The school did a play by Ibsen that was not to be seen by anyone except the class and teachers. Martha saw it and stopped me in the hall afterward. “You were too much in character,” she said. And I, being a pompous young ass, replied, “Yes, that was what I was trying to do.” “No,” she said, “you must always do something out of character. Human beings do things out of character. Your best friend does things that you... Read more

PUBLIC FEARS IN PRIVATE PLACES: After that New York Times piece on me was published, the best and cattiest response I saw was the comments-box punchline, “She should join a silent order.” Perhaps the characters in Next Fall should also take that advice! Next Fall–playing at the Round House Theater in Bethesda until 2/26–is a play in which the subtlety of what goes unspoken is almost drowned out by the shallow, stereotype-laden dialogue. It’s about a gay couple, generic atheistic... Read more

After kissing the young girl, the ghost of the rose leaps out the window… and drops down among the attendants, who spit water in his face and rub him down with Turkish towels, like a boxer. What a combination of grace and brutality! I will always hear the thunder of the applause; I will always see that young man smeared with rouge, gasping, sweating, pressing one hand to his heart and holding onto a prop with the other, or even... Read more

On a moonlight night in the winter of 1835the carriage of Marie Taglioni was halted by a Russian highwayman, and that enchanting creature was commanded to dance for this audience of oneupon a panther’s skin spread over the snow beneath the stars. From this actuality arose the legend that, to keep alive the memoryof this adventure so precious to her, Taglioni formed the habit of placing a piece of artificial ice in her jewel casket or dressing tablemelting among the... Read more

“FAILURE WEEK” AT TOP GIRLS’ SCHOOL TO BUILD RESILIENCE. This actually sounds like it could be pretty great. Ratty asked if they would be showing A Boy Called Charlie Brown–a terrific yet depressing movie, in which the uplifting moral is not, “Second place is still worth celebrating!” or “You worked really hard and learned a lot–good job!” but rather, “At least you’re not dead.” Read more

I’LL JUST LEAVE THIS HERE. Read more

He who joins in singing a chorale, or who listens to the mass, the Christmas oratorio, the passion… wants to make his soul stand with both feet in time, in the most real time of all, in the time of the one day of the world of which all individual days of the world are but a part. Music is supposed to escort him there.–Franz Rosenzweig, Star of Redemption, quoted in this interesting piece. (There’s some unspoken stuff here as... Read more

DEEPLY I LOVE ONLY LIFE. AND YOUR MONEY. Why did nobody tell me that there’s a movie in which Barbara Stanwyck becomes a gold-digging kept woman because she reads Nietzsche? Read more

We may well wonder whether the general disparagement of wanting to be loved may not be a typically modern phenomenon, still another form of modern man’s claim to equality with God.–Josef Pieper, About Love; quoted in Friendship: A Study in Theological Ethics Read more

DANCE, PUPPETS! DANCE FOR ME! Do any of you all have recommendations for books on choreography? I have several starting points but would be interested in comments; I’m especially looking for analysis of specific shows and choreographic choices, rather than more basic how-to stuff. Thanks! Read more