Wednesday, October 17, 2012

God, Man and Devil, and Damien Hirst

One of my great-grandfather's plays is opening tonight in New York. Well, in Brooklyn, which is where he lived, though in his time, his plays were all performed first on the Lower East Side, before travelling around the world. "God, Man and Devil" is,  as you can tell by the title, one of Jacob Gordin's light-hearted romps, written in Yiddish but playing tonight in translation. The actress Donya Washington was interviewed for Target Margin Theatre's blog.
TMT: God, Man, & Devil was written by Jacob Gordin in 1900. Is there a truth in the play that 112 years can’t obscure?
DKW: The play centers around the question – is it better for a man to succeed as an individual, even at the cost to his family/community; or is it better for a man to sacrifice personal success for family/community success? That was an important question then, and an important one for us to spend time with during this election season.
The old man would approve. Break a leg, JG. Wish I were there.

An article in the Star says that British bad boy artist Damien Hirst has been accused of massacring 9000 butterflies during the span of his installation at the Tate. I saw the exhibition, I saw those poor butterflies, the live ones fluttering around a room, the dead ones with magnificent wings he glues in interesting patterns under glass. Hated it all. This man has made a fortune creating medicine cabinets lined with artistic arrangements of drug boxes, and selling them as art to very rich people. Hooey, I say. Or maybe phooey. Or hogwash. Something along those lines.

My mother fell asleep in a chair yesterday, slid off and banged her head. All 4 of us, daughter, son, baby, moi, are driving up on Friday to spend the weekend visiting her, to celebrate Sam's 28th birthday and Mum's 89th birthday and Eli's five month birthday and Thanksgiving. There will be food. I am anxious to see my mama.


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