Latest news with #JordanHarrison
New York Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Marjorie Prime' and ‘Becky Shaw' Are Coming to Broadway This Season
Second Stage Theater, one of the four nonprofits with Broadway houses, said it would present the plays 'Marjorie Prime' and 'Becky Shaw,' both of which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in drama, at its Helen Hayes Theater this season. The organization, beginning the first season programmed by its new artistic director, Evan Cabnet, said that it would continue its focus on work by contemporary American writers. 'Marjorie Prime,' written by Jordan Harrison, is about an older woman whose companion is a hologram of her dead husband fueled by artificial intelligence. The play was staged by Center Theater Group in Los Angeles in 2014, then by Playwrights Horizons in New York in 2015, and was adapted into a movie in 2017. Ben Brantley, then a theater critic for The New York Times, called the play 'elegant, thoughtful and quietly unsettling'; the Pulitzer board described it as 'a sly and surprising work about technology and artificial intelligence told through images and ideas that resonate.' The new production will be directed by Anne Kauffman, who also directed the Off Broadway production. It is scheduled to begin previews on Nov. 20 and to open on Dec. 8. 'Becky Shaw,' written by Gina Gionfriddo, is a dark comedy about a bad date. The play was staged at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky., in 2008, and then opened at Second Stage's Off Broadway theater in 2009. Charles Isherwood, then a theater critic for The Times, called the play 'as engrossing as it is ferociously funny, like a big box of fireworks fizzing and crackling across the stage from its first moments to its last'; the Pulitzer board described it as 'a jarring comedy that examines family and romantic relationships with a lacerating wit while eschewing easy answers and pat resolutions.' The new production will be directed by Trip Cullman, beginning previews on March 18 and opening on April 8. Second Stage did not announce casting for either play. The nonprofit organization said its new season would also include three Off Broadway plays: 'Meet the Cartozians,' written by Talene Monahon and directed by David Cromer; 'Meat Suit,' written and directed by Aya Ogawa; and a revival of 'The Receptionist,' a 2007 play written by Adam Bock. All three will be staged at the Pershing Square Signature Center, where Second Stage has presented its Off Broadway work since giving up its lease on the Tony Kiser Theater.
Chicago Tribune
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: In ‘The Antiquities' at the Goodman Theatre, what becomes of our future selves?
If you view all of those Silicon Valley kids messing around with artificial intelligence for fun and profit as kindling flames that will not only disrupt but destroy the human race, then 'The Antiquities' is your kind of show. At one point in playwright Jordan Harrison's dystopian drama at the Goodman Theatre — a play that has more to say in 95 minutes than most TV shows manage in eight seasons — a character who looks uncomfortably like Sam Bankman-Fried is messing around with AI somewhere in the early years of the 21st century, trying to make its interface as reassuringly human and intimate as possible but blithely clueless as to the consequences of his actions. And since 'The Antiquities' ping-pongs between multiple different eras from the 19th to 21st centuries (there are a lot of short scenes), Harrison is able to provide snapshots of the earliest days of techno-danger (such as the AOL dial-up moment) and their connection to his imagined future where humans can no longer find any purpose in their lives. As one of the defunct notes, sadly: 'If they can do everything that makes me me, what's the point of myself?' I'm not yet willing to admit defeat to Siri or ChatGPT, but I did read a report before starting this review that Apple was working on technology that would allow people to control its products with their thoughts. All very pro-humanoid, of course. 'The Antiquities' suggests a different future where it is the products that do the controlling. I kept thinking about George C. Wolfe's famous dramatic satire 'The Colored Museum.' This play could be called 'The Human Museum.' Or, 'How Humans Wrought Their Own Destruction.' I've long been of the view that if you are going to take yourself to the theater, with all the attendant hassle, you should see something that either provides you with a blissful escape from reality or something with sufficient stakes that it really engages the brain. As co-directed by David Cromer, who has had huge success this spring with 'Good Night, and Good Luck' and 'Dead Outlaw' (see the common theme?), this Goodman Theatre production certainly falls into the latter category. And it is superlatively acted by an ensemble cast that first performed this show at Playwrights Horizons in New York: Marchánt Davis, Layan Elwazani, Andrew Garman, Helen Joo Lee, Thomas Murphy Molony, Aria Shahghasemi, Kristen Sieh, Ryan Spahn and Amelia Workman. All are unstintingly committed. But Sieh is the standout, emitting a complex blend of sardonic acceptance, cynical verbosity and submerged emotional longing. It's kind of a hot combination these days, given the number of theater and TV shows out there worrying about the future and imagining that humans will have a lot more competition. In the Broadway musical 'Maybe Happy Ending,' for example, we meet two robots for whom battery life is a proxy for mortality. In 'The Antiquities,' we learn of not only the hubris and carelessness that might get us to that point, but also the existential crises that will then afflict the non-humanoids running the world. I mean, it's logical that said beings will wonder to each other if it was better to be able to live and die than live forever. After all, we will have created them. They are likely to have some of our neuroses and our penchant for nostalgia. They're likely to wonder what it must have been like to deal with the limitations of an aging, non-renewable body. Wherein we have no choice but to reside. Maybe these bots will arrive at the conclusion that only by understanding humans will they be able to understand themselves. If this kind of contemplation of an evening is not your thing, this is not your