Eye On the Arts

Photo by Richard Termine New York, New York January 11, 2023 -- Descriptions of the Oval, library, High Street and dorms brought back vivid memories of my days on the OSU campus. By the time I arrived, however, the student population was much more diversified and politically active than in the 1950's, when just a handful of Black students were matriculated and living in segregated dorms. This kind of invisible racism infiltrates Adrienne Kennedy's girpping tragedy Ohio State Murders published in 1992. Kennedy tenaciously reveals the countless strategies employed to physically and intellectually restrict Black students in the 1950's. When the curtain rises, a Black female guest speaker stands behind the podium. Suzanne Alexander (the remarkable Audra McDonald), now a successful author, returns to OSU to lecture on the use of violent imagery in her novels. In a series of flashbacks, Alexander attacks ghosts ravaging her student days at OSU. The daughter of colle

New York, New York January 7, 2023 -- Is our time really up, or can we reverse action for a redo of the ecological rape of our world? Audiences at the Bam Fishman Fisher Theater experienced ARE WE NOT DRAWN ONWARD TO NEW erA by Ontroerend Goed a Flemish theater group known for performing outside the lines. Six actors, one balloon, a blizzard of candy ball colored plastic bags, a begonia tree and giant male statue reminiscent of ancient 30 foot Kouros lying on its back on the Greek island of Naxos appeared, disappeared and reappeared in the space of 75 minutes. In a surrealistic ode to humanity's disregard for the dissolution of nature through consistently crass, destructive actions, a vibrantly visual and nearly non-verbal performance art piece unfolds. A small tree stands in the center, its bright green leaves glistening against the single, crimson apple. Soon, a woman and man enter. Yes, she (Karolien De Bleser) takes the auspicious bite, so does he (Michael Pas). And