twi-ny recommended events

A VERY BERRI CHRISTMAS: THE TWO OF US

Alain Cohen makes a sparkling debut in Claude Berri’s semiautobiographical masterpiece, The Two of Us

THE TWO OF US (LE VIEIL HOMME ET L’ENFANT) (Claude Berri, 1967)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Opens Friday, December 22
Series runs December 29 – January 4
212-255-2243
quadcinema.com

The Quad is celebrating the holidays with “A Very Berri Christmas,” a wide-ranging ten-film tribute to French writer, director, producer, actor, and distributor Claude Berri that includes such favorites as Jean de Florette, Manon of the Spring, and Le Sex Shop. The series kicks off December 22 with the U.S. premiere of the fiftieth anniversary 4K restoration of Berri’s semiautobiographical debut feature, the extraordinary WWII coming-of-age drama The Two of Us. “In November 1943, I was eight years old . . . and already a Jew,” Berri, who was born Claude Berel Langmann, says in voice-over at the start of the film, which is based on his real-life experiences when he was sent to live with a gentile family during the war. Young Claude Langmann (Alain Cohen) can’t help getting into trouble even though his father (Charles Denner) keeps trying to make him understand that Jews have to lay low and stay below the radar in German-occupied Paris. But soon Claude’s exasperated father and loving mother (Zorica Lozic) send him off to the Grenoble countryside to stay with Mémé (Luce Fabiole) and Pépé (Michel Simon), an older couple who don’t know that he’s Jewish. They become surrogate grandparents for Claude, who builds a particularly special relationship with Pépé, an animal lover who blames the world’s ills on the Jews, the Communists, the Bolsheviks, and the English. He regularly chastises his son, Victor (Roger Carel), who is married to Suzanne (Sylvine Delannoy). Pépé prefers the company of his treasured fifteen-year-old dog, Kinou, who has his own chair at the dinner table and sleeps in bed with Mémé and Pépé. As Pépé sings the praises of Vichy leader Marshal Philippe Pétain, Claude continues to wreak more than his share of havoc, from getting in fights at school to flirting with Dinou (Elisabeth Rey), the daughter of Maxime (Paul Préboist), a farmer whose son (Didier Perret) can’t keep his finger out of his nose.

The Jewish Claude (Alain Cohen) and the anti-Semitic Pépé (Michel Simon) form a unique bond in sensitive and beautiful WWII drama

The Two of Us, whose French title translates as The Old Man and the Child, is anchored by spectacular performances by newcomer Cohen, whose maternal grandparents were killed at Auschwitz, and Simon (L’Atalante, Boudu Saved from Drowning), in one of his last roles following a debilitating accident with makeup dye. Despite being only nine years old, Cohen, who would go on to play Claude in two other films by Berri, shows an innate understanding of his character’s complexities; Claude knows how to push adults’ buttons, as revealed by his sly smiles. He subtly taunts Pépé about his anti-Semitism, at one point teasing the old man about the size and shape of his nose. Cohen even looks directly into the camera a few times, as if he’s aware that we’re watching him. Simon won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his portrayal of Pépé, a big, lovable, gentle man with a tender humanity except for his dangerous political views; Berri does not apologize for him but instead depicts him as someone who doesn’t really know any better and perhaps might just learn something from Claude. Berri also throws in a playful reference to a frying pan, a key object in his Oscar-winning 1962 short, Le Poulet, about a hen. The 4K restoration of The Two of Us is sensational, bringing out the sharp details of Jean Penzer’s black-and-white photography, which combines beautifully with Georges Delerue’s gorgeous, understated score. The Two of Us is an unforgettable film, relentlessly charming despite its serious subject matter, with one of the all-time-great performances by a child. “A Very Berri Christmas” continues December 29 through January 4 with such other films as Germinal, Male of the Century, Uranus, and Je vous aime, which boasts a spectacularly attractive cast as Catherine Deneuve tries to discover what went wrong with former lovers Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Serge Gainsbourg.

