Name: Cotter Interactive
Price range: $

Aleksey German’s 'Hard to Be a God'

Where the rain never stops

A modern Hieronymus Bosch, the late Russian filmmaker Aleksey German left us as his last testament a vision of hell for our increasingly dystopic 21st-century world.

Robert Zaller

Jul 04, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

Majestic in her determination and endurance: Brooke Adams in "Happy Days"

Beckett’s 'Happy Days' at the Flea Theater

Beckett at his best

When a cast and director are in synch, anything and everything is possible. Director Andrei Belgrader understands the precarious balance of tragedy and comedy in Beckett’s Happy Days.

Carol Rocamora

Jul 04, 2015 Articles 3 minute read

Suzanne's creativity is unleashed. (All photos by Jojo Whilden - © 2014 Netflix)

Netflix’s ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ Season 3 (second review)

Much of the comedy in this season of Orange Is the New Black comes from mixing up the characters. New, unusual friendships make excellent use of the deep bench of supporting characters, many of whom are outcasts or invisible, or have lost their identity to groupthink.

Paula Berman

Jun 30, 2015 Articles 6 minute read

Portrait of Anton Rubinstein by Ilya Repin.

Russian Opera Workshop present Rubinstein's 'The Demon'

The Demon comes to Philadelphia

The Russian Opera Workshop presented the Philadelphia premiere of one of Russia’s most popular operas.

Tom Purdom

Jun 30, 2015 Articles 3 minute read

Before the memories are forgotten: Jonathan Kozol (photo by BenFrantzDale via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

Jonathan Kozol's 'The Theft of Memory'

Tackling the memoir

For Jonathan Kozol, summoning up vivid memories as he wrote a memoir of his father's battle with Alzheimer's was mostly a pleasant process. It kept his father, as well as his mother, alive for him after their deaths. But the last few months of concluding the book were hard and painful, he said, because it meant saying good-bye to his parents all over again.

Joanna Rotté

Jun 30, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

A memorial to Michael Brown during the Ferguson protests. (Photo by Jamelle Bouie via Creative Commons/Flickr)

'Hands Up' by Flashpoint Theatre Company

Fuck you! And fuck this shit!

The six testaments of Hands Up are connected by the theme of uncertainty, with each character revealing his particular stain.

Ardencie Hall-Karambe

Jun 30, 2015 Articles 2 minute read

Saying the magic word: Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory in “My Dinner with Andre.” (© 1981 - New Yorker Films)

On saying "thank you"

My dinner with Beethoven

Why do we say "thank you," and who do we say it to?

Kile Smith

Jun 23, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

Schuller with his French horn, c. 1940s.

Gunther Schuller: An appreciation

Gunther Schuller had more musical careers than Leonard Bernstein, including composer, conductor, educator, French horn player, author, and longtime advocate of the co-existence of jazz and classical music.

Bruce Klauber

Jun 23, 2015 Articles 2 minute read

Ed Cunningham, the voice of the Philadelphia pledge drive. (Courtesy of WHYY)

Can PBS survive the fundraising trap?

I understand the practicalities of the television business. I understand that if these stations don’t make up their budget shortfalls, the quality of their offerings is likely to suffer, or they might even close down altogether. My concern is the fundraising programming itself and how it is threatening to take over a large segment of our PBS stations’ schedules.