Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Streaming Diary: Riz Ahmed’s ferocious THE LONG GOODBYE, Justin Vivian Bond’s Christmas show at Joe’s Pub, and yet another A CHRISTMAS CAROL

• By drediman
• December 22, 2020
• No Comments

As Christmas draws ever nearer, I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of the streaming content out there. Here are my latest thoughts.

THE LONG GOODBYE: LIVESTREAM EDITION
BAM / Manchester International Festival

Last weekend, Riz Ahmed performed a unique live-streamed version of his ferocious second album The Long Goodbye (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Mr. Ahmed is an important up-and-coming artist with important things to say and an uncommonly diverse toolkit (rap, storytelling, theater) to express them. In The Long Goodbye, he candidly conveys his potent feelings about being British Pakistani, particularly within the context of today’s racially charged environment. Both deeply personal and explosively confrontational, Mr. Ahmed’s searing reckoning is exactly the kind of no-nonsense, lucid dissection of the race problem that we need right now. At only half an hour (alas, the stream is a truncated version of the concert that Mr. Ahmed was supposed to have performed in-person at BAM this season), the virtual presentation nevertheless packs quite the punch. His thorough and sophisticated understanding of various mediums – e.g., theater, music-making, cinema – makes this one-night-only event one of the most compelling and stunningly urgent live-streams I’ve yet come across during the pandemic.

GOOD MORNING MIDNIGHT, IT’S CHRISTMAS
Joe’s Pub / The Public Theater

In my estimation, few performers are better equipped to comment on this surreal holiday season than Justin Vivian Bond. Indeed, in Good Morning Midnight, It’s Christmas (RECOMMENDED), which is presented as part of the Public Theater’s Joe’s Pub Live! series, Justin gives us a uniquely skittish holiday cabaret act that’s especially appropriate for 2020. As always, V walks the line between irony and genuine sentiment with fearlessness and sage grace, and the stream-of-conscience banter is meandering and irreverent. Also as in previous shows, the gutsy cabaret star curates and tackles a wildly incongruous set list, and triumphs (V’s gravelly voice is sounding as distinctive as ever). At the commencement of the show, Justin seemed, understandably, to be resistant to the spirit of the holidays. But as the concert wears on – via diverse songs by the likes of The Monkees, Dolly Parton, David Bowie, and Bing Crosby – V begrudgingly and somberly relents (culminating in a heartbreakingly resigned “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”).

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Primary Stages / 59e59 Theaters

This week, I caught my fourth A Christmas Carol stream of the season, this time courtesy of Primary Stages and 59e59 Theaters (RECOMMENDED). Adapted for the “stage” by the prolific Theresa Rebeck and Erin Daley, this version strikes me as the most traditionally scripted of the bunch. To recap, I had previously streamed Manual Cinema’s striking multimedia take, Jefferson Mays’ masterful solo performance, and the Old Vic’s freshly resonant production. While Ms. Rebeck (who also directs) and Ms. Daley’s work isn’t as flashy as the aforementioned virtual productions, I nevertheless warmed to its communal sense of storytelling, which was enhanced by the elegant simplicity of the staged reading format. Without the visual bells and whistles, Dickens’ ever-popular tale comes to life in the minds eye, which is a welcome departure from more overtly theatrical representations. Raúl Esparza would seem the perfect fit for Scrooge, and he gives a solid performance, animating the character with delicious pop. Given the lack of rehearsal time, the benefit reading was understandably a bit rough around the edges here and there, but that only added to the charm of the whole affair.