This week, GBH's Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen recommends a reimagining of a classic Shakespeare play, and an opportunity to see works by one of the 20th century's most famous architects.
“Macbeth In Stride” playing at the American Repertory Theater through Nov. 14
What does it mean to be ambitious and female? In “Macbeth In Stride,” Whitney White uses Shakespeare’s iconic character to explore Black womanhood and question the playwright’s plot device in which ambitious characters usually die in the final act. Bowen calls it “a deep, compelling and provocative interrogation of Lady Macbeth’s legacy and more importantly, her enduring impact today."
The concert-like performance incorporates musical genres of pop, rock, gospel and R&B to bring Lady Macbeth to the stage in a way she’s never been seen before. “This couple who's going to go against the world by any means necessary — when I read it, I heard Tina Turner, I heard Nine Inch Nails, I heard The Doors,” White told Bowen about finding inspiration from the original Macbeth. “The music in the show just helps you expand an emotional moment and understand more.”
Frank Lloyd Wright Homes, tours available via the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, N.H.
Just to our north, Manchester’s Currier Museum is one of the only museums in the country that showcases two of the legendary architect’s creations, both on the same street. It's “a fascinating look at what Frank Lloyd Wright is able to do in designing these homes which aren’t incredibly fancy, but they are really integrated with the landscape," according to Bowen.
One is the Zimmerman Home, built in 1950, which embodies Wright’s Usonian style and embraces open spaces that foretold the rise of open-concept modern styles. Currier Senior Curator Kurt Sundstrom explained that there is a deliberate psychology to the space, which opens narrowly and then gives way to a grand, open area.
“When you come into a room like this where you feel the burdens of work and life, just fall off of you and you're living in a work of art, there's no other home that I've ever been or that I know of that gives you that same sense of relaxation and the sense of all those anxieties in life just fall away,” he told Bowen.
Would you like to live in a Frank Lloyd Wright home? Tell Jared about it on Facebook or Twitter!
