arts international

2011-08-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

A GESTURE........................

A gesture, a remark, a look can ruin one's calm.

For example, if you are sitting in a cafe, calmly sipping your cafe macchiato

reading your book or even scribbling something on a nice hand made brown

paper and all of a sudden, "a so called friend with a high level career" walks in

and comes right to your table and says in a very aggressive manner,"Oh! you are always in a cafe, sitting and reading....."

Not even a hello, but the remark.....

But actually they are saying to you of course,(out of jealousy)

"Oh!, you have no career. You are always in a cafe, wasting your life."

"Oh!, I am busier than you are."

"Oh!, I have a career and you don't."

But how do they know that I don't have a career?

My cafe table is my office table. Its marble, its nice, its clean.

My books are on it, my pens and pencils and my note books and some lose

nicely textured papers for me to draw on.

Having coffee in a cafe is my career.

Reading a book in a cafe is my career.

But actually they are miserably jealous of me sitting in a cafe

sipping my coffee and reading a book.

They wish that they could just do that themselves.

They truly wish deep down that they could do what you are doing.

They wish that they could sit leisurely in a cafe and read a book. (It always seems to others as if I am sitting leisurely)................

Little do they know what goes through my mind...........

The thoughts, the memories, the remorse, the regret, the loneliness, the isolation,

the struggle with no results, the un-surmountable mountains of foreign lands,

the trauma of leaving, the trauma of never returning, the trauma of staying, the outsider,

the exile, the permanent exile which is perhaps easy to take in a cafe than in a narrow, windowless, airless dark apartment.

But to them I am always sitting,"Leisurely" sitting and reading without a care in the world.

Good for me...............me without a career and them, oh! them, always late for their career,

late for their business meetings but not late enough to come to me and make that remark,

as if I give a shit.......................

But they can't be honest with themselves, they can't express the suppressed angry wish

of not being in the cafe themselves, in that,"leisurely atmosphere, care free, artistic atmosphere."

But problem is money.

They want to constantly make money and be constantly leisurely too.

Its not possible.

There is no leisure while you are making money. Its all a hustle, at least while you are making

big bucks, I mean mega bucks...billions..There can't be leisure in stealing and scheming,

Your heart rate is at risk while you are stealing and scheming. It goes up, up, up and up.

The higher the number of bills you are going to steal, the higher the heart beat and higher

the heart beat, higher the stress on heart..................

Leisure comes later when finally you do get the chance to get to your luxury boat with a young

teen ager and even then your heart rate goes up...you have to match the coitus with the pretty

young thing on your lap and the heart is so stressed out that you might just die of that

supper heart attack..........

YOU SEE YOU EITHER MAKE TONS OF MONEY WITH THE HIGHER HEART BEAT OR

MAKE NO MONEY AT ALL AND SIT SEEMINGLY,"LEISURELY." IN A CAFE AND READ THE

NEW BOOK YOU JUST BOUGHT FOR A DOLLAR FROM STRAND BOOK STORE...........

EVEN THARE HAVING A STRESSFUL HEART BEAT, THE STRAND BOOK STORE I MEAN,

THEY HAVE RAISED THE USED BOOK PRICE FROM OUTDOOR BOOK STAND FROM ONE DOLLAR TO TWO AND EVEN THREE DOLLARS. NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO GIVE ME A HIGHER HEART RATE.....

BUT ONE DOLLAR OR NOTHING I SAY....

NO HIGHER HEART RATE FOR ME. NO. HIGHER HEART RATE ONLY GOES WHEN YOUR POCKET IS FULL OF DOLLARS AND MORE ARE ON THE WAY.

I CAN'T AFFORD EMPTY PURSE AND STRESSFUL HEART ON TOP OF IT.

I HAVE ENOUGH STRESS ALREADY TO PAY THE BILL IN THE CAFE WHERE MY ,"SO CALLED FRIENDS THINK THAT I AM SITTING,"LEISURELY"

Let me tell you once and for all. There is no money in the cafe. The money in the cafe is only

for the owner who also gets stressed out by seeing me sitting there for so long on a cup of coffee. I know he gets stressed. I can see it on his face and I can hear his fast beating pulse.....

"Money, money, money, he is thinking and less, less, less money from the table number so and so, he is thinking....Thats a lot of stress he is getting just from me and I am still paying for sitting there.

Trust me you pay, when you sit in the cafe. There is no money to be made. You pay just

to sit there and you have to eat or drink there.

You can't just sit there, you have to put calories in your mouth and weight on your big fat asss

which is getting bigger and fatter by the minute and all think that I sit there,"LEISURELY"

while they are thin like a stick.

You see when you make money, you run around, your heart rate goes up and you don't eat running around, so you burn more calories and you eat nothing....for me thats leisure but they all got their definition of the leisure wrong.................

I am sitting there gaining a hell of a lot of weight and thinking of my background when I was thin and young and sexy and had servants............oh! the servants, the servants, oh! how I miss the servants...............

Instead of coming here for equality and liberty and what else the first world offers? money I guess, i should have just stayed with my servants.

You see over there you never pay money for sitting. You just sit and sit and sit and your servants run around and bring you coffee and then you get old and fat because

you sat on your ass for so long.........................

But I sat here on my ass and got fat without my servants..............fat without servants, thats a travesty ...................a horror.............there is no fat woman back home without servants..........

I assure you. There is no fat woman without servants and money.

Only one immigrant in America.............fat servant less and money less woman sitting in cafe's being the envy of the career ladies.

But they, the jealous ones don't realize that I have to pay for sitting there. I call it, "RENTING THE TABLE IN THE CAFE."

You have to pay the rent and rent is money and I am still sitting there paying the rent and making the millionaire angry.

"I am spending money instead of making it.........you hear me, get off my ass."

But its alright with me but not alright with them. They don't pay my cafe check but they always come to me and give me their aggression and miseryand discontent and un-happiness.

They always say this to me, "YOu are always sitting in a cafe and reading."

And mind you not nicely either but with ANGER which is not so HIDDEN either.

"You are always in a cafe."

They say.

What should I say to them?

'Go fuck yourself."

Yes, thats what I should say to them but I am such a polite person, I learnt politeness by being with my servants at an early age.............after living here for such a long, long, long time I am still such a, "POLITE." person..............

Perhaps thats my career beside sitting in a cafe....................

TO BE CONTINUED

2011-04-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

LITERATURE

"THE STORY OF,"YOU"

CONTINUATION OF DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE,"STORY OF YOU."

"YOU" IS A METAPHORICAL STORY OF,"ART" VS, "MONEY"

"ARTIST" VS POWER OF WEALTH WHICH THROWS A FEW DOLLARS AT THE,"ARTIST"

AND EXERTS A POWERFUL, DEGRADING, SILENT CONTROL.

"YOU" IS MANY DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF BASICALLY THE SAME STORY HOW THE

MONEY TRIES TO CONTROL THE FREEDOM OF ART.

"YOU" IS TOLD AS A STORY BETWEEN TWO CHARACTERS WHO HAVE

A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER WITHOUT MUCH UNDERSTANDING

OF AESTHETIC AND CAPITAL.

"YOU" IS THE STORY OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MONEY AND BEAUTY

WHICH WAS GOING TO BREAK AWAY ANYWAY BECAUSE OF POETRY'S FRAGILITY.