THE SORCERESS (DI KISHEFMAKHERIN)

the sorceress

Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Pl.
December 25 – January 1, $25
866-811-4111
nytf.org
mjhnyc.org

Two years ago, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene resurrected Joseph Rumshinsky’s long-lost Yiddish musical,
The Golden Bride, to well-deserved, widespread critical and popular acclaim. The company is now kicking off its Global Yiddish Theatre Restoration Project with a special work-in-progress presentation of the long-lost operetta The Sorceress (“Di Kishefmakherin”). The show, based on a Jewish and Romanian superstition about witches, was written in 1878 by playwright, songwriter, and poet Abraham Goldfaden, considered the father of modern Yiddish theater; in 1882, it became the first Yiddish Theatre production in America, and was directed by fourteen-year-old Boris Thomashefsky. From Christmas Day to New Year’s Day, there will be five lightly staged performances in Yiddish, with English and Russian supertitles, at NYTF’s home in Edmond J. Safra Hall at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The scenic design is by Dara Wishingrad, with costumes by Izzy Fields, lighting by Zachary Heffner, sound by Howard Fredrics, and scripts in hand, featuring Michael Yashinsky as Bobe Yakhne, Stephanie Lynne Mason as Mirele, Pat Constant as Markus, Steve Sterner as Hotsmakh, Rachel Botchan as Basye, and a ten-piece orchestra. The meticulously restored piece incorporates partial arrangements that were discovered at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, rescued by the Paper Brigade; through January 23, YIVO is hosting the exhibition “The Paper Brigade: Smuggling Rare Books and Documents in Nazi-Occuped Vilna.” The developmental production of The Sorceress is directed by Motl Didner, with music direction by Zalmen Mlotek and musical staging by Merete Muenter. The Christmas Day show is already sold out, so hurry if you don’t want to miss this Yiddish treasure.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Mr. Bennet (Chris Thorn) tries to avoid the shenanigans of his wife and daughters in exhilarating adaptation of Jane Austen’s first novel (photo by James Leynse)

Cherry Lane Mainstage Theatre
38 Commerce St.
Tuesday – Sunday through January 6, $82-$152
212-989-2020
primarystages.org
www.cherrylanetheatre.org

“How do you know if you’ve found the right match?” Lydia Bennet (Kimberly Chatterjee) asks her sisters, Lizzy (Kate Hamill), Mary (John Tufts), and Jane (Amelia Pedlow), early on in Hamill’s rousing adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, continuing at the Cherry Lane through January 6. Hamill is an actress who started writing plays to ensure strong roles for herself and other women, and she has found the right match yet again. Her latest work is her third consecutive triumphant and wholly original adaptation of a classic novel, following Bedlam’s production of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, which ran at the Gym at Judson for ten months, and William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, the final presentation at the late, lamented Pearl Theatre. Hamill, who has hinted that she is making her way through Austen’s books in chronological order, meaning that Mansfield Park might be next, has also found the right match in her personal and professional partner, Jason O’Connell (The Dork Knight), who plays Mr. Darcy, and in directors, with Oregon Shakespeare Festival veteran Amanda Dehnert having a blast with Austen’s comedy of manners regarding marriage and money. The show begins with the cast performing Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders’ 1965 hit, “The Game of Love,” which starts out, “The purpose of a man is to love a woman / And the purpose of a woman is to love a man.” As Lizzy soon explains, “Playing games keeps one sane, when the stakes involved threaten to drive one mad.” Mrs. Bennet (Nance Williamson) is determined to marry off her daughters to wealthy, somewhat respectable suitors, no matter the cost — since they have no male heirs to inherit their estate — so she kicks into high gear with the arrival of the goofy Bingley (Tufts), “a fellow of large income!” Bingley takes a liking to Jane, which makes Lizzy happy that it’s not her. “I am an ugly sharp-tongued awkward little creature, but you are good and kind and about five times prettier than any other girl in the county,” Lizzy tells Jane. “Nono, you shall have to fall on Mr. Bingley’s sword, and be quick about it too — the clock is ticking for us old maids!” Bright and cheery fourteen-year-old Lydia is also interested in finding a man — as is the sisters’ archrival, Charlotte Lucas (Chris Thorn), but the dour Mary sees only darkness in life amid her constant coughing.

It is not exactly love at first sight for Lizzy (Kate Hamill) and Mr. Darcy (Jason O’Connell) in Pride and Prejudice (photo by James Leynse)

