Film: Shoplifters, director Hirokazu Kore-eda 2018 Japan

Kore-eda’s

Cannes Palme d’Or winner is a heartrending glimpse into an often invisible segment of Japanese society: those struggling to stay afloat in the face of crushing poverty. On the margins of Tokyo, a most unusual “family”—a collection of societal castoffs united by their shared outsiderhood and fierce loyalty to one another—survives by petty stealing and grifting. When they welcome into their fold a young girl who’s been abused by her parents, they risk exposing themselves to the authorities and upending their tenuous, below-the-radar existence. The director’s latest masterful, richly observed human drama makes the quietly radical case that it is love—not blood—that defines a family. An NYFF56 selection. A Magnolia Pictures release.

Theater: BOING! at the New Vic 2018

"If you want Santa to come, you have to go to sleep..." But Joêl and Wilkie are way too excited for snoozing! Rambunctious pillow fights, robot dance battles and silly sibling shenanigans do nothing to tucker out the two bouncy brothers in this playfully imaginative, award-winning, dance theater production. 

Cast:
Joel Daniel
Wilkie Branson

From Travelling Light Theatre Company
Bristol, England

Theater: THE TRUTH ABOUT SANTA at The Tank, NYC 2018

The Tank and Theater of the Apes present
THE TRUTH ABOUT SANTA
An Apocalyptic Holiday Tale  by Greg Kotis
Directed by Ilana Becker
Music Direction by Steven Gross

Many people think they know the truth about Santa, but they are wrong. Ho ho ho, children! Santa has some shocking unadvertised powers, a couple of half-mortal offspring his wife hasnt found out about yet, and a lot on his mind. He’s tired of those damn singing elves. Hes tired of the lies. This is the Christmas Santa will reveal his true self. Prepare for the Ragnarök, urm, SANTA CLAUS' RETURN TO OFF-OFF-BROADWAY.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Greg Kotis (playwright) is the author of many plays and musicals including Urinetown (Book/Lyrics), The Sting (Lyrics), Lunchtime, Give the People What They Want, Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards, Yeast Nation (Book/Lyrics), Pig Farm, Eat the Taste, and Jobey and Katherine. Future projects include ZM, an original musical about teenaged fast-food workers trying to survive a zombie plague. Greg co-founded Theater of The Apes with his wife Ayun Halliday, and is a member of the Neo-Futurists, the Cardiff Giant Theater Company, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild. He grew up in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where he celebrated Christmas with his secular Jewish family, and now lives in New York City where he waits each year for Santa’s return.

Theater: THE RUSSIAN AND THE JEW at The Tank, NYC 2018

Anna & Kitty, Inc. and The Tank present THE RUSSIAN & THE JEW Co-written by Liba Vaynberg and Emily Louise Perkins

THE RUSSIAN AND THE JEW is a political fairy tale that explores anti-Semitism and misogyny through a female friendship in the Soviet Union in 1968, underlining the eternal question of fidelity to one's self, one's partner, and one's country. The project was created as a part of the COJECO BluePrint Fellowship, supported by COJECO and Genesis Philanthropy Group.

Music: The Argus Quartet at Metropolis, 1 Rivington, NYC 2018

The Argus Quartet (in collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble), perform works by Ted Hearne, Juri Seo, along with the NYC premiere of Christopher Cerrone's Can’t and Won’t and How to Breathe Underwater for quartet and electronics. Dec. 3, 7pm at Metropolis Ensemble’s venue, 1 Rivington.