Review: One weekend only of The Rep’s first show, an absurdist comedy, reminds audience of humans’ dark predicaments
By Patsy Isenberg The Rep made a surprising choice for the first play of the 2021-22 season. It was the absurdist comedy, “Happy Days,” a two-act play by Samuel Beckett, written in 1961. Theatre of the Absurd “Theater that seeks to represent the absurdity of human existence in a meaningless universe by bizarre or fantastic means,” is how Webster dictionary defines theater of the absurd. It was a surprising choice because some...
Book Review: Connor Coyne’s mighty opus compels in URBANTASM: Book Three — The Darkest Road
By Robert Thomas Urbantasm is categorized as a magical teen noir serial novel composed of four books. The Darkest Road is Book Three of the series created by Flint writer Connor Coyne. But it is much more than a teen novel. It is a massive creation from Coyne’s omnivorous mind, and an often gripping evocation of the throes of a struggling city. Having reviewed the first two books for East Village Magazine The Dying City (EVM...
Book Review: In “Running for Home” descendants of the Sit Down Strike find their race tough to win, no matter how fast they run
By Jan Worth-Nelson Hard on the heels of his well-received nonfiction book Midnight in Vehicle City: General Motors, Flint, and the Strike that Created the Middle Class, Edward “Ted” McClelland has now released his first novel, Running for Home. [McClelland, Edward. Running for Home. Huron, OH: Bottom Dog Press: 2021] [McClelland, Edward. Midnight in Vehicle City: General Motors, Flint, and the Strike that Created the Middle Class....
Book Review: A five-day odyssey of “Motown Man” explores familiar themes, settings in Flint author Bob Campbell’s first novel
By Harold Ford “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the colour-line.” –from Address to the Nations of the World, W. E. B. DuBois, July 1900 “As much as we all try to think we have all reached the promised land, the reality is there’s still alot of separation.” –Bob Campbell, Motown Man author, Dec. 11, 2020 Flint author Bob Campbell’s first book, Motown Man, was virtually launched Dec. 11 via Zoom and...
Review: Flint native filmmaker’s latest production puts pandemic focus on frontline workers
By Harold C. Ford “Private industry really stepped up.” –Erin Brennan, emergency room physician “On the Line” is a refreshing antidote to a steady stream of stories about a chief executive who mishandled a pandemic and lied to the nation about its worst health crisis in a hundred years. A short film, lasting less than nine minutes, its lens is squarely focused on frontliners who have gone above and beyond the call of duty during...
Review: Provocative “Black Matters” exhibit continues at FIA through Oct. 11
By Harold C. Ford “On a daily basis, every moment, black folks are being bombarded with images of our death and after a while that does something to your psyche. It’s literally saying, ‘Black people, you might be next. You will be next.’ ” …Matthew Wead, artist The black and white woodcut prints of Matthew Wead’s Black Matters collection focus on tragedy: grim images of black and brown victims of police violence in the...
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