Global
The West Coast premiere of award-winning playwright Howard L. Craft’s crafty Freight: The
Five Incarnations of Abel Green starring J. Alphonse Nicholson at the Fountain Theatre is
among the best one-man shows I’ve ever experienced. (Technically, Sidney Edwards portrays
“The Universal Flow,” who graciously assists Nicholson between scenes with props, costumes,
etc., as he morphs from one character to the next; otherwise, this is essentially a solo show.)
The 90-minute-plus, one-act play spans a century, and each of the five dramatis personae
Nicholson adeptly, smoothly transitions to and transforms into represents aspects of the African
American experience, from the 1910s to 2010s. (Freight ran Off-Broadway in 2015 and was a
New York Times’ Critic’s Pick – as it is for moi, too.) The quintet of characters includes circa
1910 a minstrel act performer who, cleverly channeling Hattie McDaniel and Stepin Fetchit,
would rather be well paid by white folks for playing a clueless, stereotypical “darkie” than to
actually be one subject to persecution and lynching. In the 1930s-set vignette the preternaturally
The ongoing discussions on the Israeli military objectives in Gaza are largely focused on whether Israel is planning a long or a short-term military reoccupation of the Strip.
Israelis themselves are fueling this conversation, with 41 percent of Israelis wanting to leave Gaza following the war and another 44 percent wanting the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli control.
On Saturday, November 11, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed in a press conference that Israel had killed a “terrorist” who had prevented 1,000 civilians from escaping the Shifa Hospital.
The allegations made little sense. Even by the standards of Israeli propaganda, falsifying such a piece of information while providing no context and no evidence, further contributes to the deteriorating credibility of Israel in international media and image worldwide.
Is the rough beast slouching toward Bethlehem?
“. . . I came to understand the role some in the U.S. government have played to intentionally catalyze war, fueling arms sales globally, without regard for the consequences. The consequences are here!
“We are cartwheeling towards a massive East v. West war with religious and ethnic overtones. This seemingly inexorable March of (nuclear) Folly, will ultimately pit the United States militarily against China, Russia and their allies.”
Part 1 Post November 7 Election Coverage:
OHIO GOP ATTACKS CHOICE/POT REFERENDA; CENSORSHIP ON THE MIDDLE EAST; GRASSROOTS WIN IN VA
We open our greep zoom #157 with TATANKA BRICCA’s brief journey into the world of Unidentified Flying Objects (now become Unidentified Airborne Phenomena) and a new federal agency confirming what officials have denied for decades.
STEVE CARUSO then updates us on the monumental popular victories in Ohio approving referenda on a woman’s right to choose and legalizing pot.But as Steve tells us, the gerrymandered right-wing Ohio legislature wants to overturn both popular votes.
This truly astounding attack on democracy itself comes prior to a widely expected new assault on fair redistricting, which the public has repeatedly endorsed, but which the state’s GOP simply does not want to accept.
DENNIS BERNSTEIN then joins LYNNE FEINERMAN, MYLA RESON and others to take us through the horrifying deathscape of the Middle East war and the press censorship surrounding it.
If you want to feel the Earth move under your feet, bop on over to the La Mirada Theatre to enjoy the rock ’n’ roll extravaganza Beautiful, The Carole King Musical. This bioplay dramatizes the life story of one of pop music’s most prolific, prodigious talents, with performances of 30 sizzling songs, rather gloriously accompanied by a live 10-ish piece orchestra ensconced out of sight (but not out of earshot) in the pit fronting the stage. The title character is nothing short of the “King Klein” of rock (Klein is Carole’s birth surname), who literally started composing songs and having them recorded when the precocious, precious pianist was only 16.