"YOU" IS THE STORY BETWEEN PRAGMATISM AND IMAGINATION'S DREAMS.

A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY WITH TOTAL CONTROL ISSUES INVOLVED COULDN'T HELP THE ARTIST BECAUSE ART AND IMAGINATION COULD NOT PREVAIL UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CONTROL AND ,"MONEY" IS NOTHING BUT ,"CONTROL" AND,"ART"

IS NOTHING BUT,"FREEDOM OF THE SPIRIT AND SOUL."

"THE STORY OF,"YOU." IS A PROSE/POEM

A FEW VERSIONS WITH THE SLIGHT VARIATIONS OF IMAGINATION OF THE SAME

OLD STORY OF,"MONEY" AND, "ART"

2011-03-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

LITERATURE

"YOU"

We are not the masters of life,

but the slaves of invisible and

uncontrolled events.

But we are also not the slaves of other men.

Whatever we may do, we do it by our own choice.

We may blame others,(which we often do) for our

actions but others have nothing to do with our choices.

So if we make a choice to be kind or generous

we can't blame and insult the one to whom we have been kind and generous to.

We may regret our choices,

we may yell and scream with unreasonable fury

and rage at others......

but no one forces us to do anything we don't want to do.

We do everything not because of others but

because of us.

None of us can blame others for our own choices but our own selves.

We can't even blame others for their cruel,

insulting and hurtful words.

Anyone who uttered them will eventually bear the burden.

Its not that,"YOU" disrespected me, disrespected the word,

friendship but "YOU" also disrespected yourself.

For the sake of my own grace and dignity and integrity,

I never ever snapped at you while you often did.....

Even when I paid you a compliment that you are so thin,

"YOU" snapped at me while I was standing at the bottom of your stairs in

your own building where I always came to see you, spending

hours upon hours of my valuable time like a fool giving you company,

loving you, sharing my knowledge, my intelligence, conversing with

you about all sorts of things and played and laughed with your son,

you forgetting all that in your temperamental mood swings

would snap at me and many times you would lose your temper for no reason

at your store where you were always busy making money,

and I was always busy wasting my time.

You see, you wanted some kind of social exchange

but you won't meet me or any other friends

any place else but your own store so you could keep working, making money while your friends would entertain you simultaneously and you won't lose a dollar either

but its not your fault, its the fault of some one like me who came to

attend to you at the expense of their own ,"TIME"

You could have at least appreciated them but you felt you had an ,"ENTITLEMENT"

over them because you had wealth and they didn't.

But they had wealth, they had the ability to be kind to you, not to insult you, to respect you

and be gracious and grateful whenever you were generous.

But to you, giving some one some dollars is the only generosity. You couldn't compare their time, and talent and company as they giving you something also.

Actually they were giving you something which is and always will be

priceless.

No amount of wealth in the world can pay for love, affection, friendship and especially, "TIME"

God hasn't given any one the kind of wealth to repay for other people's valuable ,"TIME"

But they were, especially me was foolish to spend it on you and not on me and my work.

You could have been grateful but instead you want more, more control over human beings.

But human beings are not for sale.

There is not enough money to buy a person.

You made one mistake.

You wanted to buy a friends time for a few dollars.

No, honey, the dollar for that friend is a hateful green color.

Keep the money.

Let me keep my time for myself.

I like this exchange.

I can go ahead and read a book with that valuable time

I can write a poem................

I have time to think and read and write.

I am blessed

Who cares for any one's goodness in the shape and the color of a dollar

especially when they are going to remind you of that eventually,

"I HAVE BEEN VERY GOOD TO YOU. REMEMBER THAT. MY GOODNESS

WAS A DOLLAR I GAVE YOU."

"BUT YOUR TIME WAS OF NO IMPORTANCE. IT WAS COLORLESS. I VALUE GREEN."

2011-03-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

2011-03-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

LITERATURE:

ZULEKHA ZALI

MENAGERIE OF WORDS

COLLECTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF

PROSE POEMS,UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF THOUGHTS,

WORDS STREWN TOGETHER, WORDS OUT OF CONTEXT,

WORDS OUT OF SHAPE,WORDS NOT CONNECTED TO ANYTHING,

WORDS JUMPING FROM ONE THOUGHT TO ANOTHER, POEMS

PERISHING,THOUGHTS PERISHING,NO LONGEVITY OF THOUGHT,

NO CONTINUITY OF THOUGHT,NO NOVEL COMING OUT OF A THOUGHT,

NO CONSTANT IDEAS,NO CONNECTION WITH THE FREE FLOWING,EVER

DISTURBING SO CALLED, "NEGATIVE ASSOCIATION" VS,"POSITIVE ASSOCIATION"

OF A THOUGHT, OF MANY THOUGHTS, OF UN-ENDING, RAMBLING THOUGHTS,

NON COHERENT, UN-ENDING FLOW OF THOUGHTS,THOUGHTS NOT CONNECTED TO ANYTHING FORWARD MOVING AND STILL CONNECTED TO THE MOVEMENT OF NO MOVEMENT AT ALL.

LOVE OF A THOUGHT, LOVE OF A CONSTANT FLOW OF THOUGHT, DISTURBING, PLEASING, HAPPY, UNHAPPY, FULFILLING, EMPTY, VACANT, EVAPORATING

THOUGHTS.

DISTURBANCES OF ALL KINDS NAMED,"POEMS"

DISTURBANCES OF CONSTANT ANGAST NAMED,"PROSE POEMS"

DISTURBANCES OF NOT KNOWING, NEVER KNOWING, SEARCHING, CONSTANTLY SEARCHING BUT SEARCHING WHAT?

EVERY DAY THE SAME.............

THE SAMENESS OF EVERY DAY'S THOUGHT NAMED A,"MONOLOGUE" A<"DIALOGUE"

A,'DIALOGUE OF NOTHING"

A, "DIALOGUE OF NOTHINGNESS BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS"

AN EGO OF IMPORTANCE VS AN EGO OF NO IMPORTANCE

WHAT'S BETTER?

EGO?

OR NO EGO?

OR A LITTLE EGO VS A BIG EGO?

A BALANCE BETWEEN A LITTLE BIT OF EGO VS NO EGO AT ALL.

PESSIMISM VS OPTIMISM?

WHO SAYS, PESSIMISM IS NO GOOD?

WHO SAYS OPTIMISM IS BETTER?

BETTER THAN WHAT?

WHOSE DEFINITION HOLDS TRUTH?

IS THERE A, "TRUTH?"

WHAT IS TRUTH?

WHOSE TRUTH?

YOURS OR MINE?

UNIVERSAL

WHO DEFINED UNIVERSAL TRUTH?

WHO BENEFITS FROM THAT UNIVERSAL TRUTH?

TO TELL THE TRUTH OR TO NOT TELL THE TRUTH?

