Word: shrifted
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This mix of emotions, the intricate tightrope walk between comedy and tragedy--Ayckbourn's greatest feat, really--may be why his work has got short shrift in America. Early in his career, after such West End (and occasional Broadway) successes as Absurd Person Singular, Ayckbourn was labeled, patronizingly, the "British Neil Simon." But as his plays have grown darker and more complex, Broadway has largely abandoned him. Although Communicating Doors, one of his lesser comedies, had a successful run off-Broadway a couple of seasons back and Comic Potential, his latest West End hit, will be produced this fall...
Environmental activists have been complaining for a year that the climate crisis has gotten short shrift in this election. McCain's speech in Portland put it back on the agenda. The sight of a Republican standard-bearer stepping up with a solid plan for mandatory greenhouse gas reductions - the kind of plan Bush and the G.O.P. congressional leaders vociferously oppose - was heartening, even if McCain's policy is less than perfect. And when Obama and Clinton pounced on the plan (Obama called it "breathtaking" in its hypocrisy, since McCain has voted against alternative energy subsidies; Clinton dismissed...
That was one of the themes raised at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where scientists lamented that Washington continues to short-shrift international scientific cooperation, which is increasingly regarded as a crucial tool of soft power for spreading prosperity and enhancing American competitiveness...
Though foreign-language talent gets short shrift from American studios and movie theaters, they are often honored with Oscars. Italians won for Original Score (Dario Marianelli, Atonement) and Art Direction (Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, Sweeney Todd); two Frenchmen won for Makeup (Didier Lavergne, La Vie en Rose) and Live Action Short (Philippe Pollet-Villard, the director, writer and star of The Mozart of Pickpockets.) But one reason the Academy often gives Oscars to foreigners is that they seem really to want one. "Thank you, life, thank you, love," Cotillard exclaimed, as effusive as Sally Field or Halle Berry...
...Donny In the obit on George Osmond, you gave his son Donny Osmond short shrift [Nov. 19]. For one thing, you misspelled his first name. And you suggested that Marie was the biggest star in the family. Donny sold more records and had more success onstage. In TV, they're about even. (He hosted the game show Pyramid for a couple of years; she's on Dancing with the Stars.) Give the man his due. Paul Grein, STUDIO CITY, CALIF...