Julie Goldberg, Books & Theater Editor
Tisch Fails to Connect Acting and Film Students
While it seems intuitive that actors and filmmakers from the same school would collaborate, the Tisch departments often leave students out to dry.
Staff Recs: Good Music for Studying
The Arts Desk collects the perfect chill tunes for a serious study session.
‘It’s Okay to Feel Angry About This Play’
Tisch professor William Electric Black’s new play, “The Whites,” is controversial and loaded. But what should audiences take away from it?
‘In the Dream House’ Haunts and Enchants
In her latest book, Carmen Maria Machado depicts her experience of domestic abuse in an enthralling subversion of the memoir genre.
‘The Hope Hypothesis’ Tows the Line Between Horror and Hilarity
In this Kafkaesque play set in a DMV, Cat Miller explores the way racism and xenophobia manifest in subtle but insidious ways.
A Bone of Contention: Ireland Wants James Joyce Back
As the Dublin City Council calls for the repatriation of Joyce’s remains, debate continues over the writer’s legacy and relationship to his homeland.
Staff Recs: Halloween Costumes
Scrambling to put together a last-minute Halloween costume? The Arts Desk has you covered with these costumes based on characters from some of our favorite movies.
Please Silence your Cellphones: Tisch Students Weigh in on Self-Silencing Phone Case
WSN talked to a number of Tisch students about a new phone case that helps to keep theater-goers engaged. While some praise the device’s merits, others see it as a pardoning of personal responsibility.
The Rules, Regulations and Systems of Carrie Sijia Wang
The Chinese artist discusses the absurdities of the modern world, how ITP expanded her horizons, and why she’s inspired by bureaucracy.
Tisch Alumna Talks ‘Shiva Baby,’ Goal-Setting and Twitter
Rachel Sennott discusses her time at Tisch and her upcoming projects.
‘Stupid F-cking Bird’ Soars in Its Reinvention of a Chekhov Classic
In an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s play “The Seagull,” Aaron Posner’s “Stupid F-cking Bird” entertains while breaking convention and examining the role of theater in the world today.
Zadie Smith’s Talents on Full Display in ‘Grand Union’
In her first short-story collection, award-winning author and NYU Professor Zadie Smith crosses genres and perspectives to meditate on the trials, absurdities and unexpected joys of the modern world.
Creative Writing Community Persists Despite Lack of Major
Students on the English major’s creative writing track point out the program’s strengths and offer suggestions on how it could up its game.
Staff Recs: Pretentious Films to Impress Your Fake Friends
Need to sound like you know about movies? Here are a few of our go-tos.
Unpopular Opinions: Unconventionally Hot Girl Summer
The Arts Desk weighs in on some underrated hotties in the entertainment industry.
Amy Hempel and Casey Legler Read at NYU’s Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House
Seminal short fiction writer and Olympic swimmer-turned-memoirist joined host Darin Strauss at The Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House for a reading of their recent work, finding connection in their shared fixation with water and unconventional styles.
New York’s Indie Bookstores Survive by Promoting Community, Providing Experience
As rent hikes and Amazon pose a continuous threat to the city’s independent bookstores, small business owners tune into community interests and re-define what a bookstore can be.
‘Get Curious’: Skirball’s Fall Programming Promises Literature, Technicolor and Copulating Moles
Showcasing the experimental works of artists from across the globe, as well as introducing a pre-show ‘book club,’ Skirball is as weird and wonderful as ever.
‘Good Posture’ Spotlights an Unlikely Female Friendship
In this low-budget indie film, shot over a span of 10 days in Brooklyn, an unlikely pair forms a tender, albeit unconventional, friendship.
Poet Deborah Landau Targets the World’s Evils
The director of NYU’s Creative Writing Program reflects on terrorism, climate change and political turmoil in her new book “Soft Targets.”
CAS Theater Puts on Its First Shakespeare With ‘The Tempest’
Tackling Shakespeare for the first time, College of Arts and Science Theater works through difficult language to breathe new life into a classic work.
Ghosts Face Gentrification in ‘Where Do All the Ghosts Go?’
In Barbara’s Kahn’s dark comedy, an eclectic group of ghosts who call the St. Denis building home must team up with a young lesbian couple to find new dwellings to haunt before the historic building is demolished.
Fanning Brings Depth to the Flossy Sugar High of ‘Teen Spirit’
Though it sometimes defers to tired tropes and supplanting aesthetic luster for psychic nuance, Max Minghella’s “Teen Spirit” offers a stylized Cinderella story that is undeniably contagious.
Broke People Play Festival Prioritizes Process and Inclusivity
Placing writers at the forefront of the process, Broke People Theatre takes new and exciting work out of the classroom and onto the stage.
‘Fiercely Independent’ Successfully Tackles Marital Ennui
This one-act play by playwright and director Kathleen K. Johnson explores the ways in which relationships cement themselves in physical space.
Steinhardt’s ‘Radium Girls’ Spotlights Unfair Practices, Then and Now
Steinhardt Educational Theatre’s illuminating production — about the radium poisoning of young female factory workers in the early 20th century — tackles endlessly relevant themes like labor rights, corporate corruption and female rage.
Suggestions for Non-Cheesy Valentine’s Day Reads
If you’re looking for an alternative to Nicholas Sparks this February, here are some novels and short story collections that recognize love as the strange and idiosyncratic thing it is.
‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ Attempts to Push Satire Through Horror
The Netflix film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and reunites “Nightcrawler” team Dan Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo.
