The Importance of Being Earnest at Parker Theatre

Even though I retired from teaching English four years ago, I still think about the year in terms of the literature I would be teaching. Since I always ended the school year with The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde in my British literature classes, it was so fun to see a delightful production of this witty play at Parker Theatre last night. Jack Worthing (Chris Last) and Algernon Moncrieff (Jonathan McBride) are foppish young men in 19th century England who adopt fictional identities to escape social obligations. Jack invents a brother named Ernest in order to behave badly in London without ruining his reputation in the country and Algernon creates an invalid friend named Bunbury to have an excuse to avoid his aunt Lady Bracknell (Linda Jean Stephenson). Chaos ensues when Jack and Algernon attempt to woo Gwendolen Fairfax (Kristi Curtis) and Cecily Cardew (Kristin Hafen) and are both mistaken for the nonexistent Ernest. The dialogue in this play is razor sharp and the actors deliver it at a breakneck pace as the characters banter back and forth about the trivial concerns that Wilde found so hypocritical among the upper classes of his day. Between the hilarious line delivery and all of the physical comedy, I don't think the audience stopped laughing once during the entire show. I sure didn't! I especially loved how a scene between Gwendolen and Cecily is staged because, as they are fighting over who is really engaged to Ernest, they play a game of chess in which they take out all of their feelings on the pieces. I also really enjoyed all of the subtle bits of business performed by the servants in London and in the country (both played by John-Tyrus Williams and Mary Parker Williams) because, if you pay close attention, it highlights how superficial the main characters are, particularly when they replace all of Algernon's alcohol with flower arrangements when Lady Bracknell visits him. The four lead actors do a great job with the rapid-fire dialogue (their accents are especially good) and with the physicality. Their chemistry with each other is palpable as they move around the stage as if in the middle of a highly choreographed dance and the way they interact with the props, especially when Jack and Algernon fight over muffins and when Gwendolen repeatedly hits Jack with her parasol, is so much fun to watch. Stephenson (most productions I've seen have cast a man in the role of Lady Bracknell) is incredibly imperious and I loved her reaction to hearing about Cecily's wealth. Jayne Luke is suitably flustered as Miss Prism and her scream when she sees Lady Bracknell brought the house down. The sets are some of the most elaborate I've seen at this theatre and the period costumes are very opulent and detailed (I lost count of how many patterns are used in Algernon's suit). This production put a huge smile on my face and listening to the audience laugh was a fun reminder of how much my students always enjoyed reading this play. It runs on Fridays and Saturdays through June 22 and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Anne Akiko Meyers Plays "Fandango"

Last night I attended the final Utah Symphony concert of the season and it was certainly a spectacular one to end with!  The orchestra began with a fun piece called Fanfare Ritmico by Jennifer Higdon.  According to the composer, it was written on the eve of the new Millennium to celebrate the rhythm and speed of daily life.  I thought it was incredibly dynamic and I especially loved all of the percussion (the chimes were my favorite) and the brass.  Next came Fandango by Arturo Marquez.  This piece was inspired by a fandango, or Mexican party where people come together to dance and sing in a communal setting, and was written specifically for the soloist Anne Akiko Meyers.  She performed it so brilliantly that the audience gave her a standing ovation after the first movement (to be fair the ending of the movement is very dramatic).  The piece contained several different and exciting Latin rhythms that had people dancing in their seats and I especially loved the back and forth between the solo violin and the solo clarinet during an interlude in the first movement, the sensual themes in the second movement, and the sheer virtuosity of Meyers' performance in the third movement (it was really fast and so much fun to watch).  I had never heard this piece before but I think it might be a new favorite because I really enjoyed it!  After the intermission the concert concluded with an incredibly stirring rendition of Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3.  I am always very moved by this piece whenever I hear it performed live because it is so triumphant.  I love the themes played by the woodwinds and, of course, the instantly recognizable Fanfare for the Common Man played by the brass, punctuated dramatically by the timpani, is brilliant.  I had goosebumps by the time the orchestra reached the exhilarating conclusion!  This same program will be performed again tonight and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Furiosa