THAT'S THE QUESTION

TELL THE TRUTH AS YOU SEE IT

GET RIDICULED

DO NOT TELL THE TRUTH AS YOU SEE IT

BE ASHAMED

TELL THE TRUTH AS YOU SEE IT

BE STARVED

BE UN-POPULAR

GET ISOLATED

NO PART OF A SO CALLED,"COMMUNITY"

TELL THE TRUTH AS YOU SEE IT

BE ALONE

DO NOT COMPLAIN

BE SATISFIED IN YOUR ISOLATION

BE CONTENT IN YOUR LONELINESS

DO NOT TELL THE TRUTH AS YOU SEE IT

BE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE HAPPY TO HEAR IT FROM YOUR MOUTH

GET SOME BONE THROWN AT YOU LIKE A DOG

WAG YOUR TAIL

LICK THE BONE

BE THANKFUL

NOW YOU ARE PART OF A GROUP WHO ACCEPTS YOU

PART OF A GROUP WHO THROWS A BONE AT YOU FOR YOU TO LICK

BE HAPPY

BE CONTENT

BE INCLUDED

REPEAT WHAT OTHERS SAY

REPEAT WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR

THEY WILL THROW SOME MORE CRUMBS AT YOU

YOU DON'T WANT TO STARVE?

DO YOU?

NO YOU DON'T WANT TO STARVE?

YOU WANT TO HAVE SHAME?

NO YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE SHAME EITHER

SO WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?

SAY YOUR OWN WORDS TO YOURSELF

SAY YOUR OWN WORDS FOR YOUR SELF

HAVE THE INCOHERENT THOUGHTS FOR YOUR OWN SELF

HAVE THE CONSCIOUS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

RAMBLING WORDS AND SENTENCES OUT OF SHAPE WITH TYPOS AND BAD GRAMER

FOR YOUR SELF

YOU CAN TAKE IT

YOU ARE STRONG

YOU ARE SURREALISTIC

YOU LIKE BAUDELAIRE

YOU LIKE POE

YOU LIKE RIMBAUD

DON'T YOU?

YES YOU DO

VERY MUCH SO

YOU TOLD ME

NOW DON'T YOU GO BACK ON WHAT YOU TOLD ME ONCE

NOT ONLY ONCE

MANY TIMES

MANY, MANY TIMES...............................

HAVE THEM CONSTANTLY IN YOUR THINKING

HAVE THEM CONSTANTLY IN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS

HAVE THEM CONSTANTLY IN YOUR UN-CONSCIOUSNESS

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?

DON'T TRY TO BE GREEDY

BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT

DON'T TRY TO BE WHAT YOU ARE NOT

WHAT YOU CAN NEVER BE

WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE TO BE

DON'T LIKE TO BE LIKE OTHERS

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY,"OTHERS" ARE OUT THERE/

MILLIONS

BILLIONS

CRAWLING ON THE FACE OF THIS MISERABLE EARTH LIKE WORMS

LIKE INSECTS

AFRAID OF THIS AND AFRAID OF THAT

AFRAID OF,"AUTHORITY"

ALWAYS AFRAID OF,"AUTHORITY"

THAT'S WHAT."AUTHORITY" MEANS

FEAR.................

A POWERFUL EMOTION

FEAR CREATED IN OTHERS BY THE POWER OF,"AUTHORITY"

DON'T FEAR LIKE THE BILLIONS

YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THEM

YOU ARE ALONE

ALL ALONE BY YOUR SELF

WITHOUT A MOTHER

WITHOUT A FATHER

WITHOUT A COUNTRY

WITHOUT A CULTURE

WITHOUT A LANGUAGE

WITHOUT THE SEASONS

WITHOUT, WITHOUT, WITHOUT EVERYTHING

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE AFRAID OF LOSING?

YOU LOST IT ALL......................

BUT YOU HAVE YOUR RAMBLING SENTENCES

WOVEN OUT OF YOUR RAMBLING THOUGHTS

YOU CAN CALL THAT ANYTHING YOU WANT

A POEM

A PROSE POEM

A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

AN AWAKE KIND OF THOUGHT

A COMA-TOZED THOUGHT

A DEAD THOUGHT EVEN

BUT A THOUGHT NEVER THE LESS

NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF ANY PUBLISHING HOUSE

OR AN EDITOR

OR A DRAMATURGE

OR A GRANT GIVER

OR AN,"AUTHORITY"

WHICH CONTROLS

WHICH APPROVES

DON'T SEEK APPROVAL

REMEMBER WHAT VIRGINIA WOLF SAID?

"DON'T TRY TO PLEASE."

"DON'T SEEK APPROVAL"

DISPLEASE YOURSELF IF YOU WANT

PLEASE YOUR SELF IF YOU WANT

HATE YOURSELF IF YOU WANT

APPROVE OF YOUR SELF IF YOU WANT

DO NOTHING IF YOU WANT

BE ALONE IF YOU WANT

BE IN A GROUP IF YOU WANT

LAUGH IF YOU WANT

SOB IF YOU WANT

YOU SEE HOW ALONE YOU ARE.............

NO STOPPING OF ANY KIND OF EMOTION BY ANY ONE....................

THAT'S THE EVENTUAL ACHIEVEMENT

YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL NOW

YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL IN AN INDIVIDUALISTIC SOCIETY

THAT'S THE SUCCESS

YOU CAN FEND FOR YOUR SELF

YOU CAN WELCOME ANY EMOTION IN YOUR LIFE

YOU CAN REJECT ANY EMOTION IN YOUR LIFE

YOU CAN THINK, CRY, BE ANGRY, HIT SOME ONE, HIT YOURSELF, BREAK YOUR TEA CUPS, BE COMPOSED,HAVE DARJEELING TEA IN YOUR CUPS INSTEAD OF BREAKING

IT.........................

WEAR FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR

OR SHAVE YOUR HEAD

BE WELL DRESSED

OR BE A BUM

BATHE OR DON'T BATHE...............

PERFUME YOUR SELF

OR HAVE A ROTTEN STENCH

BE SILENT

OR SCREAM

WALK OR SIT

EAT

OR STARVE YOURSELF

CONTACT PEOPLE

OR HAVE NO ONE TO CONTACT

OR HAVE NO DESIRE TO CONTACT ANY PEOPLE ANYWHERE.................

YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS................

THEY WILL ALL DISAPPEAR EVENTUALLY EVEN IF THEY WERE EVER

PART OF YOUR LIFE BEFORE...............

THEY WILL DISAPPEAR........

NO WHERE TO BE FOUND.....

BUT ONE THING WILL NEVR LEAVE YOU

YOU AND YOUR THOUGHTS............

RAMBLING THOUGHTS

CONNECTED THOUGHTS

UN=CONNECTED THOUGHTS

POEMS

PROSE POEMS

WORDS...

SENTENCES

RAMBLING SENTENCES MAKING NO SENSE TO ANY ONE

BUT THEY ARE YOURS AND WILL ALWAYS BE YOURS

THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU TILL THE END

THEY WILL GET MORE CONFUSED

MORE CONFUSING

MORE I COHERENT

MORE OUT OSF SHAPE

OUT OF FORM

MORE OUT OF A NARRATIVE

MORE OUT OF A STORY TELLERS SKILLS

THEY WILL RAMBLE IN YOUR DREAMS

IN YOUR NIGHTMARES

THEY WILL KEEP YOU AWAKE ALL NIGHT

THEY WILL SCARE YOU WHEN YOU ARE FAST A SLEEP

THEY WILL TAKE YOU TO YOUR BIRTH

TO YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER

TO YOUR CHILDHOOD HOME

TO YOUR CELL OF AN APT

TO THE AIRY FIELDS WITH JASMINE SCENT

TO THE SMELL OF PISS AND SHIT IN THE PARK

WHERE THE DOGS WILL BARK AT YOU AND SCARE YOU

WHERE THE OWNERS OF THE DOGS WILL ALSO BARK AT YOU AND SCARE YOU OUT OF YOUR WITS IF YOU HAVE ANY LEFT............

