North Coast Repertory Theatre’s adaptation of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid is a social comedy that exposes the ridiculousness of station, pride and matters of the heart. This adaptation was set sometime in the regency era, judging by the elegant costumes by Megan Hughes and Linda Muggeridge, and rich set design by Nora East. While much […]
Arts + Scene
Reviews, interviews and upcoming highlights from the week in visual and performing arts around Humboldt County.
Posted inScreens
Folk Horror Summer
PASSENGER. Sunken in our seats after the now usual set of car commercials that precede the previews, the trailer for Passenger was a welcome jolt. A likely pair of dudes pull over on a dark backroad for a potty break that escalates to creepy disappearance, sudden shock, gore, specter-sighting and a cracking jump scare. It boded […]
Posted inScreens
The Limits of Imitation
IN THE GREY. Guy Ritchie has, for almost 30 years now, traded on his charming, distinctly British brand of cleverness as heavily as anybody in the movie business. In the early days — Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Snatch (2000) — when so many of us were caught up so willingly in the […]
Posted inPoetry
Bub’s Secret Trail
Just off the roadBehind some brushAnd nearly within hailOf Sue-Meg ParkYet close to homeHides Bub’s Secret Trail The footpath’s wornThe roots exposedAnd dotted with toadstoolsThe fallen treesWe clamber o’erTo play by diff’rent rules For in this spaceWithin the trailThe Green Arena dwellsThe stage is setThe curtains drawnAnticipation swells The beetles areOur audienceAnd so are slugs […]
Posted inArt Beat
Freezing Time
“Have you been to Morris Graves yet?” That’s what a former student asked me, wide-eyed, when I ran into them on the evening of Arts Alive at nearby gallery. “There’s a great sculptural installation show.” They nodded to emphasize the word “great.” Another gallery goer chimed in and agreed, “Really cool and weird.” Then in […]
Posted inFront Row
‘Khan!!! The Musical!’ Prospers
Khan!!! The Musical! A Parody Trek-Tacular by Brent Black and Alina Roth, now entering its final weekend at Dell’Arte’s Carlo Theatre, is exactly as described in the title and every bit as fun as it sounds. I had assumed the Venn diagram of Trekkies and musical theater fans was two nearly separate circles, but the […]
Posted inScreens
‘Outcome’ and ‘Apex’ Almost Summit
OUTCOME. Jonah Hill’s second scripted feature — following Mid90s (2018), the documentary Stutz (2022) and number of music videos and episodes of television — might be seen as a response to the erosion of his public image after the leaking of some controlling, sexist text messages to his former girlfriend. Obviously, I can’t say that […]
Posted inArts + Scene
‘A Living Celebration’ of Cinco de Mayo
The third consecutive year of the Cinco de Mayo cultural celebration at the Old Town Gazebo in Eureka on Saturday, May 2, offered the large crowd in attendance an opportunity to experience Mexican culture and heritage, eat traditional Mexican food, and enjoy Latine dance and music. Family-friendly fun for children included clowns/payasitos, a bounce house, […]
Posted inPoetry
April Showers
The clouds are leaden with raincoming down in streams over thesea green tree tops of redwoods feedingancient roots, which scientists have discoveredcommunicate with one another, linking themas a family.Leah and I head into the forest on soil the color ofburnt coffee, pale redwood brambles insertingthemselves into her paws, a slick banana slugcurled up at our […]
Posted inScreens
‘Michael’ is Bad
MICHAEL struggles to be genuine amid the soaring vocals and thrilling moves of a rising Jackson. Action director Antoine Fuqua, best known for the critically acclaimed crime thriller Training Day, turns a new leaf into the biopic genre as he attempts to tell a story about a brief time in the life of Michael Jackson. […]
Posted inPoetry
Winter Was
Winter was the blackest nightAnd the gray of dayLady Fern grew ghostly whiteThe woods stayed red and fey Winter was a barren bushFrost on raven wingsThe lonesome brrrr of varied thrushA wren who’s seldom seen Winter was a snow-capped mountPlumes of horses’ breath Fluffy foxes, frozen fountsAlders miming death Winter was a flooded marshWhale calves on […]
Posted inScreens
Beneath the Surface
NORMAL boasts more than enough bona fides to excite a certain kind of audience (me): a script by creator of John Wick (2014) Derek Kolstad, again collaborating with star Bob Odenkirk (Nobody, 2021); Ben Wheatley directing; the promise of small-town, Main Street gunplay. Any one of which should be sufficient to assure a good time […]