Epoch Arts 11-6-2015

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

By the Virtue of One’s Embroidery

PUBLIC DOMAIN

When Society Was Guided With Music and Ritual

Drawings, textile samples, costumes, paintings, and many textile pattern books from the centuries.

Through ritual, human nature is preserved, through music, harmony is upheld.

See C3

See C5 BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES

C1 November 6–12, 2015

Jewelry designer Ray Griffiths at his work desk in his office in Midtown Manhattan on Oct. 9.

DAN SPRINGS

TON PHO TO G RA

PH

Y

Ray Griffiths

Crown work of an 18-karat yellow gold cuff.

Ray Griffiths’s crown work is so unique that he has been able to patent it.

King of Crown Work

Ray Griffiths, jewelry designer

See Crown Work on C2

PH OT OG TO N GS SP RI N

Jewelry is generational, it’s the journey of the family that encapsulates your history.

That was the eureka moment when he realized the potential of crown work.

The New York jewelry designer who hails from Melbourne, Australia, has become known throughout the United States for his distinctive style that grew out of his love of architecture, history, and his solid training in restoring Victorian jewelry.

Looking at his necklaces and new collection of Regency-period inspired rings, it’s easy to see just how aesthetically suited his grid-patterned crown work is to modern taste.

DA N

N

EW YORK—“Originally I was trained to make it so you couldn’t see it— it was the underside of crowns and tiaras,” said jeweler Ray Griffiths. “And then somebody said to me, ‘Why don’t you make it so that you can see it?’”

RA PH Y

By Kati Vereshaka | Epoch Times Staff

Pendants of 18-karat yellow gold featuring pearls, opal, and diamonds.

C2

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES

Ray Griffiths’s crown work Regency rings set with a variety of sapphires, diamonds, garnet, pink spinel, and tsavorite.

AL LJ EW EL RY SH S OT N DA BY SP RIN GS N TO PH OG OT RA PH Y

Ray Griffiths King of Crown Work Crown Work continued from C1 A Brand Is Born The style of Griffiths’s work is so unique that he has been able to patent it and, as of last year, his crown work is trademarked.

“I like the origin of crown work, the antiquity of it, the labor-intensive nature of it, and I like its aesthetic value,” Griffiths said, adding that he was also happy to discover that he could make it into any shape that he desired.

His crown work can stand on its own, as in the case of the necklace made out of gold graduated crown work squares, or it serves as a striking geometric contrast in his one of a kind cocktail ring featuring a 5.1 carat cabochon opal and pave diamonds set in 18 kt yellow gold crown work.

Griffiths is in love with history as much as the craft of jewelry making, and he confesses: “I’m still working with antiquity—everything is extrapolated from history. Crown work just became a working tool for me to express a historical value.”

Laid out on a velvet cloth in front of him was an array of sparkling Regency rings, which have been a great success for Griffiths because of the way he translated the classical style into his own signature. Using the Regency style, popular during the early 18th century to mid19th century in England as a starting point, he architecturalized it and made it very linear, clean, and curved the tops.

The result is a ring that possesses an Old World opulence yet perfectly suited for everyday wear.

The same can be said for his multistrand necklaces, also known as riviera necklaces, in vivid colors created to be mixed and matched.

He demonstrated this by holding up a tanzanite necklace with 18 karat yellow gold crown work balls and added to it blue riviera necklace with the same style of gold crown work. The resulting effect is the amazing impact of tanzanite blue, in a chic and artistic modern style.

Trust and Time Because of Griffiths’ experience in antique jewelry restoration he is also becoming known for his skillful handling of family heirlooms in need of lots of TLC—meaning significant repair.

He recounted the story of a customer who presented Griffiths with an engagement ring that had been in her family for three generations. It had a chipped old South African diamond, with worn out claws and a band that was also thin from wearing it alongside other rings.

As she gave Griffiths the ring she said, “Let me tell you about the ring.”

Griffiths replied, “Let me tell you about it,” explaining where the diamond that was over two carats would have been cut and where the ring would have been manufactured, dates and places. Surprised, she confirmed that Griffiths was right since the date of the ring was indeed around the time when her grandparents got married.

The result is a ring that possesses an Old World opulence yet perfectly suited for everyday wear.