WHERE THE MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WILL REDUCE YOU TO SHREDS WITH THEIER

SUPERIORITY OF FERTILITY AND THEIR CHOICES AND THEIR SUPER WOMEN

POWERS................................

WHERE YOU WILL BE UN-ABLE TO ASSERT YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU NEITHER HAVE A DOG, NOR A CHILD, NOR A BABY CARAGE OR A LEASH OR A NANY FROM NORT AFRICA

NOR A MAN NEXT TO YOU WHO IS A CORRUPT SO CALLED, "FINANCIER"

NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING OF A."FINANCIER"

MUST MANAGE FINANCE

I WONDER IF HE MANGES HIS FINANCE OR SOME ONE ELSE'S

AND IF HE MANGES HIS OWN FINANCES OW DID HE GET THE FINANCES TO MANGE

TO BEGIN WITH?

AND IF HE MANGES OTHER PEOPLE'S FINANCES HOW DID THEY HIRE HIM WITHOUT

ANY FINANCES OF HIS OWN?

OH! WELL TO MUCH FOR SOME ONE TO UNDERSTAND, THE WORD, FINANCE

FOR SOME ONE WHO JUST RAMBLES ALONG............DAY AND NIGHT WITH

INCORRECT GRAMMAR ......................................

PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS OF,"RAMBLING THOUGHTS AND UNCONNECTED,

INCOHERENT, IN COHERENT THOUGHTS AND POEMS MADE OUT OF THOSE DISCONNECTED THOUGHTS CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE WORD,"FINANCE"

ANOTHER WORD I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO COMPREHEND EITHER

AND THAT IS, "CONSULTANT."

"CONSULTANCY"

WHAT DO THEY CONSULT?

WHAT DO THEY NEED A CONSULTANT FOR?

WHAT IS A CONSULTANT ANY WAY?

WELL! SHOULDN'T BOTHER WITH SUCH COMPLICATED WORDS..............

JUST RAMBLE ALONG, RAMBLE ALONG.......

MAKE UP YOUR OWN WORDS

YOUR OWN SENTENCES

YOUR OWN POEMS

YOUR OWN PROSE POEMS

THEY ARE NOT GOING TO AN EDITOR TO BE CORRECTED

THEY ARE NOT GOING TO GO TO A PUBLISHER TO BE PUBLISHED............

PUBLISHED FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

PUBLISHED FOR WHOM?

YOU THINK PEOPLE WHO BARK AT YOU LIKE DOGS IN THE PARK AND PEOPLE

AT ALL CROSSROADS WHO WANTS TO SMASH YOUR TOES AND SHOULDER BLADES TO SMITHREENS ON THE SIDE WALKS ARE GOING TO READ YOUR RAMBLE AFTER YOU ARE DEAD AND GONE?

"OH! POOR THING, WE BARKED AT HER WHEN SHE WAS LIVING, LETS READ HER POETRY NOW"

YOU THINK THEY ARE GOING TO GET THAT BOOK WHICH SOME GODFORSAKEN

ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH MIGHT PUBLISH OUT OF A BLUNDER OF HIS LIFE TIME?

RAMBLE ON...................

THAT'S YOUR VOCATION

YOU ARE BORN TO POSSESS, "MENAGERIE OF WORDS"

AND YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO STRING THEM ALONG LIKE FLOWERS ON A THREAD

AND MAKE A GARLAND OUT OF IT..................

WHO CARES IF THE COLORS OF THE FLOWERS DON'T FIT NEXT TO EACH OTHERS?

WHO CARES IF THE JASMINE IS NEXT TO THE SUN FLOWER OR NEXT TO THE DAFFODILS?

THEY ARE FLOWERS NEVERTHELESS

AND THEY ARE YOUR FLOWERS

AND YOU ARRANGED THEM INTO A GARLAND OF YOUR OWN ESSENCE AND YOUR

OWN DISCONNECTED THOUGHT OF THAT MOMENT.

YOUR GARLAND HAS YOUR OWN PECULIAR AND SPECIAL SCENT..............

PEOPLE REMEMBER PEOPLE BY THEIR SCENT.

THEY WILL REMEMBER YOU BY YOUR SCENT AND BY YOUR

MENAGERIE OF WORDS....................................

AND IF THEY DON'T?

WHO CARES.............WHO CARES...............WHO CARES..................

YOU DIDN'T HAVE PEOPLE ANY WAY

YOU ONLY HAD WORDS..............

A DELICATE, TENDER, MELODIOUS, SAD MENAGERIE OF WORDS.

2010-12-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

THEATER REVIEW

BINA SHARIF

"ROSMERSHOLM"

IBSEN

PEARL THEATRE COMPANY

Rosmersholm was written in 1886 and anyone who knows the works of Ibsen, knows that

he was way ahead of his times. Its about Politics besides many other things such as repressed emotions, desires, courage, liberalism, expression of free Ideals and the failure of those Ideals at the same time. But Politics, the right wing and the left wing makes your mind wander to

the thoughts of present day tea party movement and the the left wing's roundabout way of dealing with liberal Issues. Politics and the Ideals work side by side in this wonderful production and both fail at the end.

Some people will disagree with this conclusion because they would swear that

the right wing radicals win here but by their devious nature and because of it, they destroy

the liberal change which might had come if the Idealists didn't meet with the eventual tragedy.

Rosmersholm in this recent production under the taught direction of Elinor Renfield seems

fresh and breezy and the cast delivers Ibsen's language adapted by(Mike Poulton) in a crisp

manner.

Johannes Rosmer, a well respected and wealthy widower who has renounced his faith and

has joined a young, beautiful and dangerously liberal woman Rebecca West(Margot White)

who took care of Rosmer's late wife and stayed on after her mysterious suicide. Rosmer(Bradford Cover) also has given up on his political thoughts and is now a progressive thinker such as his companion and love interest Rebecca West,

But the things do not move along as smoothly as a romantic liberal fairy tail.

There are other ominous elements and persons to deal with such as Kroll(Austin Pendleton) Rosmer's brother in law who gives one of the finest, haunting and carfty performance of the evening. One just can not watch another performer no matter how good when Austin Pendleton is on stage.

Though the whole cast is extremely admirable, Pendleton offers something special. Spiced with mirth, sly knowing and cunning with a grin scary enough to keep you on the edge. It gives you the chills. No one can win against Kroll who knows and reveal a disturbing secret that Rebecca with all her honest and straight forwardness might be hiding a terrible secret about the death of Rosmer's wife and this revelation turn the the ending into a horrifying and disturbing tragedy.

The set and lighting design is very elegant and the space is utilized in a wonderful way making

it look more spacious.

Bradford Cover as Rosmer and Margot White handle their characters very well though the

monologue delivered by Rebecca in the second act is a bit long and should come to the point she wants to make a bit sooner and thus make a stronger impact. But that's in the writing and not the fault of the actress.

Pearl Theatre company has proved once again that this is certainly the place to watch the

classics which not many other theater companies dare to produce. Every one should see this

mesmerizing production.

