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BLOSSOMING BALLERINA: Dancer Hannah Borgida ’21 flashes a smile to the audience.
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BLOSSOMING BALLERINA: Dancer Hannah Borgida ’21 flashes a smile to the audience.
This week, justArts spoke with Claudia Davis ’19 and Perry Letourneau ’20, co-Presidents of sketch comedy troupe, Boris’ Kitchen.
POETIC JUSTICE: Dean of Students Jamele Adams and Brandeis alumnus Usman Hameedi kicked off the show with slam poetry.
Pitch darkness is suddenly interrupted by fluorescent lights, illuminating five people lying on the floor. This is the opening of the Theatre Arts department’s “Circle Mirror Transformation,” a play outlining the relationships of five people as they take an adult drama class together at the Shirley, Vermont, Community Center. The set felt very natural in its asymmetry and the costumes were incredibly detailed — every shoe and t-shirt was reflective of the character wearing it. While captioning live theater is difficult, this production seemingly did it with ease. The dimly projected captions on either side of the stage never distract from the show for those who don’t need it, and are incredibly accurate and well-timed for those who do. The production quality overall is incredible, as expected from a department show.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a film that celebrates Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, and his personal evolution through the music and the cultural impact he made with Queen. It is easy to depict Mercury’s larger-than-life stage persona, but director Bryan Singer went for more of a personal-tribute approach. At the film’s heart is the relationship between Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) and his longtime best friend Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), a relationship which encompasses Mercury’s love of music and his search for his own identity. It was Austin who gave Mercury the first opportunity to explore feminine clothing, supporting his genderbent stage persona. Austin and Mercury were engaged until Mercury accepted that although she was the “love of his life,” Freddie yearned for more. Freddie Mercury, much like Oscar Wilde, was a proto-pansexual. He never came out publicly as “queer” but lived a lifestyle unencumbered by heterosexual norms.
JustArts: What was your previous directing experience before Godspell?
“Outlaw King” is a historical drama about the journey of the legendary king of Scotland, Robert the Bruce. Robert, facing the British, one of the strongest armies in Europe, who had already defeated the Scots before, needs not only to find a way to victory but also to be a leader for a discouraged and restless nation. The film is directed by David Mackenzie, who was praised for his 2016 Western crime drama “Hell Or High Water,” my favorite film of that year. For that reason, I was looking forward to “Outlaw King,” Mackenzie and Pine’s second collaboration.
To rubberneck is to get a better view of an accident out of morbid curiosity as you pass it by. Last week in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater, you might say I was rubbernecking. From Nov. 15th-18th, the Undergraduate Theater Collective produced “Godspell,” directed by Nate Rtishchev ’21. The 1971 musical was written by John Michael Tebelak, with music by Stephen Schwartz. It is structured as a series of parables based on the Gospel of Matthew, with lyrics borrowed from traditional hymns.
WATCHING GOD: Standing on a classroom desk, Alina Sipp-Alpers ’21 gazes wistfully out into the audience.
HOLY SPIRIT MOVES: Godspell characters brought sharp choreographed movements and large amounts of energy.
DANCING TO HEAVEN: The dance moves of these Godspell cast members perfectly matched the music’s tempo.
ANXIOUS EYES: Lauren and Marty, played by Noa Laden ’20 and Zack Garrity ’20, share a nervous glance as they sit in a circle on the floor of the studio.
HULA SKILLS: Theresa (Haia Bchiri ’20) effortlessly displays her hula hooping prowess.
LEARN IN MOTION: Marty (Emily Pollack ’21), the eccentric drama teacher, proves an enthusiastic and hands-on instructor.
BRIEFLY IN LOVE: Theresa and Schultz (Peirce Robinson ’22) share an intimate moment during their fleeting romance.
FOREVER IS OUR TODAY: A vintage photo of Freddie Mercury performing live in San Diego in 1980, provocatively dressed in nothing but bellbottoms and a neck tie.
FESTIVAL VIBES: A glamor shot of Chris Pine, who plays Robert the Bruce in “Outlaw King,” taken at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival.
Artists Anne Lilly and Karin Rosenthal unveiled their new collaborative exhibit, comprised of Rosenthal’s stunning photographs and Lilly’s impactful sculptures, at Brandeis’ Women’s Studies Research Center on Thursday. The photographs focused on the naked human body — often in extreme close-ups — incorporating water to obscure certain body parts. Two of the four stainless steel sculptures also dealt with the human body and obscuring vision, interacting with the viewer and their body.
I never thought there would be bubbly energy in my biochemistry classroom. Everyone sitting in the audience was ready to have a good time as members of Brandeis’ improv troupe, To Be Announced, walked in along with the members of Bad Grammer in their joint show “Brains vs. Brawn.” While I wouldn’t normally agree to being in a science building more than I have to, I’m glad I did last Saturday. In all my time at Brandeis I’ve never attended an improv show, so I was anticipating something fun and new.