Art and About

Houston Shakespeare Festival features a Shrew from the 1980s and a Bard who istimeless

Why do we love William Shakespeare? And why is pronouncing his name with a hint of British twang so deliciously satisfying?

I have always been fascinated by the dichotomy between what's typically presented in a professional theater company and a symphony orchestra. While classical music ensembles fill their season with the music of yesteryear — compositions by Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart rule concert programs with a few sprinkles of modern repertoire — theater troupes thrive on works written in our own era, with a few exceptions to account for audience and holiday favorites — Dickens and Shaw come to mind.

Shakespeare festivals are everywhere and are as popular as Christopher Marlowe is largely forgotten. Yes, we know (should know) the universality of The Bard's subjects. But there is more. Taming of the Shrew director and 10-year Houston Shakespeare Festival veteran Jack Young explains:

We are the culture we are because of the things Shakespeare wrote. He was one of the first writers that wrote people capable of writing themselves. Because these are core stories — the number of times we quote Shakespeare without even realizing where the reference came from is part of that — each time and each culture brings its on riff on their own productions. We can examine who we are now by how we do this play.

In the '70's, '80s and '90s, there was a big riff about Taming of the Shrew being a battle of the sexes. It isn't really if you look at the text. But because battle of the sexes was a thing in the cultural zeitgast, it was the way to look at the male/female struggle. When looking at the script with 2011 eyes, it's a litmus test of where we are right now. Shakespeare is pliable and plastic enough that, depending on what you do with this multi-faceted gem, we can decide which theme to emphasize.

Young's version of Taming of the Shrew, which will have two more performances on Friday and Sunday, is set in the '80s — big hair included — and spins it to make it an American commedia dell'arte. Though focused on that decade, there are allusions to the roaring '20s through '50s, just as the recent past is part of our collective consciousness today.

Shakespeare with an American "drawl." That, inspired an Art and About adventure with Young and actors heartthrob Grant Davis as Lucentio (rumors of a shirtless scene are running wild) and the sassy Amelia Hammond as Bianca.

Othello, the festival's other production being performed tonight and Saturday, is more traditionally set and equally as satisfying. Will we see you at Miller?

Houston Shakespeare Festival, a professional project of the University of Houston, runs through Sunday at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Free tickets for covered seating will be available between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. the day of each performance at the theater's box office. Remaining tickets will become available one hour before the show. As always, seating on the hill is open and free. You may want to bring a blanket, lawn chairs, beverages (no glass), bites and nibbles.

Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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