Pearl Theatre Company

131 55th Street

212-581-1212

pearltheatre.org

Review by Bina Sharif

artsinternational.blogspot.com

email:binasharif@earthlink.net

2010-05-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

THEATER REVIEW
BY
BINA SHARIF

THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES
BY
FRANK D.GILROY
DIRECTED BY
AMY WRIGHT

THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES is produced by Pearl Theater Company (J.R. Sullivan,Artistic Director)
THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES, a Pulitzer and Tony award winner, produced in 1964 a revival by the excellent Pearl Theater Company still holds because the conflicts and confusions of family relationships and the sense of possession by the parents of their children, an only son in this case has never gone out of fashion, neither the love nor the struggle in a universal family drama.

This is a conflict not only in an American family but all families. The children dying to get noticed by both parents and parents individually exercising more authority in the name of love over the kids and thus the bickering and complaining and fighting begins and unfortunately never ever ends especially in this play.
The reasons of bickering between two parents in The subject was roses is not however very clear. Is this a routine bickering between a husband and wife or is there a deep dark secret
of animosity which is oozing out in profusion from the wife especially towards the husband which I hoped will be clarified by the end but actually there was nothing concrete to be mentioned except that the family fought for the sake of fighting perhaps depicting the life of an Irish family where none of the members want to reconcile their inherent differences of personality depicting perhaps of a wrong match between two people thus empahsising the delicate title of the play, The subject of roses which is by far a beautifully romantic title of a very un-romantic relationship.

The subject was roses is about a family, Cleary family, mother, father and a son named Timmy who just returned from the war. Its set in the Bronx in 1946. The whole decore is very 1946.
It can be called a kitchen sink drama, nicely put together and must have been very timely when it was written but seems a bit dated though the production achieves perfection in acting and directing.
I found the father,John (Dan Daily) more interesting a charcter than the mother,Nettie (Carol Schultz) because the cause her conflict and hatred for her husband wasn't clear. I guess she did not like her husband's lack of sensitivity and tenderness which she experienced by her own father who always send her roses on her birthdays. The son tries very hard to patch things up between the two of them even asking for the father to bring roses for her which she does appreciate but only for a short while and is jealous of the son's affection for the father.
The actors did a stunning job and I liked the direction by Amy Wright also but I had a little confusion about the script.
However its extremely admirable of Pearl theater company to always revive the classics.
This company is brave and bold and almost the only one in NY to do that. For this very reason they need to be congratulated because they always do a good job.

REVIEWED BY BINA SHARIF OF ARTSINTERNATIONAL.COM
binasharif@earthlink.net

2010-05-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

THEATER REVIEW
BY
BINA SHARIF

THE SHAPE OF THINGS
BY
Neil LaBute

THE SHAPE OF THINGS by Neil LaBute is produced by VARIATIONS theatre group at long
Island City. Artistic directors,Rich Ferraioli and KirkGostkowski.
Getting to the theater in Long Island City was an adventure especially for me who hardly ever venture out of Manhattan theater scene and it was well worth it.
The theater space in itself is a little Intimate gem and the production of THE SHAPE OF THINGS was wonderful. The play is very well directed by Rich Ferraioli.

Neil LaBute has a patience of a saint as the dramatist. He keeps his surprises hidden till the very end unlike most of the contemprary writers of drama.
In most of the plays one can predict the ending of the play in the first fifteen or twenty minutes
but not here. He takes us on a journey of un expected steamy love between a shy nerdy kind of a guy named Adam played by, (Kirk Gostkowski) and a very confident, hip, Cosmopolitan kind of a gal named Evelyn played brilliantly by, (Alice Bahlke)

I missed the original Production of the play when it was done at Almeida Theatre, London
and I am happy that I didn't know the ending till it came.
But I do have to confess that I had an un-comfortable feeling about the love affair between Evelyn and Adam throughout the play because some body like Evelyn, so out going, so charismatic a woman won't fall for Adam who is not much of a love target for her but luckily even I didn't suspect that she was just using him for an art project and was willing to go all the way in the name of art to manipulate and hurt a real un-suspecting, trusting and kind human being. But that's the point of the play that in the name of art one can cross all bounderies and justify the cruelty to advance themselves.

My only hesitation about the plot of this play is that how many times one can see this play knowing the ending and still enjoy it? But still the writing is very sharp and hold your interest.
The whole cast does a very good job but I liked Deven Anderson as Phillip. He had that wit and humor and sarcasm which involves you fully in the actor playing the character.

Scenic artists: Stephanie Ferraioli and India Quimby was very clean and impressive. I loved the
Make believe paintings in those frames.
I just wondered about the platform used in the museum scene if it was necessary because it did work nicely in the first scene but was in the way of many later scenes which seemed cramped.
But all these are minor problems to be thought about in the future productions of the play and also I caught the play on the opening night with some rough spots...I still was very impressed by the whole cast, the crew and especially by Rich Frraioli's excellent direction and the fast
pacing he maintained throughout the play. Every one involved in this production was totally professional and exteremly hospitable. My companions and I enjoyed the evening very much. My Guest from London, Paul Shaw who had also missed this play in London loved it and so did Kevin Martin who is also a theater Critic and publisher of CINEMASTAGE.COM
I hope other theater goers will make an effort and see future productions by VARIATIONS theatre Group. My congratulations to the team for a great effort.

Reviewed by Bina Sharif
of ARTSINTERNATIONAL.BLOGSPOT .COM
binasharif@earthlink.net

2010-02-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

THEATER REVIEW

BINA SHARIF

HARD TIMES

Charles Dickens'

The Pearl Theater Company

"Hard Times" A novel by Charles Dickens' about the industrialization and factory workers in a fictional Victorian city called Coketown which exposes the economic and social hardships of factory workers and other inhabitants of that city.

In a wonderful,clear and fluid adaptation by Stephen Jrffreys and a minimalist approach in staging by J.R. Sullivan the play which is three hours and fifteen minutes long moves along smoothly and powerfully keeping all of us awake and concentrated. I say this because in today's theater expectations this play is a long one and people are getting used to mere ninety minute

long plays. Its a great achievement on the part of Pearl's creative team to not only do the classics but to do them well.

The central character in Hard Times is Thomas Gradgrind (T.J.Edwards) headmaster of Coketown school.

He is determined to live by facts and teach his students nothing except facts. To create, to imagine, to dream. to have a fantasy is not part of the lessons delivered by Gradgrind.

This kind of dry and sterile training at a young age leaves his students to lead unhappy lives.

That Includes his own children Louisa (Rachel Botchan) and Tom (Sean McNall)

The other main character in the play is Josiah Bounderby (Bradford Cover) factory owner and

a banker of ferocious power and greed very much resembling the present time bankers with the whim of demolition of the human spirit.

The headmaster, Gradgrind's children end up having wasted lives. Louisa, the daughter ends up marrying the much older banker Bounderby and Tom, the son who works for Bounderby in his bank ends up being into heavy debts which the sister often take care of and into drinking.

There are other subplots such as factory workers and a circus in town which provides most of the humor in the play. Stephen Blackpool (T.J.Edwards) a weaver in the factory owned by Bounderby, an honest man with a pure heart ends up in a heartbreaking tragedy.

Six actors in this Superb production play more than twenty characters and the director keeps the pacing fast and sharp.

My favorite actors (though all actors did a great job as an ensemble) were Bradford Cover as

Bounderby, Harthouse and a stern law clerk and T.J.Edwards as Gradgrind and Blackpool.

