Preview performance of Alfred Molina, John Douglas Thompson, and Chris Perfetti in Pasadena Playhouse's production of 'Inherit The Wind.' (Pictures by Jeff Lorch)

TILL | Official Trailer | MGM Studios

Witness the power of a mother’s love. The powerful story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s quest for justice for her son, Emmett. 

CAST: Danielle Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Jayme Lawson, Tosin Cole, Kevin Carroll, Sean Patrick Thomas, John Douglas Thompson, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Haley Bennett.

DIRECTED BY: Chinonye Chukwu 

WRITTEN BY: Michael Reilly, Keith Beauchamp, and Chinonye Chukwu

In theaters this October.

John Douglas Thompson as Claudius (with Lorraine Toussaint as Gertrude) in the 2023 Shakespeare in the Park production of “Hamlet.”Credit...Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.

As a Black actor who has had the chance to play many of the plum Shakespearean roles, had I been looking at his work through rose-colored glasses? Of course I knew there was racism in Shakespeare, but to what extent? This question is top of mind in drama schools and theaters of late, with Shakespeare’s relevance at stake. I know because I’ve been brought to campuses to discuss it.

So this summer I made “The Great White Bard” my trusted, troubling and fascinating companion on train rides, during rehearsal breaks, in dressing rooms and backstage, while working on Shakespeare’s greatest play on arguably New York’s greatest stage, the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

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John Douglas Thompson in Till

Till

directed by Chinonye Chukwu, 2022

'Hamlet,' Kenny Leon's Dynamite Version, Free Shakespeare in the Park

Ato Blankson-Wood in Hamlet (Joan Marcus) There are more iterations of Hamlet presented globally in the last fifty years than are “dreamt of in your philosophy.” To that point director Kenny Leon’s version of Hamlet, currently at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park until August 6th, provides an intriguing update of the son for whom time is so “out of joint,” he is unable to seamlessly and…

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Till (2022, dir. Chinonye Chukwu) - review by Rookie-Critic

Till was the rare biopic that manages to rise above the genre trappings and give its audience something a little more than just a rehashing of historical events. By putting Mamie Till-Mobley at the film's center and focusing on the grief of a mother who needlessly lost her son to racist brutality, Chukwu has allowed the film to breathe, and has allowed the audience to come in and be outraged and distraught with her. The film never feels emotionally manipulative, which would have been very easy to do here. Instead, the film starkly shows the nature of what happened that day, and how Till-Mobley handled the aftermath, the history speaks for itself here, and Danielle Deadwyler is merely performing as a conduit for her grief, her anger, and her determination. Other civil rights figures of the time, such as Medgar Evers and T. R. M. Howard make appearances, and instead of pulling major focus towards these very famous figures, the film instead allows them to take a backseat. This is not their story, it's Till-Mobley's, and Chukwu respects the real life people this movie is based on enough to allow them to take center stage and never falters from that. There's really not a lot else to say, it's just an incredibly well-made historical drama with an oft overlooked, wildly sympathetic and empowering woman at its core. Till is well worth the watch.

Score: 9/10

Currently available to rent or purchase on digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.) and to pre-order on DVD & Blu-ray through Orion/Universal Studios/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

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Till (12): "And the Oscar goes to... Danielle Deadwyler".

Till (12): “And the Oscar goes to… Danielle Deadwyler”.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Till” (2023). OH. MY. WORD. “Till” was an emotional ride I was really not expecting, but seldom has the success of a film rested so firmly on the back of its leading lady. Bob the Movie Man Rating(s): Plot Summary: Marnie Till-Bradley (Danielle Deadwyler) is living a good life in Chicago. She has a job, a nice house, parents living nearby and a fine boy by the…

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The myriad paths these storytellers might take are foreshadowed in Arbus and Thompson’s choice to investigate Shylock as a Black man. Arbus noted that it is not pure imagination to think of Shylock as a man of color. In fact, she said, the well-known Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro told her that “most of the Jews in England in Shakespeare’s time would have come from North Africa.”

