Theater & Film – The Oberlin Review

Lauren Elwood, Choreographer

December 7, 2018

Lauren Elwood is a College sophomore from Bangor, Maine, who’s making her Oberlin mainstage debut as choreographer of —and a dancer in — the acclaimed musical Cabaret. Elwood, a Dance and Theater double major, also performed in Oberlin Musical Theater Association’s Heathers last year as a member of the ensemble. Cabaret is based off a book by Joe Master. The music for the show was written by John Kander, OC ’51, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. Cabaret centers on the relationship between Cliff...

Science Gets a Theatrical Spin with “Copenhagen”

November 30, 2018

Copenhagen, a play by Michael Frayn that explores a mystery of modern history, debuted yesterday in South Studios, and will run through Saturday, Dec. 1. In the play, the spirits of Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, and Niels’ wife Margrethe discuss why Heisenberg went to Copenhagen to meet Bohr during the height of WWII. Heisenberg, the lead physicist for the Nazi nuclear project, risked his life to visit his friend and mentor Bohrs, a Jewish physicist with ties to the Allied powers. In the af...

“A Man In the House” Celebrates Family Ties

November 30, 2018

This weekend will mark the opening of A Man In the House, an Oberlin Student Theater Association production. Written by Elinore Siminovitch, the play takes place in 1937 Montreal and chronicles the lives of Lily, a progressive trade unionist, her daughter Jenny, who rejects her mother’s aspirations for her to attend medical school, and Lily’s mother, who cares deeply about her family but resists progress. A boarder comes to live with them as the first man in their house and the strikes up a romance...

“Crimes of Grindelwald” Falls Short of Predecessor

Kabir Karamchandani

November 30, 2018

Filed under ARTS, Arts, Theater & Film

There are few franchises with a stronger fan base than J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World — particularly among our generation of 20-somethings who grew up dreaming of centaurs, phoenixes, dragons, and hippogriffs. This is why the lackluster Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald came as such a disappointment. From the get-go, The Crimes of Grindelwald is a darker movie than its predecessor. The focus is no longer on colorful creatures — instead, the opening is a gruesome scene of a captive Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp, chained and allegedly voiceless. He predictably doesn’t remain quiet for long, and much of the film follows his deadly exploits. Low-lit shots and stark colors ...

Experimental Arts Films Screened in Conjunction with AIDS Talk

November 30, 2018

What do surgery footage, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, hardcore pornography, and paint have in common? Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History James Hansen ran all of them through his personal Super 8mm film projector on Tuesday in a presentation of seven original films by Boston artist Luther Price. This coincided with a Convocation address by Jesse Milan Jr., the president and CEO of AIDS United. Price, an interdisciplinary experimental artist with a rich...

“You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” to Run This Weekend

Katherine MacPhail, Production Editor

November 16, 2018

Filed under ARTS, Arts, Theater & Film

An Oberlin Musical Theater Association production of the musical comedy You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, inspired by Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic serial and written by Clark Gesner, goes up Thursday, Nov. 15 through Saturday, Nov. 17 in Wilder Main. The musical brings the funny and existential comics about childhood to the stage with rousing musical numbers and snapshots of the zany, melancholic, and touching moments between characters that endeared Schulz’s work to many. “It’s about these cartoon characters, these kids who have grown-up emotions, dealing with problems both fantastic and actually accessible for people our age,” the show’s director, College senior Keifer Ludwig, said. “It’s all...

“The Glass Menagerie” Set to Open Next Weekend

November 9, 2018

Glass is fragile, and yet — when it shatters — it cuts deep and leaves behind scars that often refuse to fade with time. Glass allows us to see through walls and reflect on our appearances, but also distorts light and inhibits us from truly seeing things as they are. Memory works in much the same way: Sometimes we remember most vividly not the truth, but rather an amalgamation of events and our associated emotions. Such is the setup of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the Oberlin...

Oberlin Opera Honors Bernstein

November 9, 2018

The Oberlin Opera Theater’s A Salute to Leonard Bernstein opens this week as a centennial celebration of the late composer’s birthday. Act 1 features the opera Trouble in Tahiti, a satire on married life and the false promise of American consumerism in the 20th century. It centers around Sam and Dinah, an unhappy couple who attempt to re-discover what they lost in the monotony of middle-class suburbia. Act 2 features a showcase of Bernstein’s most recognizable musical theater hits including...

Acrobatic Conundrum Soars OCircus! to New Heights

Teague Harvey

November 9, 2018

Filed under ARTS, Arts, Dance, Theater & Film

In 2004, Terry Crane graduated from Oberlin College with a Dance and Environmental Studies major. The following year, he auditioned at École nationale de cirque in Montreal — which is arguably the most famous circus school in the world. He went on to lead a very successful solo aerial rope career, touring with various circuses around Europe, before settling back home in Seattle to found his own circus company, Acrobatic Conundrum. In 2007–2008, after Terry had graduated, OCircus! was founded by an adventurous group of students, and soon Oberlin became known for the club. In the past week alone, I’ve been put in touch with two prospies who wanted to talk about it. Even though OCircus! came after Terry’s...

Grasshopper Rebellion Circus Presents Political Puppet Theater

September 28, 2018

The historic political theater group Bread and Puppet Theater performed The Grasshopper Rebellion Circus in Tappan Square as part of their nationwide tour on a chilly fall day last Tuesday. This unique, immersive theater experience uses costumes and large papier-mâché puppets to distill relevant political issues into both entertaining and radical statements. Some of the issues covered include unethical labor practices in India, ICE and Trump’s “Zero Tolerance Policy,” Puerto Rican victims...

“Sunset Baby” Captivates Oberlin Audiences

September 28, 2018

A group of Oberlin students and faculty traveled to the Dobama Theatre in Cleveland to see the premiere of Sunset Baby Friday, Sept. 7. The play, which will continue to run through this weekend, was directed by Associate Professor of Theater and Africana Studies Justin Emeka, OC ’95. Emeka worked alongside College juniors Miyah Byers and Jaris Owens, along with other Oberlin affiliates. Sunset Baby follows the story of Nina, a fiercely independent woman who is caught in a moment of contention...

“Expanded Cinema” Film Screening Challenges Students to Think Beyond Two — Or Perhaps Three — Dimensions

Josh Spielman

September 28, 2018

Filed under ARTS, Theater & Film

The 3D movie fad has declined in the past few years, but it wasn’t long ago that Hollywood studios were aggressively marketing their summer blockbusters in three dimensions. Multiplexes gleefully cashed in on audiences willing to fork over nearly $20 for the sensory spectacles. The cynical commercialism of, say, a Transformers film has since blemished 3D film technology. Now, if I’m putting on a pair of novelty glasses in a darkened theater, at best, I’ve wasted money on an overblown, in-your-face version of a decent movie. Right? Wrong. Take two films shown Monday night in the Clarence Ward Art Building, in the second installment of the Cinema Artists’ Cinema 16mm film series. This week’s event, “Exp...