Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Parasite is a social satire written and directed by a man named Bong Joon-ho, and stars a brilliant cast of actors whose names you probably don’t recognize. They portray a wealthy family, the Parks, who live in a spectacular home created by a prominent Korean architect, and an indigent family, the Kims, who live a ragtag existence in the poorer part of town. Their connection begins when a friend who is about to leave for college persuades Kim Ki-woo, the son of the Kim family, to take over his job as an English teacher for Park Da-hye, the daughter of the Park family. [Cynthia Citron]

Imagine, if you will, six strong personalities stranded in a Thank God It’s Friday pub while a hurricane rages outside. The accompanying rain has flooded the streets, and all the highways in this small Texas town have been closed. So begins a play called Elijah, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the Biblical figure.  Elijah is the name given to the hurricane that threatens this small town. [Cynthia Citron]

It is set in Portugal, where a large group of friends and family have come to enjoy a brief summer vacation in a wildly beautiful area of the turquoise sea, surrounded by the greenery of a densely packed forest. The woman who has apparently gotten them all together is Frankie, an international film star whose first and second husbands are part of the entourage, plus her adult son, plus her hairdresser and her hair-dresser’s boyfriend, plus people from the neighborhood who show up periodically with opinions and problems of their own. [Cynthia Citron]