Till

ENDGAME

Starring John Douglas Thompson, Bill Irwin, Joe Grifasi and Patrice Johnson Chevannes

Written by Samuel Beckett.

Directed by Ciarán O’Reilly, Playing at Irish Repertory Theater – Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage – 132 West 22nd Street (between 6th & 7th Avenue) – New York, NY.

Run: Until April 16th (last four performances will also be live streamed)

In this world of upside-down values, Bizarro politics and contradictory social analysis, a viewing of any play by ultra-absurdist Samuel Beckett makes much more sense. So, when a new production of Endgame, directed by Ciarán O’Reilly, opened at New York City’s Irish Repertory Theater recently, it became something one must experience. Previews began at the end of January with an opening date taking place on February 2nd, 2023. Starring John Douglas Thompson as Hamm, Bill Irwin as Clov, Joe Grifasi as Nagg and Patrice Johnson Chevannes as Nell, the production was originally scheduled to run until mid-March, but thanks to audience demand, it has now been extended until mid-April.

This stark, one-act tragicomedy is focused on a blind, partially paralyzed, domineering older man (Thompson) sitting at center stage, his harried, servile companion (Irwin) and his geriatric parents (Grifasi and Chevannes) in a ramshackle old house in what seems like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Two garbage cans sit to the left of Hamm’s wheelchair. Only two small windows at the back suggest there is a world outside.

Hamm references some unspecified “end” whether it is to be the end of their lives or death of the world in general or the end of the events which make up the actual play. Much of the content consists of terse, back-and-forth dialogue between the characters which alternates between bantering and whimpering. Along with trivial stage actions, we are forced to wonder just how they ended up here.

What plot there is gets held together by Hamm’s telling of a grotesque story-within-a-story that erupts from his mouth from moment to moment. He does this with sometimes bombastic outbursts and other times, a pathetic whining.

An aesthetically profound part of the play is the way the story-within-story and the actual play converge at roughly the same time bringing this skeletal drama to a close. With such skillful actors as these, they eke out humor despite the bleakness, often delivered not with dialogue but with the silent profundity of a head nod, their expressive eyes or awkward gestures.

Upon Hamm’s loudly modulated voicing of the lines, Clov reacts with a world-weariness that lets us know this is not the first time this dynamic between them or the foursome for that matter, has taken place. If anything, Beckett has set this up as if we have been allowed a glimpse into these final moments. The play’s title refers to chess and frames the characters as acting out a losing battle with each other or their fate. Certainly, it’s an odd set of moves that has awarded this play with praise and proclamations that it is the ultimate expression of the existential dilemma — we keep going on no matter how absurd that notion is.

Taken as a whole, much of the dialogue adds up to nothing but bit pieces — sutured together within the context of these 85 minutes, they provoke, prod and compel the audience’s emotional reaction to the infuriating plight of the characters — mostly driven by Hamm’s powerful presence. Though it seems thoroughly unrelenting in its darkness, Clov begins to see a light at the end of the tunnel so there is a glimmer of possibilities.

Originally written in French (“Fin de partie”), the play was translated into English by Beckett himself and was first performed in French on April 3, 1957, at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Written before, but premiering after his most well-known play, Waiting for Godot, Endgame is among Beckett’s best works and a crucial influence on so many young avant-garde playwrights. 

Renowned literary critic Harold Bloom has called it the greatest prose drama of the 20th century, saying, “I know of no other work of its reverberatory power.” Though some might consider Waiting for Godot his masterpiece, Beckett considered Endgame the most aesthetically perfect, compact representation of his artistic views on human existence. But both plays require repeated viewings to fully appreciate them.

Brad Balfour

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: April 5, 2023.

Pictures © 2023. Courtesy of Irish Repertory Theater. All rights reserved.