As May approaches, there is a newfound warmth in the air: warmth that comes with summer looming over the horizon, and a sense of warmth that accompanies the hope that for once, the pandemic may have an end that is in sight. Even though, like the erratic weather we have been seeing lately, nothing about COVID-19 has been predictable, things are looking brighter these days as things are starting to seem normal, or at least, normal-adjacent again. This normalcy comes as a saving grace to many professions and fields impacted by the pandemic, particularly theater. While theater at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has been far from stagnant this past school year, its newest show “Hecuba” marks the return of live shows on campus as well as a return to theater’s roots: Greek drama.
It can be sad seeing a good thing come to an end; and when it comes to entertainment, this couldn’t be more true. Getting swept up into a story and witnessing characters grow and eventually having to say goodbye is often a bittersweet experience. Yet in the case of TBS’ “Miracle Workers,” a comedy anthology series, each season finale offers a new beginning.
Regal Cinemas Fox Run and RPX theater will open its doors once again in Newington on May 7. The theater, which closed in October of last year in response to COVID-19, is one of many Regal Cinemas locations reopening across the country, according to the company’s website. Regal Cinemas movie theaters are set to resume their operations in locations nationwide at a staggered rate from April 2 to May 14.
Early spring in New Hampshire can be finicky in its first few weeks but even so, it is still one of the best times of the year. With spring’s warm sunshine after months of coldness and the gentle breezes that come with it, few would argue that spring isn’t refreshing after a long winter - especially a winter made long by COVID-19 and living in a pandemic.
It can be rare to find a movie where you don’t want the main character to win. Sure, there are films where the protagonists do a litany of awful things from heading mafias to flat-out murder, yet often times there is some small inkling of sympathy nestled into their storyline that makes you root for them in one way or another. Yet Netflix’s 2020 release “I Care a Lot” manages to make it very easy to hope its lead character, Marla Grayson, fails and fails hard, even if that is not the film’s intention.
Directing a musical production. Starting a job somewhere new. Being an educator during a pandemic. All three of these things by themselves are challenges, but add all of these situations together and it may seem like an all-too-daunting undertaking. That is unless you’re Tom Alsip, the new assistant professor for the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Theater Department and this year’s director of the university’s mainstage show “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”
It has been almost a year since life as we’ve known it, including the ways we socialize with one another, has been changed by COVID-19. Even though some of these challenges have been alleviated thanks to safety measures taken at UNH allowing students to experience some normalcy, challenges such as rising cases, winter weather limiting time outdoors, and the overall state of the country still make socializing with friends difficult. Difficult, but not impossible.
When the University of New Hampshire (UNH) went into Orange Mode of operations last Thursday afternoon in response to the rise of COVID-19 cases on its Durham campus, UNH’s resident drama club Mask and Dagger was faced with the difficult decision of canceling live performances of “Tartuffe”, their first show of the semester. However, quick-thinking, coordination, and flexibility managed to save the show.
Valentine’s Day often is a mixed box of chocolates for a lot of folks. For both partnered people and single people alike, Valentine’s Day is a feel-good time despite the coldness of February. But for others, well, the holiday can be a struggle. And after almost a full year of everyone having to limit their contact with other people, the love-centric holiday may be all the more bittersweet. However, love isn’t just romantic or even solely platonic. With the stress of daily life as well as pandemic life, self-love may be more important than ever.
The year 2050 sits ominously in the distance, marking a slew of predicted landmarks of irreversible damage to the environment and our planet. It should be no surprise that with this date, science fiction has begun to speculate how the world will be within the next few decades. One of the most recent examples of this is the late 2020 film “The Midnight Sky”, directed by George Clooney.
A village forced into darkness. Eight nights to bring light and joy back. Eight terrifying goblins, each more fearsome than the last. One clever wanderer who can outsmart them and save Hanukkah.