Meanwhile, Mr. Bennet (Thorn) reads the business section of the Times as the women gossip, plot, argue, and complain all around him. “Matrimonial games are women’s purview, Elizabeth, and I had enough of them when my own round was lost,” Mr. Bennet says. Soon entering the proceedings are potential suitors Mr. Collins (Mark Bedard), a strange and annoying man, and Wickham (Bedard), a charming cad who was childhood friends with Darcy, in addition to the domineering and demeaning Lady Catherine (Chatterjee), who is Darcy’s aunt, and her daughter, Miss De Bourgh (Pedlow), who remains curiously hidden behind a veil. And so the game is on, and a deliciously wicked and fun contest it is. Hamill and Dehnert focus on the more comic elements of Austen’s novel, staying true to the heart of the beloved story while leaving no double entendre or sly joke on the cutting room floor. There’s a reason Pride and Prejudice has been made into and/or has heavily influenced films, opera, theater, and literary works, including such wide-ranging beauties as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Death Comes to Pemberley. Dehnert has added anachronistic songs to the show, from Stevie Wonder to RuPaul, and the doubling of the cast is an absolute riot, as Thorn changes from Charlotte to Mr. Bennet, Bedard switches between Wickham, Collins, and Miss Bingley, and Tufts shifts from Mary to Bingley right before our eyes. When an actor is not part of a scene, he or she sits in the background of John McDermott’s sweetly crowded set, laughing along with the audience at the numerous comedy bits — especially Collins’s difficulty with a chair. As much fun as the audience is having, the cast might be having that much more, even as Hamill makes her on-target points about the treatment of women through the centuries. It’s a barely controlled kind of mayhem in which anything can happen at any moment — be sure to follow the bouncing ball — adding to the ever-building excitement. “Please do pardon the chaos,” Mr. Bennet tells Wickham. “I wish I could say it was unusual.” A coproduction with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Pride and Prejudice is a sheer pleasure, an exuberant and exhilarating reimagining of a cherished classic about the rather tricky game of love and holding out for just the right match.

GRAND CENTRAL HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW 2017

Transit Museum Holiday Train Show lights up Grand Central for the sixteenth year (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

GRAND CENTRAL HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex
Shuttle Passage next to the Station Masters’ Office
Open daily through February 4, free, 8:00/10:00 am – 6:00/8:00 pm
www.mta.info
www.grandcentralterminal.com
holiday train show online album

The New YorkTransit Museum’s always delightful Holiday Train Show is back for the sixteenth year, continuing in Grand Central through February 4. A collaboration between Lionel and TW Design, the thirty-four-foot-long, two-level layout features plenty of old favorites with some new touches. As you walk inside the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex, you are met by a model of Grand Central itself, in front of the MetLife building. Follow along as the Lionel “O” gauge trains motor past such city monuments as the Empire State Building (complete with King Kong) and Philip Johnson’s AT&T/Sony building, along with cozy smaller stops reminding everyone of a relatively simpler time. Complementing the display this year is a bright and cheery cityscape by Brooklyn-based artist Josh Cochran depicting multiple forms of travel.

DAVID SMITH: ORIGINS & INNOVATIONS

Installation view, “David Smith: Origins & Innovations,” 2017 (© The Estate of David Smith / Courtesy The Estate of David Smith and Hauser & Wirth / photo by Genevieve Hanson)

Hauser & Wirth
548 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through December 23, free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.hauserwirth.com

Hauser & Wirth firmly entrenches itself in its new space in the old Dia building in Chelsea with the revelatory, museum-worthy show “David Smith: Origins & Innovations,” continuing through December 23. Smith, who was born in Indiana in 1906 and died in a car crash in Vermont in 1965, is most well known for his large-scale metal sculptures, but the exhibition features paintings, ink drawings, photographs, painted reliefs, miniatures, and other works that reveal Smith’s mastery of multiple media and styles, from the 1930s through to his death. The show is also beautifully curated, with pieces arranged in ways that they interact with one another to display similarities in line, shape, space, and form. The exhibit is accompanied by an extensive free brochure that digs further into Smith’s unique approach.

SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY

Ericka Boafo (Nabiyah Be, center) instantly changes the power dynamic when she arrives at Aburi Girls Boarding School in debut play by Jocelyn Bioh (photo by Joan Marcus)

MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre
121 Christopher St. between Bleecker & Hudson Sts.
Tuesday – Sunday through December 31, $49-$125
212-352-3101
www.mcctheater.org

