Finish the fight, and other adventures in streaming theater

 Time for another column about streaming theater, and there was a lot this time around. Click here, then click on all the links!

Ice Factory festival

 Undaunted by Covid-19, the Ice Factory festival took place this year — online, obviously. I wrote about it for the Times, and you will see why Zoom can be so gosh-darned confusing. Click here for my Critic's Notebook.

La Cinetek

We can't watch the movies on the French streaming platform La Cinetek from the US but most are available here and the main point is the directors' lists, and those we can check out. Hours of fun! Click here for my article for the Times.

Another roundup of streaming theater

Who would have thought back in March that we'd still be talking about streaming theater? And yet here were, and likely here we will be for the next several months. Here's my latest streaming column for the Times.

The Persians

You had to be there. No, really, you had to watch The Persians on Saturday at 2pm ET because the show, while livestreaming, is gone from the web. And it truly was fantastic, as I say in my review for the Times.

The enduring greatness of Columbo

What a treat to be able to write about Columbo, a show I started watching literally decades ago. I was happy to see it has actually aged well. Click here for my love letter to the sneakiest detective of them all.

Theater keeps on streaming

Belatedly posting my latest streaming column just as I'm working on the next installment! A lot of it is still available to get going.

The Copper Children

Oregon Shakespeare Festival is now streaming its production of The Copper Children, which I watched for the Times. Click here for the review.

The Beach House

Don't touch that gelatinous thing that washed up on the beach! Seriously, why did you have to touch it? My review of the vacation-horror movie The Beach House is up.

The She Kills Monsters phenomenon

Nobody could have predicted that Qui Nguyen's Off Off Broadway show would turn into a megahit on campuses across the country. I looked at the little show that could, and why so many theater students and teachers love it.

Why there aren't more Broadway shows online

Hamilton, yeah, sure: You can now stream it. But why are there so relatively few Broadway shows available online? And what's up with the performing arts library's collection of recordings? I answered those pressing questions and more in this primer for the NY Times.

More streaming theater

I can't believe I forgot to link to this roundup of streaming theater! But hey, better late than never, especially since quite a few selections are still available. Click here for the article.

The new David Adjmi memoir

If you need a bracing chat, I highly recommend the playwright David Adjmi, whom I interviewed about his memoir, Lot Six. My Q&A is here.

Lost Bullet

French directors are doing to action movies what an earlier generation did to horror: they're brushing up the genre cobwebs. As American actioners have grown bloated and ridiculous, the French ones stick to 90 lean minutes. And the new Lost Bullet is a nifty example of the new school. Read my review then head to Netflix. Or vice versa.

Liz Garbus, true crime and women

Before talking to Liz Garbus for the Times, I did a deep dive into her career. It was often tough going — she tends to go for dark subjects — but never less than compelling. Click here for our chat, pegged to the new HBO series I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

Why you need to watch The Bureau

S5 of the French series The Bureau has just started streaming on Sundance Now. I talked to some members of its team — including Eric Rochant, Jacques Audiard and Mathieu Kassovitz — about what makes the show, and this season in particular, so special. Click here for the spy goods.

Gay films that are not about coming out

The great arc of gay (in the widest sense of the word) characters over decades roughly goes like this: villain or pathetic characters, then coming of age/self-discovery, then the world is your oyster. I wrote about 9 films in the last category for the Times — and they're all from this decade. Click here, then stream away.

Tony's greatest moments

A few of the Times' finest theater mavens got together for this list of favorite moments from the Tony Awards. Prepare to click on a lot of YouTube links!

Streaming theater: underground and foreign edition

One of the very few upsides of lockdown is the opportunity to see shows that would have been difficult or even impossible for us to see — because they happened in Europe or because they had short, under-publicized runs in tiny spaces. I found some really good ones for my latest roundup so head thataway.

How to sing duets online

In good times and bum times, people like to sing together — but it's not so easy on Zoom. I wrote up a few tips for the Times' At Home section (first piece there!). Click here and sing out, Louise!