Crown work of 18-karat yellow gold cascading ball earrings with triple diamond drops.

Crown work of an 18-karat yellow gold Regency ring set with champagne diamonds.

BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES

Jewelry designer Ray Griffiths at his office in Midtown Manhattan on Oct. 9.

Once the ring was restored and Griffiths presented it to the customer, she got all teary about it. The original design was the same but completely revamped and repaired.

“Basically, the difference between what she gave us, and what she got back, was like night and day. It was a brand new ring that was ready to go another hundred years,” said Griffiths.

Sometimes he needs a few weeks to figure out how to restore a piece, and there’s the trust factor as well. Griffiths approaches restoration work “gingerly” so as to preserve the integrity of each piece.

When dealing with restoration of damaged old diamonds he explains that part of the personality of old stones comes from the fact that they were cut by hand, “and I don’t want to take that away. But it all depends on what the customer wants,” said Griffiths, mentioning that in the case of family stones, customers are usually just as keen as he is to preserve the integrity of the stones.

“Jewelry is generational, it’s the journey of the family that encapsulates your history,” Griffiths said.

Each piece is a small learning curve for Griffiths. He recounted how another customer and friend brought to him, what looked like to her, a brooch. Upon seeing it Griffiths asked her “Where’s the other half?”

It turned out that the so-called brooch was half of a bow from an Austro-Hungarian empire tiara that had been pulled apart and used to make an engagement ring and a brooch.

It was the beginning of another surprising tale with a happy ending for both Griffiths and the customer, who didn’t just get back her restored family heirlooms, but also the whole story of their complicated provenance.

Multicrown work of an 18-karat yellow gold ball and oval link necklace with diamond set toggle.

Crown work of 18-karat yellow gold set rings, necklaces, and earrings featuring sapphire, opal, tanzanite, lapis, blue sugar quartz, and chalcedony.

C3

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

KATI VERESHAKA/EPOCH TIMES

Plate with lace design from “Vari disegni di merletti,” 1639, by Bartolomeo Danieli (Italian, 1610–1643). Etching.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Illustration from “Le Pompe: Opera Nova,” Venice 1557, published

by Giovanni Battista and Marchio Sessa.

Woodcut.

“Lucretia Instructing Her Daughters in Needlework,” 1557, by Giuseppe Salviati (Italian, cira 1520–1575). Woodcut.

By the Virtue of One’s Embroidery

By Kati Vereshaka | Epoch Times Staff

N

EW YORK—One might think that virtue is a quality not so easily quantifiable in a woman, yet in the 1500s the measure of a woman’s virtue could be instantly ascertained by looking at her embroidery.

The current exhibition Fashion and Virtue, Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art examines this concept and its cultural implications starting from the 16th century.

The exhibition, drawn largely from the Metropolitan Museum’s own collections, shows drawings, textile samples, costumes, paintings, and many textile pattern books that have miraculously survived over the centuries.

The Fashion Magazine Is Born The exhibition was organized by Femke Speelberg, associate curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at the Met, who explained that the pattern books were the first fashion magazines, published quarterly. And, just like today, publishers were competing with each other while trying to cater to public taste.

They did not have covers, and were meant for a domestic market.

Most pattern books perished because they were printed to be used, meaning that their pages would be cut out and pricked so as to copy the patterns of the designs onto fabric.

One of the prints in the exhibition illustrates the methods used by women to copy the patterns in the books. It depicts four women: one is transferring patterns by using the light of a candle, another simply uses the light of day to achieve transparency, a third one does it by pricking and pouncing, and a particularly skilled craftswoman is copying the designs freehand.

The boom in embroidery was due to the fact that textile trade picked up in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Textile merchants became the nouveau riche of the time and people were experimenting with silk as a new material, even importing and growing silkworms and producing their own fabrics.

Silk threads became widely available, which also led to embroidery becoming a fashion statement.

Previously only members of the nobility and the church could afford high-end fabrics with sumptuous embroidery.

“By 1500, everyone wanted heavily embroidered, shiny clothing, as well as patterns,” said Speelberg, adding that because of the guild system, women were no longer allowed to make their money from embroidery, but they could channel their creativity into making household items with family crests, motifs, and even personal messages. While noble women would not work on decorating bed linen and towels, they were nevertheless expected to excel at embroidery.

