Words Are Not Enough

Vol. II, No. 28 - February 16, 2012

(This issue is dedicated to the San Diego Unified School District, which has approved $124 million in cuts from its 2012-13 $1.1 billion operating budget. The action means that, once again, arts-related projects are up in the air—we fervently hope that the district finds the means to retain them.)

The Big Sleep. The Big Heat. The Big Combo. For some reason, a lot of the old Hollywood crime movies took “The Big” as their prefix, almost like their producers were trying to tip off the public as to the kind of film patrons were about to see. Mickey Spillane’s and Raymond Chandler’s tough-talking private Is and femmes fatale captured imaginations of moviegoers everywhere—and if you go see Impro Theatre at North Coast Repertory Theatre on Feb. 27, you’ll be introduced to 27 plays that pay tribute to them. The popular L.A. improvisational group and North Coast staple is back with Film Noir Unscripted. See northcoastrep.org for more.

Who Cares: Cares image The Hunger Games, a novel in the general mold of the Twilight and Harry Potter franchises, is coming to the big screen next month. The story has already fueled a teen cult following—and to our delight, it’s also declared itself in a medium you’d never associate with film.

What They're Doing: Doing image San Diego theater has a fairly wide reach in terms of its breadth of fare, but sometimes, the choices come a little too fast, with openings clogging the public's calendars. And Playwrights Project is set to start a series of free plays on Tuesday nights.

How They Did: Did image The tragic life of British playwright Sarah Kane is as much a story as her plays. On Stage points you to part of the saga in a review of ion theatre company’s Blasted, below which you’ll find takes on San Diego Musical Theatre’s The Marvelous Wonderettes and Lamb’s Players Theatre’s Guys and Dolls. Meanwhile, On Screen excoriates a stinker and recommends a cool DVD.

What We Eat/Drink: Eat image Wear your pumpkin-orange shorts to The Gathering restaurant at your own risk. And Fifty Seven Degrees not only serves great wine; it has storage space for your every need.

What You Want: If you go to one of the theater classes listed here, you might eventually be mentioned in Words Are Not Enough—and wouldn’t that be great!