Bradford Cover got every tick, every gesture, every move of the character right and he had the toughness and the elegance of a Baron whom one wants to hate but is also mesmerized by.

T.J. Edwards was clear, coherent, a strict father determined to follow his beliefs as a good father and a good teacher no matter how harmful those good actions of his turned out to be.

Both these actors gave elegant performances.

The Lighting design by Stephen Petrilli created the perfect mood for the play.

This is by far the best adaptation and the best direction I have seen in a long time of a classic novel for the modern stage.

Reviewed by

BINA SHARIF

ARTSINTERNATIONAL

2010-02-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

BLUE SURGE

Rebecca Gilman

REVIEWED

BINA SHARIF

Blue Surge by Rebecca Gilman is at the Wild Project on East third Street.

I missed the play when it ran at the Public theater. Rebecca Gilman is a Joseph Jefferson award winner playwright whose many plays have been produced at the Goodman theater in Chicago and elsewhere.

One thing very admirable about the playwright is that she takes her time. She is not in a rush to write a mere 85-90 minute play because the attention span of the today's audience is so in flight to rush out of the theater to get to that cab or to that drink and steak.

Blue Surge is two and a half hour long and a lots of it is worthy of its length. Only one problem

is apparent here in this production by EXTANT ARTS COMPANY.

Most of the actors are not equipped to handle the poetry of the playwright for a sustained period of time and thus it sounds like that the actors are repeating themselves in various

scenes especially between Curt,(Pete Caslavka) and Sandy,(Lauren M.Nordvig) when they exchange stories of their respective mothers, one with many dogs and the other with burdens of many marriages including a last one with a woman.

Somehow or the other one feels as this has been heard before. The main reason for this is

the pacing. Its extremely slow. It needs to be picked up. It drags the poetry of the writing.

Once in a while, to create a nostalgic sadness its fine but its constant and makes the play seems longer than it actually is.

The BLUE SURGE is about a cop named, Curt who is a very decent fellow with a good heart

who wants to help the good people who by some tragic stroke of luck have been reduced to doing jobs they don't want to do. But thats what he thinks. Some people want and like the jobs they are doing like Sandy who works as a hooker in a massage parlor which is being raided by

the cop Curt one day and by Doug, (Justin Gallo) another cop who works with Curt and is a close friend.

The day Curt is visiting the massage parlor Sandy suspects him that he is a cop because he doesn't take his underwear off and thus doesn't agree to go any further than a very tender back rub. Curt who has an upwardly mobile fiance named Beth,(Bridget R. Durkin) gets smitten by Sandy and for the rest of the play wants to save her soul while Sandy just has the heart of a hooker and ends up having her own business while Curt destroys his Upcomin marriage and his job and ends up like a big nothing....

There is a side plot where Doug falls for another hooker named Heather,(Louise Flory) who works with Sandy and they end up having a family together which is much more positive an ending.

Though I liked Ms. Gilman's writing...At certain moments it really draws you inside the souls of the lost and lonely and you feel lots of tenderness for these characters but at some other moments you want Curt to save himself and not be so Naive and good hearted for others.

These moments have the danger in the writing and the acting to make the lead character into a victim.

The show drags a lot in the first act but moves a bit faster in the second act.

Some actors such as Justin Gallo as Doug and Louise Flory as Heather has more of a spark to their acting.

Bridget R. Durkin as Beth is excellent in her first scene at the police station but then fades away afterwards.

Pete Caslavka as Curt and Lauren M. Nordvig as Sandy are good also but they are in so many scenes which sound similar to their previous ones that they begin to feel tired and tedious to us.

I would like to see this play one more time with very fast pacing and some editing because there was a, "FEEL" in the play that I admired much.

2009-12-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO?

A POEM

M. Nousan

What a question?

Who dare ask me this kind of question?

I have always managed to do nothing when there is nothing to do

I am not one of those programmed professors who always have to do something

I do nothing even when there are piles of things to be done

Like these days and like always

Since I do nothing all the time

Thats why there are piles of things to be done always

People do their laundry

I put it in laundry bags

And let it wait

Why not?

We are all waiting for something

Why can't laundry wait?

Dishes can wait too.

We are waiting

Why can't dishes wait?

Are the dishes more special than us?

Us...Wonderful human beings...

We have to wait for money, boy friends, husbands, children, In-laws. jobs

What do dishes have to wait for?

Someone's lousy appetite?

So they can dump the half cooked, half uncooked greasy chicken in the dish

And then gulp it in one bite and without wiping their mouths go back to

Their computers because they are all now poets....

Poets my...

Dishes can wait, so can a broom, a mop, a cleaning pad...

Throw these ugly things out...

They have made the house look really bad

Throw it out

Every thing

Every ugly thing, throw it out

And you?

You?

You wait

Wait for what?

Wait for nothing...

Nothing is coming Ok?

Except diseases and death...

"EVENTUALITY." Its called....

Oh! I made you depressed, so very depressed

You, a delicate little flower with delicate little feelings

Who is never going to wither away in the wind...

Oh! I am so dark and so depressing

And the World is so cheery outside...

Only Other's world is cheery honey

Go ask their wives...

They show their naked arms in winter, summer and fall...

You think their dishes are waiting?

You think their laundry is waiting?

You think they are doing the dishes?

They are whispering in her husband's ears all night

"Honey, take us to exotic places

Because we are so exotic....look at our arms...take us...to exotic lands

For folks like us, Unemployed, Un-fashionable Doing nothing is better...

Nothing doing, nothing coming, nothing going...

Everything can wait...for nothing... and then there is nothing...

End is nothing and nothingness.....

For us and for the dishes and the dirt and mops and brooms...

and for the rich wives with groomed, tanned bare arms......

2009-06-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

THEATER REVIEW

BINA SHARIF

RICHARD III: AN ARAB TRAGEDY

BAM

PART OF MUSLIM VOICES

ARTS & IDEAS

Adapted and directed by

Sulayman Al-Bassam

This Richard III: played with gusto and confidence by, (Fayez Kazak who also plays duke of Gloucester) has no deformity at all. Instead he has an extra ability of being a first rate comedian. Audience members, especially Arabic speaking laugh loud and often at this 21st Century adaptation of Richard III with cell phones, Tv monitors, text messages, Instant

coverage of all the carnage which Richard bestow upon his relatives and people.

If any one dared to make Richard III: a historical tragedy into a funny farce about the functioning and mostly non functioning of the leaderships of the Middle East, Its Sulayman Al- Bassam, the director and the leader of Sabab, an International touring theater.

His approach in adapting the tragedy of Richard III: into an Arab tragedy is appropriate knowing what's been going on in the Persian Gulf. Sulayman Al-Bassam seems amused by

projecting the basic flaws of the kingdoms and cultures, corruption, deceit, greed and the hunger for power at the expense of many lives.

Richard III: When at the end desperately seeking a horse which he would gladly exchange for his kingdom, we all know that all that power and greed was not worth it....And we feel bad for the fallen king to say the least but in this production one tends to laugh and enjoy more not because the end is not tragic but it had been handled throughout in such a funny manner that

one is almost amused at the folly of most of the Arab leaders who acts first and think later or hardly think at all about their cruelty.

This production's most beautiful effect is that its spoken in Melodious Arabic language.

Just to hear the sound of Azan, (The Arabic and Muslim call to prayers in the major American theater) is mesmerizing. And the live band creating the melody of lament is sadly thrilling.

