404 Strand’s FaustUS
This Pittsburgh-affiliated but internationally based theater troupe debuted in suitably unorthodox fashion last night at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. Let’s just say that this stripped-down adaption of Christopher Marlowe’s 1604 classic, staged inside a bathroom-sized wooden cage, climaxed with a bare-torsoed John Fitzgerald Jay freaking out across a floor strewn with half-eaten cake, the contents of…
David Matthews at Garfield Artworks
At last Friday’s Unblurred gallery crawl I caught as much as I could in 90 minutes along Penn Ave. There was some nice stuff, from the “dance mural” performance at Dance Alloy to the Jon Howe vs Jason Sauer show at Most Wanted Fine Art (with Sauer’s intriguing collages of real auto parts and religious…
Quagmire, anyone?
I’m a little surprised that the folks at 2 political junkies haven’t tackled this week’s Jack Kelly column about Afghanistan. Because it’s a hoot. Kelly hasn’t paid very much attention to Afghanistan over the years. If I thought Kelly was capable of embarrassment, I’d say maybe his silence was the product of shame. He was,…
MP3 . . . Tuesday? Kim Phuc!
It’s MP3 Monday time, only it’s Tuesday, because MP3 Monday was busy yesterday honoring the hard work and dedication of our nation’s laborers. Our band this week: Kim Phuc. They sent along “Weird Skies,” from a 7-inch that may or may not finally be out, after a long wait. You may remember me writing about…
Double Exposure at the Carnegie Natural History Museum
Lately, it seems, the deniers of climate change are getting busy again. Like groundhogs predicting spring from a single whiff of February air, some of them take one cool summer as proof that the planet really isn’t warming after all. But of course, as climate scientists have said all along, there’s more influencing the earth’s…
One Word: Plastics (and other tips for avoiding endocrine disruptors)
There is no definitive proof that endocrine disruptors — chemicals that interfere with the natural function of hormones — can harm humans in usual doses. However, based on animal research, many scientists suspect such harmful effects exist. And in many cases, they attempt to reduce exposure to themselves and their families, especially from everyday consumer…
Something’s Fishy
Local researchers pursue a new generation of pollutants in our rivers
Short List: Week of September 3 – September 10
In Christopher Marlowe’s Faust, the hero asks his tempter, Mephistopheles, what he’s doing out of hell. “Why, this is hell,” the demon answers famously, “nor am I out of it.” A new international theater troupe with roots in Pittsburgh seconds the motion in faustUS, its premiere production. The company is 404 Strand, brainchild of internationally…
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
I’ll confess: I’d never heard of Gertrude Berg or Molly Goldberg until I saw Aviva Kempner’s documentary. I’m likely not alone, and that’s a shame. It’s hard to sell young people on long-ago history, but any of us who have ever enjoyed a television sit-com owe a debt to Berg, one of the pioneering women…
Unmistaken Child
The titular child is the reincarnation of a recently deceased Buddhist master, and Nati Baratz’s documentary is about the five-year quest to find this elusive entity. Tasked with finding the child — a mere baby — is 28-year-old Tenzin Zopa, a Nepalese monk who was the late lama’s acolyte and close companion. What follows is…
Soul Power
It was a concert born of big ideas and easy opportunism. With African Americans embracing their roots in the mother country — and newly liberated African nations on the rise — why not stage a concert celebrating traditional and contemporary African music, and such far-flung offshoots as R&B, jazz and salsa? It would be a…
An animated “Lazy Pear,” an urban myth, boardwalk impressions and more at Film Kitchen.
“I figured he was easy to boss around because it wasn’t something alive.”
Adam
Max Mayer’s debut feature, Adam, is hard to categorize: It’s not quite a romantic comedy. It’s a little funny, but also bittersweet. And while its titular protagonist has Asperger’s syndrome, this is no inspirational (or preachy) Disease of the Week movie. Mostly, it’s a coming-of-age story, with grace notes of romance. Adam (Hugh Dancy), a…
Cornerstone
The contemporary American fare here offers a creative take on a traditional menu.
A new play explores the truths and myths of illegal immigration.
Shall this be a political statement dramatized, or a drama that opens a political quandary?
German and American theater students collaborate and collide on a pair of plays.
“I’m used to actors saying, ‘What are my motivations?'” says Tamler. “But German actors ask, ‘What should this look like?'”
This Just In: September 3 – 10
Highlights from local TV news: The ABZzz’s of Sleep
Help Wanted
Activists want to make sure employment process is transparent
Survivor’s Tail
Tiger Ranch felines to get new life through adoption
Police Psychic
At G-20, city cops could bust you if they have a feeling you might do something wrong
Clearing the Air
Robinson residents get one more shot to block power plant
Reunited art-punks Mission of Burma play Club Café
The band once labeled “too ahead of their time” decided to keep going.
Shoegazy Olympians Desolation Wilderness play ModernFormations
“I want to create imagery that’s more futuristic and not so much memory-based.”
Local band Good Night, States expands its sound with a new EP and techie tinkering
“One band member referred to this record as ‘Good Night, States with the rock ‘n’ roll taken out.'”
Silver Eye celebrates its 30th anniversary with the engaging Self-Portrait.
Often they are mini-memoirs, capturing a moment and an attitude, or documenting a point along a lifeline’s arc.
Allenby Street
A poem by Dorit Brauer
Binding Resolutions
Will city government practice what it preaches?
Eat, Drynk and Be Merrie
What royal victuals await those visiting the Renaissance?
Local band The Elliots play Liverpool’s Beatle Week
Rather than strumming plastic controllers to get an idea of what it feels like to be Sir Paul, Pittsburgh cover band The Elliots have found a more direct way to get in on the action.
Savage Love
I love my boyfriend of three years, but I fucked up. We’ve had our ups and downs — he broke up with me for two months last summer because he said he was “young and needs to feel free” — but we’ve always worked through things. He is super supportive of me, and we’ve both…
Speaking freely before City Council
I’ve posted a video montage from yesterday’s City Council hearing on G-20 security measures, with testimony by those seeking to hold demonstrations Downtown. Apologies if the sound quality is a bit off. (Note to protesters: You’re trying to get your message heard, right? So stand closer to the microphone.) One interesting tidbit on the video:…
