Happy 4th of July -- bye, Boston, for Now

Louise Kennedy reviews in the Boston Globe

I'm so glad she is reviewing!   A play like Look Back In Anger is where I'm particularly interested in the opinion of a woman younger than I.  Kennedy says:    

".... the Orfeo production reminds us, its vital fury, its dramatic crackle, and its vivid evocation both of specific characters and of their larger society make it worth seeing as well as reading.

It's hard to imagine being shocked, as 1956 audiences reportedly were, by the play's grubby realism and violent brutality; we've had far too much of that in the ensuing decades to be surprised by much of anything now. But what does still shock is the mix of cruelty, lust, fury, and grief that propels Osborne's characters together and apart. It's not surprising; it's just startling in its complexity, contradictoriness, and raw power.... 

Part of what makes Orfeo's production work is that its limitations become strengths. The tiny, cramped, muggy space of the Factory Theatre intensifies the claustrophobia of the play's setting, a dingy attic flat in England's industrial Midlands. Cristina Todesco's artfully cluttered set is clearly furnished with cheap castoffs, just as the actual flat would be. And, with only 45 seats, the theater puts the audience right in this grungy room with Jimmy..."

My family had our traditional July 4th barbeque in the back garden, followed by walking a little under a mile to Newton's Town Fireworks display.  This year I stayed home to pack for Florida, and watched the Pops and the Esplanade display on TV.  The commercials are horrible, and so is most of the music-- but I love watching the people of Boston, who look so happy to be together in their silly patriotic costumes, dancing and bouncing and singing along.  I sing along, too. I'm going to miss Boston while I'm away.