Fayez Kazak who plays both parts, Duke of Gloucester and king Richard III: has enormous

energy and sense of fun and he moves fast and furious and often smiles as If he is Immensely enjoying his ultimate tragedy, but actually calling this play, An Arab Tragedy, he is smiling at the failed Arab leaders and their destructive ever lasting Un-democratic rules.

Since the actor is having fun, we the audience are more than willing to join him.

The play doesn't have the opening famous monologue delivered by Richard, Its actually

Queen Margaret (Amal Omram) who having been abandoned from power has the fury of madness, curses and spit fire in the opening prologue and that's a very effective Image and a real unexpected change. She often appears with the same power of fury and revenge throughout the evening. Amal Omram is wonderful in that role.

As I mentioned earlier that this production has all the elements of modern technology and the character Buckingham played by Raymond el-Hosni is the Chief of staff of Image maker of Richard. Some of the current events projected by video simulcasts and events narrated by reporters who make funny faces and grin constantly as if they were all in a circus...

This kind of innovation in Shakespear's tragedy can be annoying but here the effect is hilarious.

The Music here is a big part of this beautiful production. The Ominous echo of the music

is everlasting and is the witness of the passage of turmoils in the Arab lands.

The stage is empty except some colorful cushions which the actors themselves bring on stage and sit on them and remove while leaving....This minimal staging gives the feeling of the vastness of desserts of empty hope and corrupt power.

Verses from the Qoran are recited many times and it has a blissful, soothing, exotic and alien effect on the psyche.

But underneath all the fun and the humor and the jokes, there is an Ominous tragedy lurking around which is not only of a Person such as Richard III: but of the World. We are constantly aware that something is not right with the World and its leaders and its Inhabitants and its religions and its false fundamentalist's rigid and narrow out look and destructive tendencies

which has kept the planet on a dangerous edge....

There is a constant message of peace in this production as the Qoutes from Qoran are being recited and numerous times the Islamic greeting, ASSALAAM-O-ALYIKUM and WA-LYEIKUM SALAAM, meaning, "Peace be upon you." "And peace be upon you too," is uttered

but then the killing rampage also goes on after the message of peace....

Its Ironic if people and the leaders of this production only heard themselves clearly while uttering the word, "Allah." which actually was heard at least a 100 times during the show, they might stop the slaughter. But the message of peace...

was beautiful, soothing, comforting and at the same time disturbing because the events unfolding in the play were disturbing and eventually deadly.

Beside the tragic events which had to be dealt with, after all the title of the play is Richard III:

An Arab Tragedy, the production was a lot of Un-expected fun and the sound of the spoken Arabic was just amazing, haunting and poetic.

Mr. Bassam and his whole ensemble including the musicians have done a brilliant job.

binasharif@earthlink.net

2009-06-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

THEATER REVIEW

BINA SHARIF

The Pearl Theater Company presents

Tennessee Williams'

VIEUX CARRÉ

Directed by Austin Pendleton

When Tennessee Williams decided to move away from his mother and his sister to escape his vague anxiety and his pain which was already accumulating in him as a young writer of poems and short stories, he ended up in a dilapidated New Orleans boarding house at 722 Toulouse Street in the French Quarter. The tenants of that shadowy boarding house became the lost, mournful, lonely and aspiring characters of his future plays. The memory of those Isolated and sad human beings never left Tennessee alone...

Those people appeared in one form or the other in many of his plays and stories but finally in the play VIEUX CARRÉ he decided that we the audience should meet them fully as he met them when he was 28 years old.

In VIEUX CARRÉ Tennessee Williams' takes us to the dimly lit, dingy rooms of

his youth's memory, the vulnerability of love and the pain of its broken threads,

the promise of a future and the fear of the lack of any ray of light to shine on it,

the impending terrors and loneliness of aging and death and the sexual Identity

and the ache of nostalgic sorrow for life's waste.

The boarding house at 722 Toulouse Street, in the Vieux Carré district of New Orleans is run by Mrs. Wire, (Carol Schultz) has tennants in it who are fighting a loosing battle of desire in the name of escape from this no man's land of loss

and hope, resignation instead of despair over their demise of un-fullfilled promise or a glimmer of light which makes them travel back and forth to their own empty lives and dreams.

The boarding house has a young man, the writer, (Sean Mcnall) who narrates the stories of the rest of the dwellers of darkness and many times become part of the story which he is typing on his old type writer with a candle which many times he can't light because there are no matches to be found and the burnt out bulbs have never been replaced by the land lady. So their lives are literally reflected from inside out in the dark shadows which cast a spell on the memories of the characters and the audience.

Vieux Carré is a memory play. Its about the youth and the old age of the artist

who is lonely and disillusioned and is fighting to Identify himself sexually.

There are runaways and old ladies who some times don't even remember who they are but recite beautiful poetry about their vanished glorious and refined past while they have nothing much to loose because they have lost it all.

There is a young troubled woman named Jane, (Rachel Botchan) who is a nice,

lovely young lady on the run and haunted by demons and is in love with a strip show hustler and a drug addict named Tye, ( Joseph Collins) whom she wants to get rid of but keep wanting him to stay even after he subject her to emotional and sexual violence.

And than there is an old man, an ailing painter named, Nightingale, (George Morfogen) who draws portraits in a bar called two parrots bar and is dying of loneliness and begs the young writer for company and affection and sex.

To him the sexual encounter with any stranger is the answer to his eternal loneliness. And then there is a maid named, nursie (Claudia Robinson) who is often needed for help by the land lady mostly to untangle the denziens of their

emotional turmoil which is constant.

Tennessee Williams startted to write Vieux Carré in 1939 and must have gone back to it for decades because it wasn't produced till 1977 on Broadway and after horrendously bad reviews closed within one week.

But almost every character in His later plays reflects the people of 722 Toulouse street, forgotten people. lonely people, nostalgic people, vulnerable people, misunderstood people, people who have tons of poetry in them but no one to recite it to but to their own memory and to their own Unforgettable pastwhich

keeps coming back to haunt them

Vieux Carré is Tennessee Williams most autobiographical play like Glass Menagerie. Its a sad and poetic story of lost souls who are seeking redemption and escape through Imagined promises of hope and constant despair into one night stands and drugs and encounters with the wrong and rough loosers in the name of loneliness and emptiness of the soul.

The play is wonderfully directed by Austin Pendleton who captures beautifully the sadness, loss, dreams and poetry of these characters wounded hearts.

The play is hauntingly lit by Stephen Petrilli who creates shadows upon shadows

of hopes dimmed.

The whole cast is wonderful and captures the heart and the essence of Tennessee's mood and poetry but, George Morfogen breaks your heart with the ache of Immense loneliness.

Other brilliant performance is by Joseph Collins as Tye who destroys Jane with his sexual Intensity and passion of a man and a true hustler with a soul to sell.

Carol Schultz gives a fully accomplished performance as the land lady, strong as a whip and loosing her mind at the same time.

Vieux Carré is another superb performance by the great Pearl Theater Company and there is nothing more beautiful than Tennessee Williams poetry. Give yourself a chance to hear it.

binasharif@earthlink.net

Bina Shariff Drawings

2009-04-23T10:35:00.001-07:00

OTELLO BY SHAKESPEARE

2009-03-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

THEATER REVIEW
BY
BINA SHARIF

"Othello" is produced by The Theater for The New Audience at Duke Theater on 42nd Street.