At the time, needlework was seen as one of the most virtuous things that a woman could do to fill her time. This was in part due to the fact that women sought to emulate the Virgin Mary who, according to medieval gospels, turned to needlework aside from prayer in her time both as a young girl as well as after the death of her son.

The book titles often served to reinforce this idea. For example, a double-page spread with patterns of interlaced knots, hearts, and snowflakes is from a book published in Venice in 1546 called “Mirror of the Thoughts of Beautiful and Virtuous Women.”

[The publishers] conveyed the message that if a woman applied herself to her needlework, she could measure herself to the greatest sculptors, architects, and painters of the time.

Virtue and Virtuosity The exhibition also showcases the lace designs of Isabella Catanea Parasole—the first woman who was credited as a designer of patterns at the end of the 16th century. For people who love lace, she is still the embodiment of Italian lace production at this time.

“She was really an icon,” said Speelberg.

Parasole worked with her husband on publications such as “The Virtuous Women’s Study” (1597), “The Virtuous Women’s Precious Gem” (1600), and “Flowers of Every Virtue for the Noble and Devout Matrons” (1610), to mention the pattern book excerpts that are on show.

But this didn’t mean that the subjects of the embroidery were all about piety. Themes included dancing, music, garlands of flowers and leaves, couples in courtship, and even love poems done in colorful needlework.

“At the same time the book publishers were really clever. They used the word virtue parallel with virtuosity,” said Speelberg adding, “They conveyed the message that if a woman applied herself to her needlework, she could measure herself to the greatest sculptors, architects, and painters of the time, really propelling women to excel in their work.”

The Patterns of Today A lot of the patterns in the renaissance books are still very much in fashion today.

The collection is sure to catch the attention of fashion designers who have shown time and time again that they relish the opportunity to be inspired by the designs of centuries past.

Whether any of them will also choose to somehow convey the message of the exhibition, is another matter.

Femke Speelberg, associate curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, Metropolitan Museum of Art

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

“The Fifth Knot,” 1521, by Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528) after Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519). Woodcut.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

“Portrait of a Woman,” circa 1510–1515, by Bernhard Strigel (German, 1460–1528). Oil on linden.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji: Umezawa Hamlet-fields in Sagami Province (detail) 9 7⁄8 by 14 5⁄8 in., 25 by 37 cm

145 West 58th Street, suite 6D New York, NY 10019 tel. 212.585.0474 fax. 212.585.0475

info@scholten-japanese-art.com www.scholten-japanese-art.com

C4

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts S I BY L L E ’ S S T Y L E D I A RY PATRICK MCMULLAN

Philanthropist Jean Shafiroff on

Helping Others, Inspiring Many, and Looking Stylish All the While MICHAEL PANICCIA

By Sibylle Eschapasse

T

his week’s style diary guest is the lovely philanthropist Jean Shafiroff. On the New York socialite scene, it is difficult to find one more stylish. Shafiroff is actively involved with numerous foundations and charitable causes between New York and Southampton, and takes great pleasure and pride in always looking impeccable.

Sibylle Eschapasse: Describe your style? If a close friend were to describe your personality in three words, what would they be?

Jean Shafiroff: My style varies from dramatic to simplistic. Generally, I try not to wear anything that is too boring, although sometimes the work I do requires very conservative dress. Although I love to dress up and wear ballgowns to charity galas, I also enjoy dressing to fit into different roles. Clearly, attending a political fundraiser requires one type of dress while attending a SoHo art party another type. Sometimes I dress like a librarian but I especially enjoy fairy-tale dressing. It is all rather fun.

My personality—my friends would say that I am a workaholic, passionate-in-excess, and dedicated to giving.

If you are not willing to experiment, it can be very boring. And who wants to be boring?

Jean Shafiroff, philanthropist

Ms. Eschapasse: How did your style evolve since you were a teenager?

Ms. Shafiroff: As a teenager, I went to a Catholic high school and was required to wear a uniform. In many ways the uniform made life easier, however, I remember feeling very constricted by it. So when I was not in uniform I wore miniskirts, jeans with halter tops, or midriff-bearing blouses. I think the uniform made me want to be freer and wild when I wasn’t wearing it.

