CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings http://www.curtainup.com HOME PAGE SEARCH CurtainUp ... FEATURES ADDRESS BOOKS Broadway Off-Broadway DC NEWS (Etcetera) ... BOOKS and CDs (with Amazon search) OTHER PLACES Berkshires DC (Washington) London Los Angeles ... LINKS MISCELLANEOUS Free Updates Masthead Type too small? NYC Weather A CurtainUp Review An Evening with Quentin Crisp The aging process brings on, it is true, a few wrinkles. It also seems to nurture a candor that is suppressed in earlier years by some sort of editing device in the human brain. If this device stops functioning while the rest of the brain continues to operate at full force, vivid insights can be revealed. When, as is the case with Quentin Crisp, this scenario is married with a sharp wit, great things can happen. Crisp's solo Evening , presented on the occasion of his 90th birthday, is a reprise of his 1978 Drama Desk Award-winning show. (It had a brief but popular revival this past summer downtown.) Although his penchant for quotable quotes might lead one to expect an evening of entertaining but free-form Wildean epigrams, Crisp has a very precise, distinct message for his audience. The philosophy it expresses leads to little admiration of Wilde. It could be summarized: to thine own self be true, and to others, too. The show is divided into two parts. Before the intermission, Crisp sits in a comfortable chair and astutely imparts his wisdom. Part preacher, part professor and part camp counselor, his humor is the glue that holds the audience's attention. After the intermission, he returns to answer audience questions, which audience members have either written on cards and may ask from their seats. | |
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