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Every night of the play ‘NASSIM’ is different. That’s because its star has never seen the script.
Nassim Soleimanpour's audacious theatrical experiment requires a new featured performer to take to the stage each night while the script waits unseen in a sealed box. One of them was GBH’s Jared Bowen.
Listen to previous shows
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October 25, 2024 - Week in Review: Idris Elba, Hallmark ageism, and a BBQ museum
First up: Actor Idris Elba has a 10 year plan to bolster the film industry in Africa. Born in London to a Ghanaian mother and Sierra Leonean father, he’s on a mission to do this right by moving to several countries, from Accra to Zanzibar, making sure a new generation of filmmakers can tell stories beyond slavery and trauma.Then, If you’re over 40 -years old, no mistletoe for you. Hallmark has been slammed with an age discrimination lawsuit, claiming studio execs wanted to replace their old actors with younger talent. Plus, the Whitney Museum is implementing our favorite four letter word: FREE. there will be no admission for anyone 25 years-old and younger.Finally, it’s time to get fired up for the world’s first museum dedicated to barbecue. -
October 24, 2024 - Raj Tawney, bus shelters as public art, and Cirque of the Dead
Writer Raj Tawney’s work largely reflects his multiracial American upbringing. Born to an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian American family, Tawney has explored his identity and family history through personal essays, a memoir and now he’s applying the edict “write what you know” to his forthcoming young adult novel, “All Mixed up.” It’s a coming-of-age story that follows a friendship forged between Kamal, a multi-ethnic American and Jaz, a Pakistani immigrant in the aftermath of 9/11.From there we meet the artist who is brightening our commute, The Public Art Fund and the advertising company JCDecaux have been collaborating to expand public art. One initiative is transforming bus shelters into public exhibition spaces.The latest installation features artist Adrienne Elise Tarver. Her series, recently unveiled at 300 bus shelters in New York City, Chicago and Boston, is titled “She Who Sits.” The panels feature portraits of seated women and are the artist’s consideration of the enduring influence and significance of the Black matriarch. Finally, Boston Circus Guild is taking Halloween to new frights and literally heights, with “Cirque of the Dead.” It is an adults-only spooky spectacular full of aerial arts, acrobatics, and a story about the spiritualist movement of the 1920s. Ellen Waylonis and Eileen Little join us for a preview. Ellen Waylonis is the creative producer of this year’s “Cirque of the Dead,” and you can see her perform in it. Eileen Little is the director of this year’s “Cirque of the Dead,” which kicks off tonight and ends on October 31st. There are a total of five performances at Arts at the Armory in Somerville. For more information go here. -
October 23, 2024 - Swoon, Keefer Glenshaw, and Mahesh Daas
Today we’re having another edition of countdown to 2025, as in countdown to the first Boston Triennial of public art, which opens next year. It’s curated by Culture Show contributor Pedro Alonzo who is also the Artistic Director of the triennial. It will feature dozens of large-scale public art commissions by local, national and international artists, which includes the acclaimed street artist and filmmaker Caledonia Curry aka SWOON. She and Pedro Alonso join The Culture Show for a preview.From there it’s Keefer Glenshaw. The artist has turned playing cello into an endurance sport. In May he performed for 24 hours. In July another work took him into the woods of Lexington. We caught up with him this summer. Now that his debut album, PURITY, has been released, we’re rebroadcasting that conversation and in-studio performance. Glenshaw is also partnering with Leesta Vall to record vinyl singles of the album. You can learn more here.Finally it’s another edition of AI: Actual Intelligence with Mahesh Daas. He is president of Boston Architectural College and the co-author of the graphic novella about artificial intelligence, titled “I, Nobot.” This month he discussed the Walter Hood exhibition, Native(s), which is on view at the BAC McCormick Gallery. -
October 22, 2024 - Catherine Allgor, Project STEP, and Jenny Johnson
Today on The Culture Show we continue our series, “Countdown to 2026,” with historian Catherine Allgor leading the way. This month she focuses on slavery in Boston and Massachusetts and how much a part of life it was and how central it was to the business of trade and Boston's economic structure. Catherine Allgor is an author, President Emerita of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and visiting scholar with the Department of History at Tufts University. Her book recommendation for this month is “Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England,” by Gloria McCahon Whiting.From there Culture Show’s James Bennett II discusses Project STEP, a rigorous program that trains young, minority students to be professional, classical musicians.Finally, Jenny Johnson joins The Culture Show to talk about a new cookbook that she co-authored with longtime media partner, Billy Costa. “A Taste of Boston!: The Definitive Cookbook of the City We Love,” is filled with recipes from the city's most legendary chefs and restaurateurs. Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa co-host NESN's "Dining Playbook" and "Meet Boston with Billy and Jenny." -
October 21, 2024 - Hugh Hayden, Harry Potter: The Exhibition, and the Post-Meridian Radio Players
Artist Hugh Hayden’s solo exhibition, “Hugh Hayden: Home Work,” is on view at the Rose Art Museum. It surveys Hayden’s extensive body of work over the last decade, including a site-responsive installation newly conceived for the Rose Art Museum. “Home Work” focuses on the artist’s exploration of the “American Dream,” its pathways, and architecture. Hayden states, “All of my work is about the American dream, whether it’s a table that’s hard to sit at or a thorny school desk. It’s a dream that is seductive but difficult to inhabit.” Hayden, who also has a commission currently on view at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, joins The Culture Show to talk about his work.From there we enter the world of wizardry and witchcraft by way of “Harry Potter: The Exhibition.” It’s an interactive experience, on view at CambridgeSide through January 5th. Created and developed by Warner Bros. Discovery Global Entertainment, in partnership with Imagine Exhibitions and Eventim Live, the show celebrates the iconic characters, creatures, and scenes from the “Harry Potter” books and films. Tom Zaller, president and CEO of Imagine Exhibitions joins “The Culture Show,” for an overview.Finally, Culture Show producer Kate Dellis takes us into the old-timey world –and behind the scenes – of The Post-Meridian Radio Players ahead of their upcoming Halloween performances of “The Unseen Worlds of H.G. Wells.”