Jean Shafiroff at Lincoln Center before the NYC Ballet Gala on Sept. 23, 2014, in a B. Michael gown.

BILLY FARRELL AGENCY

BILLY FARRELL AGENCY

Stone lithographic advertising poster detail, China, Ca. 1920

Jean Shafiroff at The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering 2015 Spring Ball at The Pierre hotel in a gown by Victor de Souza.

Jean Shafiroff at the NYC Ballet 2015 Spring Gala in a gown by B. Michael.

Ms. Eschapasse: How do you dress on workdays versus weekends?

Ms. Shafiroff: On weekends I love to dress casually because I need to relax. If I could wear work-out clothing all day long, I would, since I love to go to exercise classes. During the week, I am more dressed but still like to be casual during the day. At night, I love to go out and get very dressed up. For me, dressing is a game.

Ms. Eschapasse: What are three accessories you can’t live without, and what’s one item that makes you instantly more confident?

Ms. Shafiroff: I adore opera length gloves. They can make an outfit go from ordinary to fabulous. Next I love long dangling earrings for the drama they create. Finally, I love beautiful, very high pumps. The right pumps can add a great deal of glamour.

The item that makes me more confident—let’s see—yes, it is my eyeliner. I guess you could say that my signature is the modified cat eye created with dark brown eye liner.

Look into the East At the gallery of Michael Ayervais

Where Asian art comes to life in a magical setting 40 West 25th St. New York #228-229 | 917-623-2571

Ms. Eschapasse: Who have been your greatest fashion influences? Who is your style icon?

Ms. Shafiroff: If I could look and dress like anyone who ever lived, it would be Princess Grace of Monaco. Her style and beauty were the epitome of sheer perfection.

But probably the two women who have had the greatest influence on my dress are Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy. They both had tremendous style and both women were very comfortable in their own skins. Confidence plays a big role in style. I loved their internal and external beauty. They both had

a very humanitarian side.

I think the beauty of their personalities and the value of their work influenced my desire to emulate their style.

Ms. Eschapasse: What does having style mean to you? In other words, please define style.

Ms. Shafiroff: Style is very different from fashion. Style first means confidence. It describes how you project yourself to the public. If you feel confident then you are going to look better. I can think of times when I might have thought that my makeup wasn’t quite right or that my hair was starting to frizz. However, I had to forget all of that and just walk into a room as if I loved the way I looked.

Style is also about taking chances. To have style you must try new looks. Some work and some do not. Style is also about breaking hardand-fast fashion rules. You need to create your own unique look. Style is not about wearing labels and the latest fashion trends.

It is better to repeat the same look over and over again than to wear something that doesn’t flatter you. I think we have a lot of pressure in New York to not repeat the same outfit. But that is ridiculous—I don’t think there is a designer out there that expects us to buy something and wear it only once or twice. I know that the group from Oscar de la Renta loves when I wear one of my older purchases out to a big gala.

Ms. Eschapasse: What is one purchase you’re most proud of? What would you pay a lot of money for, and what would you never pay much money for?

Ms. Shafiroff: I am always proud of the one-ofa kind pieces that I purchase. Whether it is a

C5

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts

PATRICK MCMULLAN

Essence of China

Ancient China: When Society Was Regulated With Music and Ritual PUBLIC DOMAIN

CHINA PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES

By Leo Timm | Epoch Times Staff

Jean Shafiroff at the NYC Ballet 2015 Fall Gala in a gown by Peter Copping for Oscar de la Renta. hat from a vintage shop that cannot be duplicated or a fantastic designer piece—so long as it is unique, I probably will love it.

I would pay a lot for a great handbag that I could keep forever. This is something worth splurging on. Also a few pairs of glamorous shoes.

Next, I would pay a lot for a spectacular ball gown. I love ball gowns and even though they are not very practical, I think it is important to buy clothing I love. Ball gowns make me very happy.

Ms. Eschapasse: When you go on the red carpet, how do you want your outfit to make you feel? Which designers can achieve that?

