productions (Get Out, The Purge), horror is only a
vehicle to explore more urgent themes, in this case
generational trauma and gender bias. And if you’re
unacquainted with South Asian horror, I’ll give
you a fair warning: Don’t watch it alone.
sangeeta singh-kurtz
BOOKS
- (^) Read Where the
Wild Ladies Are
Spirits and specters.
Soft Skull Press, October 20.
In Aoko Matsuda’s daring retellings ofJapanese
folktales, feminine apparitions find agency in
death,transformingmortalsandyokai alike.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
- (^) Hear Jeremy Denk
Music by a defiantly current composer.
caramoor.org, October 25.
At 82, Frederic Rzewski is the model of the politi-
cally engaged composer. Denk performs his
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, a 1980 piece that
evolves from a lively rumble into a protest, along
with other jaunty/angry music by Thomas “Blind
Tom” Wiggins, Scott Joplin, Tania Leon ... and
Beethoven. j.d.
THEATER
- (^) See State vs.
Natasha Banina
Call it jury duty.
bacnyc.org, October 12 and 14.
The Arlekin Players Theatre’s production returns
for only a handful of live Zoom shows, thanks to
the Baryshnikov Arts Center and the Cherry
Orchard Festival. In State vs. Natasha Banina, the
audience plays the jury, evaluating the confession
of a violent and bewildered Russian teenager,
whose life in a Darwinian orphanageis copied
from actual accounts. The productionis worth
watching for Darya Denisova’s astounding perfor-
mance alone. h.s.
BOOKS
- (^) Read Greenlights
All right, all right, all right.
Random House, October 20.
The autobiography of Matthew McConaughey,
now 50, is at once a time capsule of aughts Hol-
lywood and a philosophical reflection on how to
live life as well as possible (something he calls
“catching greenlights”). While the book has its
bombshells and juicy tidbits, it isn’t your typical
celebrity memoir; the writing is good—poetic at
times—and it reads more like a journal he opened
a vein or two to write. s.s.k.
TV
- (^) Wat ch
Supermarket Sweep
Paging Leslie Jones stans.
ABC, October 18.
The bygone game show in which contestants ran-
sack grocery aisles for big money gets a revamp
with host Leslie Jones. While the Sweepers won’t
be wearing masks, the show was filmed under
virus protocols, according to the producers. j.c.
nymag.com/subscribe
Highbrow.
Lowbrow.
Despicable.
Brilliant.
