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The Quality of Mercy
Sep. 4th, 2005 09:00 pmIf Bouchercon is the Worldcon of the mystery fandom, then this Bouchercon was the Torcon of Bouchers. Some of the panels were wonderful (particular props to the religous thriller one that coaxed me to go buy everything of Steve Berry's and to the delightful Poison Lady) and the hotel didn't burn down, fall over, or sink into Lake Michigan. Aside from that...
Well, let me put it this way. In order to get a newly-published mystery that I was loking for, I had to leave the con and go to Borders. I can't think of a nastier thing to say about a dealer's room, but there it is. I had to.
(While I was at Borders I picked up this thing about Cursing by this chick named Gilman. Anybody on the f-list have an opinion on it?)
On Saturday I went AWOL, spending the afternoon at the Art Institute seeing the miniature rooms, the impressionists, and the display of Caldecott-winning art along with the books that they came from.
Saturday night I went to see Merchant of Venice at the Chi Shakes.
...As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jennetj said of something else, this isn't a play you enjoy. On the other hand, this is a brilliant and well-done production. The director did NOT shy away from inherent violence of the text; Shylock was played by the tiny, aged, fantastic Mike Nussbaum... who delivered the famous monologue from his knees, having just been beaten to the ground by a masked group of men 1/3 his age - who were shouting "Christ Killer! Kike Boy!" as they hammered him down.
There was a lot of in-the-face religous stuff between the scenes. Mike walking to synagogue - through a gauntlet of all the other actors spitting on him. The image of a Muslim praying, Catholic on his knees, and Shylock at Shabbat, all the sounds blending into one.
Most powerful off all was the trail scene, where a viciously victorious Antonio looped his cross over Shylock's neck - then yanked off his yalmulke as he staggered out of the room. (The audience gasped, Shylock paused... then marched up the aisle singing a prayer in Hebrew, back rigid and head upright.)
I do hope that the final image is changed before the official run, though - Antonio snuffs a candle by grinding the yalmulke into it. I couldn't bring myself to clap until the actors came out for their bow, because to burst into applause right then came across too much as applauding that action and not the play as a whole.
Today was an interesting essay in breaking the laws of physics - too many books and too little space. All the interesting books were hitting the dump bin (and that it was a bin and not a table was one of the problems) as people did the geometry and came up with "purge."
Me, I bought a totebag and called it a purse.
Won't be able to catch up with the whole f-list over the last few days. Let me know in comments what I need to know.
Well, let me put it this way. In order to get a newly-published mystery that I was loking for, I had to leave the con and go to Borders. I can't think of a nastier thing to say about a dealer's room, but there it is. I had to.
(While I was at Borders I picked up this thing about Cursing by this chick named Gilman. Anybody on the f-list have an opinion on it?)
On Saturday I went AWOL, spending the afternoon at the Art Institute seeing the miniature rooms, the impressionists, and the display of Caldecott-winning art along with the books that they came from.
Saturday night I went to see Merchant of Venice at the Chi Shakes.
...As
jennetj said of something else, this isn't a play you enjoy. On the other hand, this is a brilliant and well-done production. The director did NOT shy away from inherent violence of the text; Shylock was played by the tiny, aged, fantastic Mike Nussbaum... who delivered the famous monologue from his knees, having just been beaten to the ground by a masked group of men 1/3 his age - who were shouting "Christ Killer! Kike Boy!" as they hammered him down. There was a lot of in-the-face religous stuff between the scenes. Mike walking to synagogue - through a gauntlet of all the other actors spitting on him. The image of a Muslim praying, Catholic on his knees, and Shylock at Shabbat, all the sounds blending into one.
Most powerful off all was the trail scene, where a viciously victorious Antonio looped his cross over Shylock's neck - then yanked off his yalmulke as he staggered out of the room. (The audience gasped, Shylock paused... then marched up the aisle singing a prayer in Hebrew, back rigid and head upright.)
I do hope that the final image is changed before the official run, though - Antonio snuffs a candle by grinding the yalmulke into it. I couldn't bring myself to clap until the actors came out for their bow, because to burst into applause right then came across too much as applauding that action and not the play as a whole.
Today was an interesting essay in breaking the laws of physics - too many books and too little space. All the interesting books were hitting the dump bin (and that it was a bin and not a table was one of the problems) as people did the geometry and came up with "purge."
Me, I bought a totebag and called it a purse.
Won't be able to catch up with the whole f-list over the last few days. Let me know in comments what I need to know.
