Category Archives: Theater

Passing On: Amiri Baraka, Suzan-Lori Parks, Claudia Rankine

January 22, 2014 James Baldwin probably felt a tinge of jealousy at the sight of Amiri Baraka, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison at his funeral. Thousands of people there, and those three in particular, so eloquent in their tribute, but … Continue reading

Posted in African-American literature, collaboration, contemporary poetry, jazz, Music, Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Street Scene: Langston Hughes, Kurt Weill, Elmer Rice

July 11, 2012 It started out as a play by Elmer Rice: a Broadway run of 601 shows, the Pulitzer Prize in 1929, the  movie in 1931. Kurt Weill saw it in Berlin, both the play and the film, and … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, African-American literature, Arts communities, Broadway plays, Cities, collaboration, Dance, Ethnicity, film medium, Interdisciplinarity, jazz, lyric, Media, Modernist poetry, Music, Remediation, Theater, Twentieth century literature, world literature, YouTube videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Literature to Film, Sydney 2012

May 30, 2012 May 28, 2012 was the centenary of the birth of Patrick White.  Many of us from the conference went down to a special screening of The Eye of the Storm, directed by Fred Schepisi, featuring Charlotte Rampling … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, architecture, Arts communities, Australia, Cities, collaboration, Comparative literature, Contemporary Art, Diaspora, Educational institutions, film festivals, film medium, Global South, Interdisciplinarity, Media, Modern art, museums, Music, Remediation, Rock music, Theater, Translation, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature, Visual arts, world literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Black Pittsburgh

May 2, 2012 I’ve been here before, but it hit me again this time, coming into the city at night.  This has got to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.   The river and the bridges all lit up — there are … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, African-American literature, Arabic, Arts communities, collaboration, Contemporary Art, Educational institutions, Ethnicity, Islam, jazz, Media, Music, peripheral networks, Theater, twentieth century art, Twentieth century literature, Visual arts, world literature, World religions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Yusef Komunyakaa and Chad Gracia, Gilgamesh

February 22, 2012 I’ve never given a talk at UCLA.  Caltech, yes, in nearby Pasadena; also the Huntington Library.   But never at the famed Royce Hall, 405 Hilgard Avenue. So I’m a bit anxious about tomorrow: a graduate student … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, Classics, collaboration, Comparative literature, contemporary poetry, Cuneiform, Dance, epic, Handwritten script, Mesopotamia, Near Eastern poetry, Remediation, Theater, Translation, Visual arts, world literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 67 Comments

Rob Nixon: Slow Violence

January 11, 2012 The last day of the MLA: anyone still around?   But it was one of the best panels I’d been to.  A resonant title: “Velocities of Ecocriticism.”  A full audience.  And three great papers: Ursula Heise, Timothy Morton, … Continue reading

Posted in Climate change, Environmentalism, Media, scale, Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments