George Washington’s Warnings Materialize
This is an amazing article.
At the very least, it reminds us that, no matter how bad we think things are getting, they have always been this way.
Hilwa’s Gifts by Safa Suleiman and Anita Semirdzhyan: A Book Review
Hilwa’s Gifts by Safa Suleiman, illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan, is a soulful, practical, and pertinent children’s book that masterfully blends culture, tradition, and family…
A Good Boy Is Not a Perfect Production, but it is an Important One
…This particular project emerged from an invitation by the lead psychologist at Central Prison in Raleigh after they saw an earlier Hidden Voices production about women in prison. The collaboration that followed -- with death row inmates and their families -- shaped the script of A Good Boy…
Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery, by Leah Schanke and Oboh Moses
Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery is a picture book that tells the remarkable story of Robert Smalls, an enslaved man who escaped captivity during the Civil War…
Scrap Paper Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost Is a Highly Entertaining Night Out
There is much to say about Scrap Paper Shakespeare's production of Love's Labor's Lost at Durham's Shadowbox Studio. First is that Scrap Paper Shakespeare, a nonprofit (501c3) local theater, founded less than three years ago, is moving right along…
Theatre Raleigh's Sold-Out Aug. 6-24 Production of Waitress Is Officially My Favorite Musical Ever
I was so excited when I got tickets to see Waitress: The Musical, directed by Eric Woodall, at Theatre Raleigh, right here in the Triangle, that I thought I couldn't help but be disappointed. Well, let me assure you: Theatre Raleigh did not disappoint…
The National Tour of The Wiz at DPAC Is Dazzling and Soulful, with Room to Grow
Fifty years after The Wiz first hit Broadway and swept the 1975 Tony Awards®, with its all-Black cast winning seven Tonys, including Best Musical, the iconic retelling of The Wizard of Oz is back -- revitalized, resplendent, and currently rocking the Durham Performing Arts Center through Sunday, Aug. 10th…
Captivity, Compassion, and Control Collide in Scapegoat Initiative's Bold Kelly and Du
…The play opens in a bare concrete basement, where Keely, a pregnant woman kidnapped outside an abortion clinic, wakes up shackled to a bed by members of an anti-abortion group known as "Operation Retrieval."
Short-Changing Babies
… I thought that women and doctors insisting on early births for nonmedical reasons lived only in cynical imaginations and television soap operas. Turns out that, in the last decade, the main stream has effectively reduced ‘full-term’ to 37 weeks…
Voices Soar in Operatic Les Misérables at DPAC
The Durham Performing Arts Center's July 15-20 presentation of Les Misérables, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by James Powell and Laurence Connor, is nothing short of American Opera. I can imagine it being performed at the Sydney Opera House, with The Three Tenors in the leading male roles. Not only are the vocals the kind you hear at a church cathedral concert, but the set is akin to those of the Paris Opera at the turn of the 19th century, which isn't too far from when Les Mis is set…
Durham’s New Sinkhole: It’s Past time for a Joint City County Watershed Improvement Committee
In 2014, Durham's city-county Environmental Affairs Board considered forming a Joint City County Watershed Improvement Committee, to provide a holistic plan for *sustainable* stormwater management that will benefit all citizens in the long run… It’s time to try again.
The Salt Princess by Anoosha Syed
The Salt Princess is a beautiful book in terms of its visuals, and, though it highlights Pakistani culinary dishes that readers will want to try, the story lacks the depth and emotional resonance of a truly engaging fairytale…
Durham is Run By Developers
A Jun 22, 2024, article in the Durham Dispatch summarizes a persistent and historical problem in Durham: the unfair and societally and environmentally damaging influence of developers on Durham governance:
#LifeTurningMoment
I was talking to a very well-dressed, frail old woman, with perfectly styled white hair, when she became physically distraught about the horrible state our country was in.
Supply Trumps Demand
Just had one of those lightbulb moments
re why the haters (wealthy or wanna be)
think immigrants are the country's problem.
The algorithm is this:
Suka’s Farm by Ginger and Frances Park
Suka's Farm is a quietly reflective children’s picture book that offers a glimpse into the life of a poor Korean family during the Japanese occupation of Korea in 1941…
The State of Our Beaches and NC Gerrymandering
Even NC's beloved summer beach economy isn't enough for the state to *allow* localities to implement the protections necessary to keep our water safe. ..
Piggle the Pig by Dudolf: A Book Review
Whether it's spreading mud on the furniture, getting paint all over himself, or trailing trash from a holey garbage bag, Piggle provides lighthearted moments for children to laugh at, while subtly teaching them about persistence and the value of self-awareness…
Playmakers’ Little Shop of Horrors Justifies the Multigenerational Cult Classic
The current PlayMakers Repertory Company production of Little Shop of Horrors has all the makings of a Broadway production, especially the strong vocal talents required by characters Audrey, plant Audrey II, and the trio of female "street urchins" who narrate in harmonic doo-wop throughout the production…
Bigger Buffers Better
… It is well known that erosion, sedimentation and pollution from industrial and agricultural activities or sewage is reduced by “maintaining forests in riparian zones along watercourses” (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).…