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November 2007

Down To The Sea in Ships

Sunday, November 25, 2007

“A hundred and fifty lofty masts, more or less, held out the web of their rigging like an immense net in whose close mesh, black against the sky, the heavy yards seemed to be entangled and suspended. It was a sight. ” – Joseph Conrad, “Initiation”

A classic Joseph Conrad tale pits a young naval officer against the fickle sea, and a woman drives for miles just to keep up with life.


Proof of Love

Sunday, November 18, 2007

“They walked on across the asphalt; the wind gusted, driving the rain so hard that Morse had to jump back a step. Julianne took it full in the face and never so much as turned her head. Nor did the boy... He was getting something from her, ready or not. Walking into the rain, as if it weren’t raining at all.” – Tobias Wolff, “Awaiting Orders”

A morsel of Chekhov, a quirky tale from Edna O’Brien, and a touching Tobias Wolff story all touch on the wayward nature of love.


Shattered peace

Sunday, November 11, 2007



“They put her in a room with a wardrobe. Wardrobes and Jews. This is perhaps one of the most important symbols of our century. To live in a wardrobe. A human being, in a wardrobe, in the middle of the 20th century, in the heart of Europe.” –Hanna Krall, “The Woman from Hamburg.”
A powerful true tale of love distorted by war, and a portrait of a complex, artistic marriage.


Playwright's Delight

Sunday, November 04, 2007

“There was a cloud of birds all right. I could see something that looked like spar up out of the water, and when I got up close, the birds all went up in the air and stayed all around me. The water was clear out there, and there was a spar sticking up, just out of the water. And when I came up close to it, I saw it was all dark under water, like a long shadow.”
–Ernest Hemingway, “After the Storm.”

Two classic Hemingway tales, and a dark fantasy by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, make up a special program created by playwright John Patrick Shanley.