Actress Jocelyn Bioh’s professional playwriting debut is a sharp, uproarious tale of a clique of young boarding school students in central Ghana who can be as nasty as they wanna be, able to go toe-to-toe with Cady, Regina, Gretchen, Janis, and Karen from Mark Waters’s 2004 hit movie, Mean Girls. Bioh, who has appeared in such plays as Suzan-Lori Parks’s In the Blood, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Everybody and An Octoroon, and Jaclyn Backhaus’s Men on Boats, even references the film, which was written by Tina Fey (and is coming to Broadway as a musical in the spring), in the title of her show, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, making its MCC world premiere at the Lucille Lortel through December 31. It’s 1986, and the students at Aburi Girls Boarding School are getting ready to audition for the Miss Ghana beauty pageant. Paulina Sarpong (MaameYaa Boafo) is the egotistical, narcissistic leader of a group of girls, willing to say or do just about anything to remain in charge. She brags about her soccer-playing boyfriend and how she is a shoo-in to be named Miss Ghana while brazenly putting down the rest of her crew, which consists of the tall, bright Ama (Níkẹ Kadri), the innocent, overweight Nana (Abena Mensah-Bonsu), and the twinlike duo of Gifty (Paige Gilbert) and Mercy (Mirirai Sithole). The power dynamic immediately shifts when headmistress Francis (Myra Lucretia Taylor) introduces a new student, Ericka Boafo (Nabiyah Be), a beautiful, talented, and bold young woman who quickly challenges Paulina’s authority. Of course, putting Paulina on the defensive is not something you want to do, unless you’re ready for the barrage that will follow. So when Miss Ghana 1966, Eloise Amponsah (Zainab Jah), whom Francis knows all too well, arrives to select one of the girls to compete in the pageant, the gloves are off and sides are chosen in a no-holds-barred battle for supremacy. “Headmistress likes to make everyone feel like they have a fair chance,” Paulina declares, “but we all know I’m the best.”

The ruthless Paulina Sarpong (MaameYaa Boafo) is determined to follow in the footsteps of Miss Ghana 1966, Eloise Amponsah (Zainab Jah), in MCC world premiere at the Lucille Lortel (photo by Joan Marcus)

School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play was inspired by the true story of Yayra Erica Nego, the 2009 Miss Minnesota who went on to be named Miss Ghana 2011, a controversial decision for several reasons, including her fair skin, as well as by Rosalind Wiseman’s nonfiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes. In the seventy-five-minute play, Bioh, a first-generation Ghanaian American who went to boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania, explores such issues as body image and colorism, beauty and friendship, and race and class in this microcosmic Lord of the Flies scenario. Arnulfo Maldonado’s scenic design is simple but effective, a few tables in the school cafeteria, while Dede M. Ayite’s costumes change from the standard green-and-white school uniform to fancy dresses for the competition, giving each character a moment to shine. Tony-winning director Rebecca Taichman (Indecent, Familiar) keeps it all in check, never letting things get out of hand or become too clichéd. Be (Hadestown, Queen of the Night) is charming and delightful as Ericka, who has some secrets of her own; Jah (Eclipsed, In Darfur) brings heft to the complicated Eloise; and Taylor (Nine, Familiar) is warm and amiable as the caring, concerned Francis. The rest of the cast is terrific as well, although the character of queen bee Paulina can come off as too harsh at times, going too far and getting away with too much. School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play is no mere African American version of Mean Girls; instead, it is as smart and entertaining, as sweet and honest, its characters as obnoxious and horrible and lovable and vulnerable, as teen girls themselves.

GILBERT & GEORGE: THE BEARD PICTURES

Gilbert & George, “Vote Beard,” from “The Beard Pictures,” mixed media, 2016 (© Gilbert & George. Courtesy the artists and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong)

Lehmann Maupin
536 West 22nd St. & 201 Chrystie St.
Through December 22, free
www.lehmannmaupin.com
www.gilbertandgeorge.co.uk

Things have gotten a bit hairy at Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side and Chelsea galleries. Turner Prize winners Gilbert & George are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary — Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore met at Saint Martin’s School of Art in September 1967 — with their latest series, monumental pictures of the longtime partners in red with unique items hanging from their chins, from leaves and historical figures to an anchor and a gate, furthering their dedication to “living sculpture” and “Art for All.” In most of the large-scale works, Gilbert & George, now in their mid-seventies, are physically joined, either holding hands, standing shoulder to shoulder, or connected via their beards, often surrounded by chain-link fences and barbed wire. The pictures bear such titles as “Bless This Beard,” “Beardblood,” “Beard Wars,” “Beard Honor,” “Fuck Off Hipsters,” “Vote Beard,” and “Tits & Dicks,” combining humor with fear as they take on sociopolitical mores. In his exhibition essay, Michael Bracewell writes, “Like scenes from some bizarre animated cartoon, the ‘Beard Pictures’ dominate and confound the viewer’s experience, as though alive upon the gallery wall — in the way that sacred, ritual, and ceremonial art of ancient civilizations can feel alive. A sleepless energy within the image, semi-occult, which derives from the beliefs and convictions of the artist-workers who created them. These crazy pictures tell visionary stories, housing spirits, seemingly: portent, suffering, acceptance, journeying, anger, mockery, humiliation, mischief; disappearance into a world of absurdist pageantry.” It is quite an absurdist pageantry, one only Gilbert & George could stage.