Ms. Shafiroff: Walking down the red carpet means that I want to feel glamorous. It is the entire look that is important, but my favorite designers for the red carpet are Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Zang Toi, B. Michael, and Victor de Souza. However, I remember getting a lot of notice for wearing a Georgina Chapman gown from J.C. Penney.

Ms. Eschapasse: What do you think of how others dress and what’s your advice to people who would like to develop their personal style?

Ms. Shafiroff: Many people dress well. In general, I think New Yorkers love to dress. Sometimes it is the street look that can be most intriguing.

To develop personal style I think you need to experiment and take chances. Don’t worry if it doesn’t quite work. Tomorrow you can try a new look. If you are not willing to experiment, it can be very boring. And who wants to be boring?

Favorites Favorite Color Right now it is bright blue and hot pink, but this keeps changing.

Favorite Perfume Sisley’s Eau de Soir, but this keeps changing.

Favorite Restaurant in NY Le Cirque because of many great memories and good food. Michael’s for the lunch scene and good food—but I hardly ever go to lunch.

Favorite Drink Cosmopolitan and American red wines.

Favorite Movie There are so many—just to name two —“Clockwork Orange” and “Casablanca.”

Favorite Book Almost every book written by Dominic Dunne and Edith Wharton.

Favorite Quote “Only thing to fear is fear itself,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Inaugural Address speech Favorite Fashion Quote “Too much good taste can be boring. ...

Vulgarity is a very important ingredient in life. ...

A little bad taste is like a splash of paprika. We all need a little splash of bad taste: It’s hearty, it’s healthy, and it’s physical. I think we could all use a little more of it. No taste is what I am against.” —Diana Vreeland.

Sibylle’s “Style Diary” is a column that explores style from the perspective of choices, and what that means for different people, with personal advice from some of the most stylish people in New York.

Sibylle Eschapasse is from Paris and now lives in Manhattan. She is a journalist and a contributing writer to various publications.

Sibylle is also the author of a children’s book, “Argy Boy!: A New York Dog Tale.” She may be contacted at Sibylle.Eschapasse@Gmail.com

One of the very first pieces of recorded Chinese literature is the “Classic of Poetry,” a collection of 3,000-year-old lyrics and verses of the early Zhou Dynasty. Compiled by Confucius, it is considered one of the five great Chinese scholarly works.

The first poem, “Cry of the Ospreys,” describes the marriage of King Wen, the first Zhou ruler, to his queen Tai Si. Flutes and drums and bells guide the royal couple to their union, which was understood to have been ordained by Shang Di, the emperor of heaven.

Confucius admired the early Zhou (1046 B.C.—770 B.C.) for its virtuous governance and upright culture, expressed in the maintenance of ritual or propriety, known in Chinese as “li.” For traditional Chinese, who saw the family as the basic unit of society, the prosperity of a royal or imperial house hinged on marriage. It was said that a halfdivine sage ruler of Chinese legend, Fu Xi, had established civilization through the creation of marital rites.

Li, covering ritual, propriety, and etiquette, is the third of five cardinal virtues taught by Confucius. This ideal is often seen discussed in tandem with Chinese musical theory, as recorded in conversational texts compiled by the sage’s disciples.

The other four cardinal virtues are benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith.

What sets li apart from the others is its emphasis on human conduct, as opposed to the cultivation of more abstract or intrinsic virtues.

The foundation of li, as the foundation of filial piety, lies in the veneration of heaven.

Beginning in the Zhou Dynasty, about 500 years before Confucius, the Chinese worshipped Shang Di, a sky deity whose title translates to the Lord on High and whom some Christian missionaries in China rendered simply as God. Rites and Music Just as Western theater developed from ancient Greek festivals held in honor of the gods, China’s etiquette and music origi-

Young Chinese women play the classical and complicated guqin, a relative of the zither family.

An ancient Chinese dynastic engraving of an allfemale ensemble of traditional instrumentalists. nated in the religious rites meant to maintain bonds between the human and divine realms.

Music played a central role in pre-imperial Chinese religious rites as well as folk culture.

While in today’s modern vernacular Chinese language uses li as a catch-all term referring to etiquette and manners, in classical understanding, it encompassed the entire spiritual pantheon, of which music was a part.

By the Zhou Dynasty, individual systems of rites and music had come into their own, but remained linked.

