Buried Child, by Sam Shepard, directed by Keith Bridges, Keegan Theatre, Arlington, Virginia

The first thing we see as we enter the Clark Street Theater is the figure of Dodge, the "invisible man," in the flat blue light of a television screen. Jim Jorgensen finds the comic line through this character, his voice a menacing, wheedling croak.

Keegan's set works better for this play, accomplishing a more solid, more shabby effect. I liked the pre-show music better as well, a mix of Tom Waits and late Johnny Cash (including "Danny Boy," of all things, and "Hurt").

It's an interesting early script of Shepard's, at once more overt (Dodge's straightforward Act 3 monologue explaining the baby) and more opaque. More things are left for us to fill in the blanks. What is Bradley's deal, for instance: why is he so violent? Why did Vince run away in the night, only to return? What happened to Tilden in New Mexico?

posted: 11:29:23 PM  

There must be somebody out there who has a metablog that consists of nothing but links to definitions of "weblog" and "blogging." Dave Winer takes another run at defining the medium. Or is it a genre?

(Thanks to Netsurfer Digest.)

posted: 12:01:26 AM