Word: victorian
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...cast performs solidly, if not splendidly. Terrence Caza and Kathleen McNenny are suitably prim as Jack and Gwendolen and provide a nice contrast to the far wackier pair of Algernon and Cecily. As Algernon, Bill Mondy is a little too affected--even for the obvious dilettante the young Victorian is supposed to be. While Algernon is supposed to know he's being insufferable, the actor playing him should not let his own self-knowledge of how funny his lines are show through. Mondy's performance is a bit smug, particularly in the first...
Robert Morgan's sets are the star of this production. For the first act, Morgan had created a perfect Victorian gentleman's study in dark wood with stained glass windows and elegant furniture. Drawing in Wilde's own taste for Asiatic art, Morgan has decorated the room with Asian screens and blue china bric-a-brac. The overall affect is stunning. The second act set is even better, a gorgeous country garden complete with white lawn furniture and overhanging trees. A profusion of flowers cover the black iron gates and the interior of the third set can be glimpsed through...
...asks a question that cannot be easily dismissed: wasn't the women's movement originally concerned with ridding itself of heavy Victorian standards, instead of cloaking itself in them? Doesn't the fight for equality mean women standing up for themselves and taking responsibility for their own bodies...
...their physical nature, angels were traditionally said to assume bodies only as needed to carry out a task. This meant that they had no gender, despite the sentimental Victorian image of the pale virgin with wings. Milton's angels, however, among the most vivid in literature, were robust figures who ate and drank freely. Raphael, in fact, "with a smile that glowed/ Celestial rosy red," blushingly explained to Adam and Eve how angels make love, "Easier than air with air, if spirits embrace, / Total they mix, union of pure with pure/ Desiring...
Ebenezer Scrooge may seem the embodiment of Victorian England, that era of top hats and class warfare, but his journey of self-discovery could be just as meaningful had he been American. Or black. Or a man of the late 20th century, a period of more casual clothing but equal bitterness between haves and have- nots. For that matter, there's nothing in the essence of Dickens' story to preclude glimpses of fast-food workers and airline pilots, or riffs of rap and gospel music, and it's reasonable enough to have an urban American Tiny...