I am a huge fan of the Mad Max franchise!  I love all of the movies but I was especially obsessed with The Road Warrior when I was a teenager because it seems like it was always on HBO late at night in the early 80s (my room was next to the family room downstairs and I would always sneak out of bed to watch it when I couldn't sleep).  I have been so excited to to see Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the latest installment in the series, and I finally had the chance last night at a Thursday preview.  I loved it and I think it is the perfect companion piece to Mad Max: Fury Road.  A young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is taken from the Green Space where she lives by a roaming gang called the Biker Horde and brought to their warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).  Her mother (Charlee Fraser) comes to rescue her but she is captured and Dementus forces Furiosa to watch her execution.  Dementus eventually trades Furiosa to Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) in return for more food and water from the Citadel.  As time goes on Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) protects herself by pretending to be a boy and working as a mechanic on a new War Rig.  When the War Rig's driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) discovers her secret, he takes her as his apprentice but they soon fall in love and plan to escape to the Green Place.  However, Dementus and the Biker Horde take over Gastown and the Bullet Farm and then come for the Citadel which leads to an epic confrontation with Furiosa.  This doesn't quite reach the same non-stop adrenaline levels as Fury Road, although there are some amazing action set pieces (my favorites are when Furiosa's mother chases after the Biker Horde in a sandstorm, when the War Rig is first attacked during a supply run, and when Furiosa and Jack escape from the Bullet Farm), but the worldbuilding in the Wasteland is much more complete, the characters (even secondary ones) are developed more fully, and the storytelling is richer with higher stakes.  I loved all of the quieter moments, especially when Furiosa's mother makes her promise to return home, when she confides in Jack and they decide to go to the Green Space together, and when Dementus tells her that he has had just as much sorrow in his life as her and that they are both already dead, because they add so much pathos to the narrative.  Hemsworth is a great villain and steals the show with all of his witty dialogue.  Conversely, Taylor-Joy has very little dialogue but she conveys so much of what Furiosa is feeling with just her eyes and her chemistry with Burke, who is channeling Gibson's Mad Max, is off the charts.  I don't think anything will match the feeling I had watching Dune: Part Two at a sold out early screening but this comes very close and I recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible!

I Saw the TV Glow

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was I Saw the TV Glow.  I wasn't able to fit this in at Sundance, where it was very well received, so I was really excited to have a chance to see it now that it is in wide release.  Ninth grader Owen (Justice Smith) and eleventh grader Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) are alienated from their possibly abusive families and struggle to fit in at their suburban high school.  They bond over a late night TV show called The Pink Opaque which follows two friends named Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan) who meet at sleepaway camp and discover that they have a psychic connection, manifested by tattoos on their necks, which they use to fight monsters, sent by Mr. Melancholy (Emma Portner), who try to bury them underground each week.  They both feel more connected to the show than they do to reality and, when it is canceled, Maddy disappears.  Ten years later Owen is still living at home and working a dead-end job when Maddy suddenly reappears and tells him that she has been living in the world of the show.  She pleads with him to follow her there because he is being buried underground by Mr. Melancholy in this world but he refuses with tragic consequences.  I really loved the fun neon aesthetic used in the trippy visuals that blur the lines between fantasy and reality as well as the original soundtrack featuring songs full of teenage angst but, more than anything else, I loved the incredibly powerful message (which is never overtly mentioned but brilliantly implied in the subtext) about the dangers of repressing who you really are.  Both Smith and Lundy-Paine give incredibly transformative performances and I was particularly struck by how Maddy becomes more confident as Owen seems to disappear within himself.  I think this is a movie that will resonate with a lot of people for a lot of different reasons and I highly recommend it.

Evil Does Not Exist

Last night I went to the Broadway for a double feature that I was really excited about.  I started with Evil Does Not Exist because I had heard a lot about it from the fall film festivals and I am a fan of Ryusuke Hamaguchi's previous movie Drive My Car.  It is extremely slow and meditative and I am still trying to wrap my head around the shocking ending but it is beautifully shot and it definitely kept me invested.  Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his young daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa) live in a small rural village within driving distance of Tokyo.  He has a deep reverence for nature and tries to impart his knowledge to his daughter, particularly the habits of animals who generally avoid people but attack when they are threatened.  A company buys land in the area to build a glamping resort and they send two representatives, Takahashi (Ryuji Kosaka) and Mayuzumi (Ayaka Shibutani), to hold a meeting in order to convince the locals of the economic benefits to their village.  They oppose the proposal because of the danger it poses to the environment, especially the water supply, and demand that changes be made.  The company only cares about taking advantage of subsidies from the government and making a quick profit so they send Takaheshi and Mayuzumi back to the village to meet with Takumi again to get him on their side.  However, Takumi attempts to show them what it means to live in balance with nature instead.  I really loved the deliberate and measured way in which Hamaguchi introduces the characters and shows how they interact with the environment, the mesmerizing cinematography (especially the four minute tracking shot looking up at trees at the beginning), and the ethereal score which sometimes stops very abruptly (to replicate how man disrupts the natural order).  I also enjoyed the fact that my expectations were completely subverted in the third act despite, upon further reflection, all of the foreshadowing that precedes it.  I left the theater feeling a bit confused and very unnerved (but in the best possible way) and I definitely recommend this to fans of Hamaguchi.