooney as one of the villains in our recent political turmoil. And some see CNN has a willing accomplice to the madness we face. Even with what may seem like all of that irony, I would urge you to set that aside and give Good Night, and Good Luck a watch. As I said then

This isn’t some moment of nostalgia for a time gone by. It is a recognition that where we are now is a place we’ve been before. This time around those that control the media and messaging have, for the moment, much more control than they did in Murrow’s day. Make no mistake, they had some control then, but now it’s more pervasive and the Murrow’s, Friendly’s and Paley’s are fewer in number.

Setting aside the historical significance of this broadcast of a live play, and the paradox between the message and the messengers, I can’t think of a better reason to watch given where we are and will continue to be for some time.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

We’re always chasing bubbles.

Back from a brief hiatus, there’s plenty to read and share. It feels like it’s becoming increasingly important, and perhaps more urgent to do both. I promise there’s some happiness amidst all of the Strum and Drang down the page.

First up, Canadian Stephen Marche is singing the Red, White and Blues. It’s easy to look from the outside in, or even from within and be dismayed at what’s going on in this country. Because it’s so damn easy to see. Unless of course you’re still in shock, or choosing to ignore it. Marche’s tune doesn’t hit a false note as he says America was a “country of bubbles.”

David Todd McCarty is back Poking The Bear. It’s good seeing him write about politics again.

Drik de Klein of History of Sorts wrote Evil, I Think, Is The Absence of Empathy back in 2019, using Captain G.M. Gilbert’s quote from the Nuremberg trials as the headline. I remember reading it a while ago and it resurfaced this week, proving, as always, just how short our attention spans are. Or perhaps our comprehension and retention capabilities.

NatashaMH says, “I can’t stand people being ignorant bastards” in her excellent piece Our Modern Discontents. Again, a viewpoint from outside the red, white, and blue bubble that feels like it’s ready to pop.

Jacob Silverman’s Welcome To The Slop World: How The Hostile Internet Is Driving Us Crazy is an invitation to a party that turned into something nobody was expecting.

Speaking of bubbles, big tech is in hot water of its own boiling these days. Google is facing anti-trust charges and a possible breakup that probably won’t happen. Wendy Grossman takes a look at Three Times A Monopolist.

Who’d a thunk it? Bot Farms Invade Social Media To Hijack Popular Sentiment. Eric Schwartzman does some digging in those all too fertile fields.

This past week we celebrated William Shakespeare’s birthday. As usual lots of words were written about the writer who used them better than anyone else to describe the human condition. One of the accepted parts of the Bard’s legacy is that he was an absent husband that left his family behind to pursue his calling. But a discovery of a letter might just change that. Check out what Ephrat Livini has to say about the possibility in an Overlooked Letter Rewrites History of Shakespeare’s Bad Marriage.

And for that happiness I promised, I’ll stick with Shakespeare and Cora Fox with ‘I Were Happy But Little Happy, If I Could Say How Much’; Shakespeare’s Insights On Happiness Have Held Up For More Than 400 Years. We often focus on his tragedies, but he reveled in the joys of life as well. Keep those happy bubbles afloat as long as you can. Pop the bad ones.

(Image from Rey Seven on Unsplash)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

All The World’s His Stage. Happy Birthday (We Think) to William Shakespeare

We’re merely players.

William Shakespeare is the playwright and poet that described us all. He did so with intelligence and wit. Today, April 23, is the day most mark as his birthday. The record of his baptism is April 26th, so it’s a decent bet the date is close enough.

There really is nothing new in human behavior under the sun. In his plays and poems I don’t think he missed much in describing every thing good, bad, noble, and foolish about how we operate with each other and within the world. In my view, it’s a shame more of us don’t pay enough attention to his cataloging of humanity. But then he predicted that as well.

Here’s an intriguing side note on this very intelligent man’s celebrated birth date. I asked several AI engines on what day was he born. Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and DeepSeek returned April 23rd as the likely date with the typical (and mostly accepted) disclaimers that we celebrate that day, but there’s no definitive proof it was the actual date. I asked Siri and Alexa, both returned April 23 as the definitive date. Intriguing that Siri didn’t try to pass that off to ChatGPT. I’m sure Amazon will now offer me all kind of suggestions to purchase anything Shakespeare.

So, I’ll amend slightly my statement about the Bard describing us all and there being nothing new under the sun. He’s correct in that we’re both smart and too often not smart enough to understand what we do and do not know, but he might have missed the mark when it comes to artificial intelligence. Or did he did he?

