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Oct 9, 2008

No Country for Idiots: Coens laugh again with “Burn”

By Corey Feinstein

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The Coen brothers (“Fargo,” “O Brother Where art Thou,” “No Country for Old Men”) have a very strong personality in showbiz. They are notorious for screwing around with the actors and workers on set, and ultimately, with their audiences. Their critically-acclaimed films are almost guaranteed to attract attention from critics and avid moviegoers alike.
For exactly […]

Oct 9, 2008

Creating something from nothing for Instant Play Festival

By Cindy Chen

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It all started with an idea that Chris Petit, Assistant Professor of Theater, pitched last spring to the theater department through the Whitman listserv.
“In short, the festival will create, produce and present 13 plays in 48 hours,” said Petit.
“This is the first time we’ve had anything like this at Whitman, but if it goes really
well, […]

Oct 9, 2008

Digging out memories of 9/11 in “Falling Man”

By Lauren Beebe

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These are the elements of Don DeLillo’s “Falling Man”: Smoke rising and rubble falling, acts of extreme selfishness or altruism played out in an atmosphere of confusion, and bewildered and scarred characters emerging from a city becoming a post-apocalyptic world unto itself.
“Man,” an enigmatic and poignant novel, explores several lives deeply affected by the 9/11 […]

Oct 9, 2008

‘Proust and the Squid’ turns reading into a scientific exercise

By Mimi Pysno

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It is a miracle humans can read. It is a miracle we are able to decode not only the symbols of our alphabets but also the meanings entrenched behind sounds, word combinations and sentences. “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain,” written by Maryanne Wolf, gives ample evidence to support […]

Oct 9, 2008

Writing House enforces creativity, one prompt at a time

By Billy Low

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Only in the family room of the Writing Interest House could one find students focused on a “bucket o’ beets.”
Over 25 students sprawled on couches, chairs and the floor to write about the imaginative phrase at last week’s Writer’s Colony. Each Thursday at 9 p.m., the eight residents of the Writing House host the weekly […]