Worthwhile Acts and Arts

Quick Poem:
 I bought a shirt, it was tight.
So I lost some weight, and now it fits right.

I watched the documentary, Joe Papp in Five Acts, as part of SFJFF.  Joe is larger than his lifes's decades, having fought many of the social fights from socialism to (anti)semitism and AIDS, and bringing free public theater to NYers. One of his quotes, "I felt that even if we charged 25c, that is too much". The awesome outcome is free Shakespeare in gender, racial, accent bending variations to masses in Central Park, with actors including James Earl Jones, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington and the always amazing Al Pacino.

I like small theater, where the audience and the actors are in each others' spaces. I watched, Edward Albee's  "The Goat, or who is Sylvia" a large play that has been around some, in the small space of the Phoenix Theater in the historic Native Sons building. It is a bestial take on infidelity in relationships and rifts that can not be repaired, and a script with many witty, literary allusions. 

Finally, Woody Allen ("flintier" as NYer says) lays out Blue Jasmine and takes on Tennessee Williams. I am glad Woody ---- thanks to Luigi Laura I have a better connection to Woody --- has returned from his odes to European cities to NY. The movie moves between Manhattan and San Francisco, and as one reviewer says, Woody, having recognized SF as Queens, doesn't change his mind. It is intense, and Cate Blanchett gives a great performance, thanks to Woody who writes down Stanley's part, and Marlon Brando is no longer around to shred the screen.