Read A Book A Week
-
Carto’s Recent Posts
- Earthsea — Dragons and Wizards
- Flowers on Note Cards
- An Exhibition of Paintings by Monet
- Twisted — An Arizona garden in California
- The Thinker Waits
- Weathered — Church Bells in the Tower
- Favorites 2017 — Transition to Winter
- Transformation — Land’s End turns chilly
- Peek — Halloween in Palo Alto
- Stanford at Night
Carto’s Most Viewed Posts
- Téa Obreht—Tigers, Myths and Death Rites In The Balkans
- Bojagi: Art by the Women of Korea
- Zero To Hero — Donna Tartt spins a murder tale in Vermont
- Sam Shepard—Return of the Curse
- The Robber Bride: Woman against Women
- Ferlinghetti: “a few dead minds in the higher places”
- Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez And Ice
- Inspector Chen’s Shanghai: For the Good of the Party
- China Girl on an Italian Motorcycle
- Donna Tartt -- The Goldfinch Unchained
Carto’s Archives
- August 2020
- May 2019
- May 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- June 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- December 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2015
- January 2015
- April 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- September 2010
Posts Organized by Category
Category Archives: Theater
Partners — Brexit 1776, Hamilton (the musical)
A slow recovery from pneumonia is more pleasant if you take a good book from your library and play some music — I’ve been listening to Hamilton (the original cast recording) and reading along in Hamilton—The Revolution. Two hours of glorious, … Continue reading
Posted in History, Music, Theater
Tagged 1776, American Literature, Brexit, Hamilton, Hip Hop/Rap, Weekly Photo Challenge
2 Comments
Sam Shepard—Return of the Curse
As the stage lights come up in the intimate Pigott Theater on the Stanford campus, we see a realistic kitchen of the 70s complete with range and refrigerator, and we are introduced to the down-and-out Tate family. Last night Weston … Continue reading
Posted in Theater
Tagged Alcoholism, curse of the starving class, drama, Housing Bubble, postaweek, PTSD, Sam Shepard, Stanford Summer Theater
Leave a comment
Love, Murder and Ritual Execution: Atwood and Homer Telling the Tale
Odysseus’ boat riding the waves of Penelope’s flowing hair, illustration by Sarah Burgess Cherry. Once upon a time, in the tiny island kingdom of Ithaca off the coast of Greece, Penelope ruled while her husband Odysseus was away: first he … Continue reading
Posted in Classics, eBook, Poetry, Theater
Tagged Dorothy Parker, Homer, Margaret Atwood, Penelope, postaweek, Working Women
Leave a comment
Valentine’s Day Poet—Pablo Neruda
The 1971 Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda was a prolific writer of love poems. His first poetry was published in Chile in a small volume titled in Spanish: Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, Poetry, Spanish, Theater, Translation
Tagged Pablo Neruda, postaday, Valentine's Day
Leave a comment
Thornton Wilder: Our Town Survives Deconstruction
The house dims, the curtain opens and the stage lights come up; revealed at the back of the bare stage is an older man in white dinner jacket that shines brightly in the stage lighting. He is the Stage Manager. … Continue reading
Posted in Classics, Theater
Tagged American Literature, Our Town, postaweek2011, Stanford, Thornton Wilder
3 Comments
Orpheus and Eurydice in the Rain Forest of Brazil
Imagine! The opera Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck is playing at the restored Teatro Amazonas opera house deep in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. Three foreigners enter the theater lobby: Marina (an American doctor looking stylish in a long … Continue reading
Posted in eBook, Fantasy/Adventure, Fiction, Nature, Theater
Tagged Ann Patchett, Opera, postaweek2011, Rain Forest, Review
Leave a comment
Oedipus—A King in Torment
The lights dim in the tiny Nitery Theater on the campus of Stanford University and the packed house hushes. The lights come on again; dimly. Chorus appears at the edge of the empty stage and we hear Seneca’s lines of … Continue reading
Harold Pinter: Tense Memory Play Recalls Old Times
There is no proscenium curtain at the Pigott Theater on the Stanford University Campus. The 200 or so seats in this intimate theater look directly onto the stage. When I attended the Summer Theater 2011 production of Harold Pinter’s Old … Continue reading
Gay Tales from San Francisco
It’s nice living near San Francisco, but sometimes the SF presence is overpowering. The city becomes so full of itself that it seems to pulse and glow in the northwest sky above my home in Palo Alto. The latest world … Continue reading
Hairspray al fresco on Mt. Tamilpais
Hairspray, the musical, fit the day like a glove. It was sunny and warm in the gorgeous amphitheatre atop Mt. Tamalpais where Mountain Play is bringing the Broadway hit to the outdoor stage in its 98th annual production. On this … Continue reading