Before I go any further I have to admit that I have never seen,"Othello" played better by any actor in my recent memory than by John Douglas Thompson.

He burns with passion and tenderness and elegance the moment he appears on stage and the love for his craft and his sensitivity for his character never ever fades.

"Othello, a tense and heart wrenching tragedy by Shakespeare, when done right leaves you with a sadness and sorrow so real as if you just watched real loss of life right in-front of you and you just sat there paralyzed with emotions and somehow could not prevent it.

Othello is a play about many things, power, love, race, jealousy, rage, suspicion and language. Shakespeare's words are so clear and powerful here that one can hardly breath being afraid that one might miss something.

The production is staged with great simplicity and lack of clutter and the words fly freely without obstacles. Staging is an example of minimalism which for me is always necessary in the theater so the extra props and furniture can get out of the way of the language and what other language does one need than beautiful poetry and wisdom of Shakespeare.

The play's director, Arin Arbus got a great grasp of this brilliant tragedy by Shakespeare and understood that nothing must come in the way of its poetry. She lets her actors feel the language and through that we, the audience are riveted.

Othello, a handsome General, a Moore marries a beautiful lady, Desdemona who is fragile, silky, passionate,honest and sincere wife and a lover and to doubt such a person is a tragedy in itself but Othello who is totally consumed by his love for Desdemona is so flawed in one aspect

that he believes the lies told to him by his venom ridden Iago who is consumed with jealousy of Othello's power and him being slighted by lack of promotion and tries to weave a story of false hood and deceit between Desdemona and Cassio which ends in the murder of Desdemona By Othello and the death of Othello by his own hand when he realizes, (alas! far too late) that it was an ugly lie and Desdemona never gave that token of his love to Cassio...it was all planned by Evil and manipulative Iago.

This production mostly because the way it was done, briskly and clearly and cleanly comes across as a brilliant production.

I can not say enough in praise of John Douglas Thompson. He has the grace, the dignity, the power, the voice. His voice has a special melody in it which suits the classical language.

He has the sensitivity in his body and in his eye and in his vocal cords...which wife would cheat on him ?

Desdemona played by, Juliet Rylance, (the daughter of Mark Rylance, the great actor himself whom I have seen many times at the Globe theater in London) is just superb. She is poised to be a queen who can break with sorrow like fragile petals of a jasmine flower which when crushed by cruelty is no more but still leaves its scent behind for our senses to grieve.

Emilia, Desdemona's companion and handmaiden and Iago's wife doesn't understand her husband's poisonous game till its too late is capably played by Kate Forbes.

If I had any problem with anything in this superb production it was with the actor Ned Eisenberg in the role of Iago. Though he successfully plants doubt and suspicion in Othello's mind about his Innocent wife, Desdemona and is absolutely rude and cruel and disrespectful towards his own wife, Emilia, I could not get deep into his viciousness and malignant nature.

At times I felt while he was winking at us often that his choices were too easy and cute. Some how he was unable to get under my skin in an awe-striking, ominous kind of a presence.

But in everyother way I was totally thrilled and absorbed in the tragedy and beauty of this production. I would just love to see it again.

Seasons of Arts International

2009-02-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Art Work

Bina Sharif

I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

2009-02-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

MOVIE REVIEW

I 'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

WHAT A MOVIE!
WHAT AN ACTRESS! CHRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS

WHAT A SCRIPT!
WHAT DIRECTION!

SUPERB
SAD
TENDER
FANTASTICALLY MOVING
TOUCHING
BEAUTIFUL
DESERVES MANY OSCARS

CHERRY ORCHARD BY ANTON CHEKHOV AT BAM

2009-01-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

THEATER REVIEWBY

BINA SHARIF

CHERRY ORCHARD

BY CHEKHOV

DIRECTED BY SAM MENDES

AT BAM NEW YORK PRODUCED BY THE BRIDGE PROJECT.

Starring Simon Russell Beale (photo)

The Bridge project is a venture between America, England to do classics

featuring British, American and Irish actors here and abroad.

The new translation of Anton Chekhov's Cherry Orchard is by the brilliant and prolific

Tom Stoppard.

The Old Vic and Kevin Spacey are partners in this and future productions which will also

stage the play along with Winter's Tale to open in Feb.

The cast of Cherry Orchard includes brilliant actors such as Simon Russell Beale, Sinead Cusack and Ethan Hawke and Richard Easton.

Cherry Orchard, a dramatic comedy by one of the finest writers, Chekhov does not disappoint

in the fine and brilliant hands such as Sam Mendes, the director and Simon Russell Beale, one of the most charismatic actor with a booming and melodious voice.

This is at least the 10th time that I have been fortunate to see Simon Russel Beale and every time I am in awe of his talent and pleasantly haunted by his voice.

The last time I saw him on stage was at the National Theatre in London in Harold Pinter's

plays. Though Chekhov and Pinter are two different kinds of geniuses, Simon Russell Beale

shine bright in both. He has the technique and ability to make every part he plays as if it was exclusively written for him.

Simon Russell Beale who plays Lopakhin, a merchant who eventually buys the much loved

but un-manageable cherry orchard from Ranevskaya, a middle aged actress and a fading beauty

who spends most of her time in Paris and is crippled by the romance and the memory of her childhood attachement to the place but is un-able to be practical and sit and make a plan for the Orchard.

The characters portrayed here are as if their growth is stunted as nursery room spoiled children and the director Sam Mendes uses the props, Little chairs and little tables to a great affect. Ranevskaya, the grand dame played by Sinead Cusack fits the role perfectly well, she is petite enough to be a young girl and strong enough to never let go of her childhood memories of that very nursery and her grief of the loss of her young son who drowned in the lake.

For these very reasons she never want to part with her estate but Chekhov's play reveals how the times were changing at that very time for a change to build more and become more profitable at the expanse of demolition of a memory even if its haunting.

Lopakhin, the merchant played by Simon Russell Beale who is madly in love with Ranevskaya

is much more practical who has the means to buy the property, converts it into summer cottages for the tourists and still merry Ranevskaya, (Hope against hope) so she can have her

estate in a different form and still live in her native country. But this is not how it works in Chekhov's land.

Dreams stay as dreams, desires remain un-fullfilled, people are in love with the wrong person,

nostalgia of the past becomes the present, characters drown their sorrow and guilt in vodka and Masha of three sisters never get to Moscow.

The staging of the play is just fantastic. With very little props and furniture and no sign of a single cherry blossom, Sam Mendes direction moves forward smoothly. Set which consists of

gorgeous colorful carpets and a beautiful chandelier in the second act breaths with the confused

emotions of the characters and gives a haunting feelings of the glamour of the past.

Ethan Hawke as Trofimov, a student who is very much for the progress and change of the future also is very good but the show belongs to Simon Russell Beale. He is an enormous present on stage and has the strength, humor and vocal ability of a master crafts man.

Every moment he is on stage is to be cherished.

Cherry Orchard is enjoyable and elegant and lives with you as a lingering melodious nostalgia of a beautiful memory of the past.

2009-01-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

ARTS INTERNATIONAL

Editor/Publisher: Bina Sharif

ARTS INTERNATIONAL covers THEATER, FILM, VISUAL ARTS, CUISINE, AND LITERATURE