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(valentinap/flickr)
”…”In my next life, I want to accept things as they are, and when people ask, “Why?”, I want to say, “What do you mean, why?” And when everyone comes back for Homecoming, I want to be already home.”
--Elizabeth Crane, “Football” .
Cycles of life—past, present, future, and imagined.
Stories read in Connecticut, Chicago, Montana, and New York take us worlds away. First, Oscar nominee David Straithairn (Goodbye and Good Luck) reads Andrew Lam’s “The Palmist”, in which an elderly palm reader offers a glimpse a magical future to a young man, while recalling his own haunted past. Andrew Lam was born in South Vietnam and attended U.C. Berkeley. In addition to his short fiction, he is an NPR commentator and the editor of the Pacific News Service. His book Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora was published in 2005.
A SHORTS performance at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago included “Football,” by Elizabeth Crane, a tender, funny celebration of one ordinary life. The reader is Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey.
It is hard not to credit the charm of Jeanne Dixon’s “Blue Waltz with Coyotes,” which describes just that, to her picturesque childhood, which she describes as an “idyllic” blend of “saddlehorses, dogs, rivers, mountains, and forests” in the wilds of Montana. Reader Mia Dillon has just the right delicate touch to draw us into this sister and brother adventure tale. Her stage credits include Our Town, Crimes of the Heart (Tony nomination; Clarance Derwent Award) and Agnes of God and her film and television work includes appearances on Law and Order and a role in Gods and Generals.
Four quarrelsome sisters are held spellbound as their Chinese grandmother spins a tale of enchanted love in ancient times in Lan Samantha Chang’s “Water Names.” Actress and performance artist Dawn Akemi Saito, the reader here, has performed her own work, including Knock on the Sky and Blood Cherries in theaters around the country and in Austria. She has also appeared in My House is Collapsing Toward One Side and Hiroshima Maiden.
“The Palmist” by Andrew Lam, read by David Strathairn “Football” by Elizabeth Crane, read by Martha Lavey “Blue Waltz” by Jeanne Dixon, read by Mia Dillon “Water Names” by Lan Samantha Chang, read by Dawn Akemi Saito
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space
--Elizabeth Crane, “Football” .
Cycles of life—past, present, future, and imagined.
Stories read in Connecticut, Chicago, Montana, and New York take us worlds away. First, Oscar nominee David Straithairn (Goodbye and Good Luck) reads Andrew Lam’s “The Palmist”, in which an elderly palm reader offers a glimpse a magical future to a young man, while recalling his own haunted past. Andrew Lam was born in South Vietnam and attended U.C. Berkeley. In addition to his short fiction, he is an NPR commentator and the editor of the Pacific News Service. His book Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora was published in 2005.
A SHORTS performance at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago included “Football,” by Elizabeth Crane, a tender, funny celebration of one ordinary life. The reader is Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey.
It is hard not to credit the charm of Jeanne Dixon’s “Blue Waltz with Coyotes,” which describes just that, to her picturesque childhood, which she describes as an “idyllic” blend of “saddlehorses, dogs, rivers, mountains, and forests” in the wilds of Montana. Reader Mia Dillon has just the right delicate touch to draw us into this sister and brother adventure tale. Her stage credits include Our Town, Crimes of the Heart (Tony nomination; Clarance Derwent Award) and Agnes of God and her film and television work includes appearances on Law and Order and a role in Gods and Generals.
Four quarrelsome sisters are held spellbound as their Chinese grandmother spins a tale of enchanted love in ancient times in Lan Samantha Chang’s “Water Names.” Actress and performance artist Dawn Akemi Saito, the reader here, has performed her own work, including Knock on the Sky and Blood Cherries in theaters around the country and in Austria. She has also appeared in My House is Collapsing Toward One Side and Hiroshima Maiden.
“The Palmist” by Andrew Lam, read by David Strathairn “Football” by Elizabeth Crane, read by Martha Lavey “Blue Waltz” by Jeanne Dixon, read by Mia Dillon “Water Names” by Lan Samantha Chang, read by Dawn Akemi Saito
For additional works featured on SELECTED SHORTS, please visit Symphony Space
About Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts features some of the finest artists of the American theater reading contemporary and classic short fiction-the most distinguished works of the early masters such as Chekhov, Maupassant, Malamud and dozens of others.
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Comments [5]
Please PLEASE re-air Elizabeth Crane's "Football" You've replayed "Boys" twice in the same amount of time, which is also a beautiful story.
I heard this story quite by chance while "surfing" through radio stations a year ago. How incredibly profound. It had me laughing and crying. I have never forgotten it. In fact, I think of this story almost daily even now, a year later. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!
Please, please, please make the reading of Elizabeth Crane's FOOTBALL available to download or stream. Or, ask Elizabeth if she'll come to dinner and read it for my guests. I must hear it out loud again.
Dear Gabrielle:
Thank you for your kind remarks. Our programs are available for a limited time as podcasts on iTunes, audible.com; and at npr.org, but story this was from an older show. Selected individual stories are sometimes made available on CD anthologies; these are listed and described at our website, www.selectedshorts.org
What a beautiful piece.
The reading of Elizabeth Crane's "Football" was so profoundly beautiful. I listened while making dinner and watching the sun set and waiting for my son to come home from football practice. You all added so much to my life and my understand in that moment. I appreciate all your work--from the writing to the performance to the people who work on the website. Thanks for this moment.
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