Today on The Culture Show, scaling down Ibsen’s sprawling five-act play to a mere 75 minutes — that’s the challenge writer, director and composer Bill Barclay took on when the Boston Symphony Orchestra commissioned him to downsize "Peer Gynt," a giant of a play with incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg. The adaptation premiered at the BSO in 2017, and now Barclay is back with an updated version of "Peer Gynt." He joins The Culture Show host Jared Bowen for a conversation ahead of performances at the BSO.
Then, to encounter the work of artist LaToya Hobbs is really to enter into it.
She is a painter and a printmaker whose themes are expressions of motherhood, home and cultural identity. While she often reveals her experiences as an artist and an African American woman, her work also has universal resonance. Her monumental series, “Carving Out Time” is intimate, deeply personal and utterly relatable. Her work is currently on view at the Harvard Art Museums, and she joins the show for a conversation about her craft.
Finally, we continue our pre-Oscars coverage ahead of the awards this weekend with a look at “Maestro” and the burden that biopics have to get it right, courtesy of The Culture Show co-host James Bennett II.
It's all on The Culture Show — listen to the full episode above!
