Welcome back, scholars! Sometimes we like to think of the weekly links as the Core gossip page. We’ve got celebrities, gross diseases, controversy… Well, you’ll see. Read on!
- Palpatine–er, Ian McDiarmid–plays the titular character in Faust x2, a musical and condensed version of Goethe’s poem, adapted by the actor himself and directed by Lisa Blair. Runs from March 2 to March 25 at the Watermill Theatre in Bagnor, Newbury, UK.
“You sounds of heaven, powerful and gentle, / why do you seek me in the dust?” Credit: Philip Tull.
- According to medical historian Dr. Howard Markel, tuberculosis is disgusting, and by extension, John Keats, which we already knew. Just kidding, we love Keats and think he was beautiful, but we also agree that TB is not a poetic or romantic disease in the least.
- Speaking of Keats: here on the Core blog, we love anniversaries, and we certainly have celebrated a lot in the past year. 2017 is the 200-year anniversary of Keats’ first book of poems, which alarmingly received “terrible reviews.” Undeterred, actress Ruth Rosen of Hampstead, UK, held a tribute to the poet earlier this month on March 2, at the National Theatre in London.
- Guess who else is celebrating an anniversary soon? If you guessed Karl Marx, go get a Snickers from the Core candy basket (provided the basket hasn’t been raided by ravenous Corelings). That’s right, the Father of Communism is celebrating his 200th birthday next year, and a giant statute–statue, rather (read the article, you’ll understand)–gifted by China to the thinker’s birthplace of Trier is stirring great controversy.
An image from December detailing Chinese artist Wu Weishan’s planned work. (Via EPA)
Hope that satiates your thirst for literary gossip. We’ll see you next week with a new batch!
