One deus ex machina contrivance, at the beginning of a fantasy movie, is acceptable. It gets the wheels of imagination rolling. But a second one, less than two hours later? That’s sheer dramaturgical laziness, and the crutch of your genre can only protect you for so long. But that’s what you have to accept in The Age of Adaline. This is a movie so proudly, self-consciously … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Holiday shows from Albee to Frankie Valli
Revivals of some Pulitzer Prize-winning plays leave us scratching our heads, wondering what the awards committee saw in the work. At Palm Beach Dramaworks, however, a new production of Edward Albee’s 1966 A Delicate Balance ― the first of his three Pulitzers for drama ― is a convincing argument for this chilling, cerebral tale of unspecified terror, even if it will always be … [Read more...]