I’m reasonably certain his works have been fed into AI engines and Chatbot training given that they are long in the public domain. I’m also reasonably certain they ignore his nothing new under the sun descriptions of human interactions in the same way those of us still walking around do.

“Lord, what fools we mortals be!”

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Bullies Can Be Made To Turn Tail

Stand up or shut up

So much of what we’re living through in this age of destruction in America was unavoidable before it started, but and yet we avoided doing what was necessary. Damage is happening and will continue. The children’s rhyme of Humpty Dumpty comes to mind and that doesn’t have a pleasant ending.

Even if you can’t put all of the pieces back together in the same way they were before, the attempt is worth it. It’s not easy and it’s not without risk. The question of the moment is all about how American businesses will respond to the Trump tariffs. The general consensus is those costs will be passed along to consumers, in effect creating a tax.

I happen to agree with that consensus. Our problem is that too many American businesses are afraid to confront the bully, and also afraid to cut into their profit margins. The only way to conquer that last fear is to confront the first one.

While not the same by any stretch of the imagination, here’s a story from my past that’s somewhat analogous, at least on the bully fighting part.

I used to run the Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Virginia. At the time it was indeed a one stoplight town. The theatre served the local surrounding counties (it sat geographically at the intersection of three counties) and parts of two adjoining states (West Virginia and Maryland). It also served the Washington DC suburbs with easy access down Interstate 66. In the immediate town the theatre helped bring customers to several restaurants and antique stores along its one Main Street. Saturday and Sunday matinees were always a delight to see folks strolling down the sidewalks between the various businesses before and after a show.

After years of the same very local political leadership, a newcomer to the town succeeded in ousting the mayor. One of his first initiatives was to approach me and say that he was going to enact a $1.00 per ticket surcharge on the theatre to increase the town’s revenue.

We argued back and forth about this for few months because obviously I didn’t want to see this happen. When I suggested to him that we’d print out each ticket with his name on it saying “This $1.00 Surcharge Brought To You By Mayor Brown,” he didn’t take me seriously at first, but when I showed him a mock-up of the ticket, he saw the light.

He and I had several other contretemps over the years but ended up being friends in the end, primarily, I believe, because I did stand up to him in that first instance. I’ve won and lost battles to bullies in a similar fashion throughout my life and career.

Again, it’s not a perfect analogy of what we’re facing as a country, as a society, and as a planet. Even so, to my way of thinking, when you’re confronted with a challenge from someone who wants to toss around their power — real or make believe — you need to stand and deliver or sit down and shut up, taking what you deserve. You might indeed lose, but otherwise you’re just a coward for not trying.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Ubu and The Truth Commission

An often reviled 1888 play always returns to remind and haunt us when history recycles bad guys.

Alfred Jarry’s 1888 play Ubu Roi never goes out of style. It may disappear from the spotlight but always returns when ostentatious, overbearing, overeager and slobbish rulers ascend to power and use it injudiciously to cause harm and destruction. The message, like these monomaniacal megalomaniacs, recycles again proving there really isn’t much new under the sun.

Every now and then new productions or adaptations Jarry’s work hit stages to remind us and often revolt us. The original production of Ubu Roi, and many others since, have been reviled as offensive as the grotesque behaviors and characters the story reveals. At its core, Ubu Roi is a sort of parody of Macbeth with a little Hamlet tossed in along the way. To give you an idea, the title of the play is occasionally translated as King Turd.

In 2016 The Handspring Puppet Company presented their multi-media version Ubu and The Truth Commission, featuring live actors, puppetry, documentary footage, music and animation. It’s worthwhile viewing anytime, but in our current moment it’s a necessary kick in the teeth. You can see the entire thing (about an hour and a half) on YouTube at the link in the featured video below.

Handspring makes the story, like all of their work, entirely their own and it’s not only quite a treat, but given that this production happened in 2016, seems eerily and entirely prescient for the moment we’re living in.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

One Year Ago After Hell Froze Over We Opened The Lehman Trilogy

Shows come and go. Some create bonds that transcend the impermanence.

One year ago tonight we opened The Lehman Trilogy at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis. Openings come. Openings, and shows, go. This one has stuck with those of us who lived, worked, sweat, froze, caught COVID, and finally got the show in front of an audience. You can watch the trailer below.

My undying love and gratitude to the three gentlemen who played the Lehman brothers (and everyone else) in the show, Michael Gravois, Kevar Maffitt, and John Maness (pictured left to right below.)

Along the way they became my brothers as well. It was one of those shows that creates a bond that will never break, regardless of the adventures we each and all pursue in the future. Those are the rare shows. They are the rare talents I got to work and play with and always cherish.

Onwards.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Jon M. Chu’s Wicked Is Wicked Good

Whether big and splashy or small and detailed, Wicked hits the right notes in telling this story.

Cutting right to the chase, Jon M. Chu has done the best job of directing a musical film I have seen since Singing In The Rain. Chu’s Wicked shows what a modern day movie musical can and should be.

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My wife and I used to have a post-Christmas tradition. In the days following Christmas Day, we’d go to an early showing of whatever movie was the hot ticket. That carried over for most of our movie going rituals as we continued to hit the earliest (read cheapest) shows available when we wanted to go to see something on the big screen. Like everyone else we broke those habits and traditions during COVID. And, though we miss it, we’ve never started it back up again post-pandemic.

Well, this year my wife kicked the tires and got us started again by gifting us tickets to an early morning showing of Wicked, a film we both were looking forward to seeing. Great gift and great time at the movies.

Speaking of, I won’t go on about the performances, they are stunningly good. If nominated in the same category for acting, it will be tough for awards show voters to pick between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, but they aren’t the only actors who are excellent. I also won’t go on about the production design. Again, stunningly good.

I will rave about Chu’s direction and the way he handled Christopher Scott’s choreography. For once, we get big, splashy musical numbers where the director actually wants us to see the details of the choreography and the character and small touches Scott brought to his dancers. It’s a revelation. I’ve enjoyed Chu’s previous work, especially Into The Heights, but even there the storytelling gets overwhelmed by the spectacle. Here, the storytelling is always front and center, even when the screen is bursting with spectacle.

There’s an intimacy to the story telling that I’ve often found in the music of Wicked, but have seldom seen play out on stage. That same intimacy applies to the small scenes as well, and Chu and his cast pull it off without a hitch.

Wicked is probably winding down its theatrical run as it is due to head to streaming soon, but if you can catch it in a theatre it’s quite a gift.

Highly recommended.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Sunday Morning Reading is on the road but there’s still plenty to share.

We’re on the road this weekend to get the Christmas holidays started with the grandkids, but there’s still time to share a little Sunday Morning Reading. Enjoy.

First up is a piece by Margaret Dean called An Afternoon In My Strawberry Fields. You’ll enjoy wandering there.

I don’t think the sun sets anywhere on the planet that there isn’t a current political crisis. Artists and storytellers keep doing their thing regardless. This story from Tom Phillips and Etienne Cóte-Paluck tells of a Haitian theatre troupe still carrying on in the face of that island’s chaos. Check out ‘An Act of Rebellion: Haitian Theatre Persists Amid Political Crisis and Violence.

No crime story has quite captured public attention and exposed how insufficient American media is at reporting out what’s behind the headlines as the murder of United HealthCare’s CEO Brian Thompson. The act is shocking, the reaction to it is shocking as well, yet not surprising. Some of the best reporting I’ve seen so far comes from the BBC from Mike Wendling and Madeline Halpert in Killing of Insurance CEO Reveals Simmering Anger At US Health System.

If you’re wondering about that “simmering” and why I don’t think we should be surprised by what this event reveals, check out this guest essay in the New York Times from Dr. Helen Ouyang entitled What Doctors Like Myself Know About Americans’ Health Care Anger.

Casey Newton delivers one of the best pieces I’ve seen on Artificial Intelligence with The Phony Comfrots of AI Skepticism. You might want to hang on to this one for future reference.

Mark Jacob wonders Can Journalism Survive Billionaires? My short answer is not with this current crop.

If you think repealing women’s right to vote in America isn’t on the agenda of some in the world of MAGA misogyny check out Emma Cieslik’s piece Christian Nationalism’s First Item On The Agenda: Repeal The Women’s Right To Vote.

Brian Krebs is a name most on the Internet have run across as a top-notch security researcher and reporter. Robert McMillian and Vipal Monga have gone behind the curtain to reveal some of the lengths Krebs has to go through to keep himself secure. And not just on the Internet. Check out He Investigates The Internet’s Most Vicious Hackers-From A Secret Location.