“The most unkindest cut of all”: On Re-editing Christie

Fasten your seat belts: let’s talk about censorship. In March, the Guardian reported that Agatha Christie’s publisher, Harper Collins, would be scrubbing some of the more problematic language out of her books in future reissues: “The updates follow edits made to books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming to remove offensive references to gender and race in … Continue reading “The most unkindest cut of all”: On Re-editing Christie

KIDS, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! The Mini-Mega Hitchcock Draft, Home Edition

Screen Drafts is a podcast that helped me survive the pandemic and, along the way, captured my heart through the sense of camaraderie that permeated each conversation. Since I first wrote about it nearly seven months ago, I have caught up with all the publicly posted episodes, and I have joined the Patreon group and dabbled … Continue reading KIDS, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! The Mini-Mega Hitchcock Draft, Home Edition

THE PLAY’S . . . SORTA THE THING: Opening The Mousetrap

Today marks opening night for the production of The Mousetrap that I directed at the high school where I spent twenty-eight years teaching drama. I woke up all too early and checked my e-mail, only to find this missive, sent to the cast and crew from our play’s stage manager, a remarkable young woman named Kelania: "Hello, … Continue reading THE PLAY’S . . . SORTA THE THING: Opening The Mousetrap

FOR MY DAD

Today I sit beside my father as he lies in hospice, and I think about baseball.  In the spring of 1964, we lived in Phoenix where my dad was trying to earn a living on a real estate boom that didn’t really boom until after we had returned to California a year later. At school, … Continue reading FOR MY DAD

THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 2: “A Land of Things and Ideas”

Audiences could relate to The Twilight Zone because it was essentially about the search for happiness. Granted, these searches were highly unusual, and the results were mixed. TZ is a highly moral show, and those who achieve a happy ending are people who earn it, through their general decency and kindness. I argued last week that Mr. … Continue reading THE TWILIGHT ZONE, PART 2: “A Land of Things and Ideas”

“. . . a land of both shadow and substance . . . ” THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Art mirrors life. And, like many a Boomer, I have found my parallels in books, movies and TV. Take the last six year – please! (Bah dah BUMP!) I have felt trapped in a cross between a Stephen King thriller (both The Stand and The Dead Zone come to mind) and Game of Thrones. Overshadowing it all, there has been … Continue reading “. . . a land of both shadow and substance . . . ” THE TWILIGHT ZONE