kind of show. Unlike 'Maybe Happy Ending,' neither Harrison nor Cromer coats any of these implications with any sentimentality or romanticism. No love balm or sweet ballads here. Rather, they offer chilly but intensely detailed snapshots of specific causal moments on the heedless path to destruction. For those of us of a certain age, the show's several scenes in the 1980s and 1990s put those memories into more of a linear context, or that at least was my experience watching this piece. Oh, that was the start of that, you find yourself thinking, as you watch a family marveling over their first dial-up and their one computer talking to another. I think the most interesting aspect of this play is how logically it arrives at its central conclusion that humans will no longer have self-worth or control, assuming things continue as they are going. Big tech, of course, sells every innovation as beneficial to us carbon-based masters of our own universe; 'The Antiquities' very much suggests otherwise. Simply put, your head will spin for 95 minutes. And then you'll worry more about the human trajectory, maybe arriving (as did I) at the notion that we really do spend our time obsessing over entirely the wrong things. Review: 'The Antiquities' (4 stars) When: Through June 1 Where: Goodman's Owen Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes Tickets: $33-$73 at 312-443-3800 and
Washington Post
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
March Madness: Qunierly's 27 points lifts No. 6 West Virginia to 78-59 win over 11th-seed Columbia
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — JJ Quinerly scored 27 points, including the 2,000th of her career, Jordan Harrison matched a career-high with 23 and sixth-seeded West Virginia led wire-to-wire in a 78-59 victory over 11th-seeded Columbia on Saturday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament . Quinerly also had seven of the Mountaineers' 17 steals.
Associated Press
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
March Madness: Qunierly's 27 points lifts No. 6 West Virginia to 78-59 win over 11th-seed Columbia
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — JJ Quinerly scored 27 points, Jordan Harrison matched a career-high with 23 and sixth-seeded West Virginia led wire-to-wire in a 78-59 victory over 11th-seeded Columbia on Saturday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Quinerly also had seven of the Mountaineers' 17 steals. The Mountaineers (25-7) advance to face the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Oregon State on Monday. West Virginia will be looking for its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1992. West Virginia's full-court press was a constant source of frustration for Columbia, which was coming off its first tournament win in program history. The Lions committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter, more than they had in all of Thursday's First Four win over Washington, and 25 overall. Columbia (24-7) was led by Cecelia Collins' 16 points. Riley Weiss scored 14, and Kitty Henderson contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. West Virginia started fast, sinking its first five shots, including a pair of Harrison 3s, to go up 12-5. The Mountaineers finished the quarter shooting 71.4% from the field (10-of-14) while outscoring Columbia 24-15. The lead only grew from there. West Virginia used a 12-2 run in the second quarter to stretch its lead to 39-16 and rolled into the half up 46-29. Its largest lead of the game was 22 points. Takeaways Columbia: The Lions struggled to match the physicality of the Mountaineers, who overwhelmed them 48-20 in the paint. West Virginia: The top-ranked defense in the Big 12 played to its strengths, frustrating Columbia from the jump. West Virginia turned 15 first-half turnovers into 15 points, building a lead it wouldn't let slip. Columbia went scoreless for a stretch of 5 minutes, 28 seconds in the first half as West Virginia ripped off 12 straight points. Up next West Virginia will play the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Oregon State on Monday. ___
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness: Qunierly's 27 points lifts No. 6 West Virginia to 78-59 win over 11th-seed Columbia
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — JJ Quinerly scored 27 points, Jordan Harrison matched a career-high with 23 and sixth-seeded West Virginia led wire-to-wire in a 78-59 victory over 11th-seeded Columbia on Saturday in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Quinerly also had seven of the Mountaineers' 17 steals. The Mountaineers (25-7) advance to face the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Oregon State on Monday. West Virginia will be looking for its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1992. West Virginia's full-court press was a constant source of frustration for Columbia, which was coming off its first tournament win in program history. The Lions committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter, more than they had in all of Thursday's First Four win over Washington, and 25 overall. Columbia (24-7) was led by Cecelia Collins' 16 points. Riley Weiss scored 14, and Kitty Henderson contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. West Virginia started fast, sinking its first five shots, including a pair of Harrison 3s, to go up 12-5. The Mountaineers finished the quarter shooting 71.4% from the field (10-of-14) while outscoring Columbia 24-15. The lead only grew from there. West Virginia used a 12-2 run in the second quarter to stretch its lead to 39-16 and rolled into the half up 46-29. Its largest lead of the game was 22 points. Takeaways Columbia: The Lions struggled to match the physicality of the Mountaineers, who overwhelmed them 48-20 in the paint. West Virginia: The top-ranked defense in the Big 12 played to its strengths, frustrating Columbia from the jump. West Virginia turned 15 first-half turnovers into 15 points, building a lead it wouldn't let slip. Key moment Columbia went scoreless for a stretch of 5 minutes, 28 seconds in the first half as West Virginia ripped off 12 straight points. Up next West Virginia will play the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Oregon State on Monday. ___ AP March Madness bracket: and coverage: Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
