Royal National Theatre's "Timon of Athens'

Shakespeare discovers Goldman Sachs

Shakespeare's rarely performed Timon of Athens has been dusted off and given an updating that dazzles in its relevance to our troubled times.

Carol Rocamora

Nov 17, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Tezh Modarressi at F.A.N. Gallery

The magic of old cars and houses

Tezh Modarressi endows ordinary houses and pickup trucks with a certain sad grandeur.

Andrew Mangravite

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 1 minute read

"Dancing Around the Bride' at the Art Museum (1st review)

Five who changed how we see the world

Five pioneers of Modern Art who once hung out together in the '50s have been posthumously reunited in an ingenious and exciting show at the Art Museum. Rarely has their collective assault on conventional culture been captured with such clarity.

Anne R. Fabbri

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Chamber music: Philadelphia's secret weapon

When musicians go moonlighting

What do Philadelphia Orchestra musicians do in their free time? Many of them provide a rich talent pool for the city's diverse chamber music groups.

Tom Purdom

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

"The Tempest' at the Met in New York

Good golly, Miss Meredith (and other lines that don't rhyme)

Shakespeare's psychologically-driven The Tempest isn't an ideal choice for the musical stage to begin with. The creators of this opera compounded the problem with a libretto that's an insult to the Bard's poetic language.

Steve Cohen

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Professors and students at Artists' House

The Academy's all-stars

Here's an interesting concept: Nine faculty members at the Pennsylvania Academy each select three of their students to be exhibited. With such a talented group of teachers, their students need to be good to hold their own.

Andrew Mangravite

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Carson Kreitzer's "Behind the Eye' (3rd review)

The truth of the lens

Carson Kreitzer's Behind the Eye offers a kaleidoscopic view of Lee Miller, an American girl from Poughkeepsie who charmed, fascinated and sometimes tormented some of the great figures of the 1920s and 1930s in Paris, London, and New York, and became a significant artist in her own right.

Robert Zaller

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 7 minute read

China's Nobel laureate, reconsidered

The unbearable unreadability of a Nobel Prize-winning novel

The awarding of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Mo Yan has unleashed patriotic celebrations in China. Which leaves just one question: Has anyone actually read his novel?

Patrick D. Hazard

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Akhtar's "Disgraced' at Lincoln Center in NY

An American Muslim's identity crisis

Ayad Akhtar's explosive Disgraced concerns a Muslim determined to assimilate into American society, only to be betrayed and embittered for his efforts.

Carol Rocamora

Nov 11, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Carson Kreitzer's 'Behind the Eye' (2nd review)

A woman in the shadows

Carson Kreitzer's Behind the Eye is less about the fascinating model-photographer Lee Miller and more about the celebrities she latched onto.

Steve Cohen

Nov 11, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read