In compiling the “Classic of Poetry,” Confucius intended to teach his contemporaries the traditions and mentality of the Zhou people and rulers by passing down their lyrics and ballads. Among the Zhou aristocracy, cultivation through mastery of the performing arts was a part of life in high society. The children of royalty and nobles were required to study classical music and dance from a young age.

Governing elites, Confucius said, would do well to rule their people through li, and thus mitigate the need for harsh laws and policing. Music, with its unspoken feeling and depth, could be used to inculcate and reinforce the rites among the people naturally.

The word “liyue,” meaning rites and music,

is a common term found in Confucian canon, reflecting the roles each played in a balanced and harmonious culture.

Reflections for Today In the “Classic of Rites and Music,” it is said that people, once lured by material wealth and gain, would lose their compassionate nature and harbor thoughts of greed, cruelty, fraud, and so forth. It was for this reason that the ancient kings cultivated music and ritual to regulate the heart. “Through ritual, human nature is preserved, through music, harmony is upheld.”

In modern China, the one-party state officially promotes communist ideology. Only under the Communist Party were the three spiritual schools of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism persecuted simultaneously.

Even today, in the name of “social harmony” and “stability maintenance,” spiritual and cultural repression is enforced by a vast array of police agencies and justified by the Communist Party’s propaganda mouthpieces.

The price of this repression is ideological bankruptcy—the Party’s atheist and materialist identity breaks with thousands of years of traditional Chinese heritage. Thinking of the rites and odes that Confucius had admired, we are reminded of the words of George Orwell, who described a “vitality which the Party did not share and could not kill.”

As a line from the British author’s novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” reads, “The birds sang, the proles sang, the Party did not sing.”

Book Review

The Road Most Worth Taking RANDOM HOUSE

By Chelsea Scarnegie David Brooks is an exceptional host who makes sure that his party has a grand purpose: discovering what makes great people lead great lives. In attendance are some of the greatest minds in Western culture, and he introduces each one to his audience, ensuring that we are well acquainted by the end of the night.

Brooks challenges his guests not to talk about the weather or the latest celebrity news, but rather to ask questions like “What does life want from me?” and “What are my circumstances calling me to do?”

In “The Road to Character,” readers learn what a vocation is and how it ought to be centered on a great purpose. In our modern day, we measure success as if we were checking goals off a personal list: Did I land my dream job? Is my house large enough for me to be proud of? Did I marry someone who will help me achieve my goals?

In Brooks’s world, however, his old-fashioned heroes were able to look beyond themselves to find a specific calling that threw a personal list aside and focused their attention on something greater.

Brooks selects a diverse array of heroes so that readers are able to form a deep connection with at least one of his examples.

Some may find a kinship with labor activist Frances Perkins, who struggled to find a sense of purpose until she indulged in genuine community service—not the “patch to cover over inarticulateness about the inner life” that charity work sometimes becomes.

Perhaps readers will make a connection with Dorothy Day, the Catholic convert and champion of the poor. Day initially “had no outlet for her faith,” because she did not belong to any church. Yet shortly after the birth of her daughter, she found a side of Catholicism that drew her in—simplicity and willingness to surrender to God. Or readers may be drawn to George Catlett Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U. S. Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense.

Marshall entered the army as a poor stu-

dent and emerged with total self-discipline, which helped him accept his lack of recognition. Rather than take the spotlight with an important title, Marshall worked behind the scenes to guide the Army toward eventual victory in World War II. Readers may find this intensely private man a refreshing alternative to the modern “all about me” mentality in which every achievement must be recognized.

Brooks excels in gently prying open the lives of the most private of public figures.

Similar to Marshall is civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, who refused to share anything about his personal life. As readers learn more about Randolph’s personality, we learn that there is no teasing Mr. Randolph: “These qualities—his incorruptibility, his reticent formality, and above all his dignity—meant it was impossible to humiliate him,” Brooks explains.

The paths Perkins, Day, Marshall, and Randolph took were set at an early age, as if they were destined to become great people right from adolescence. While some of them strayed from their personal roads to character, they were always able to return to their journey through a deep internal battle between what they wanted and what others wanted of them.

In Chapter 7, the conversation shifts from internal topics to external ones—namely, love. Novelist George Eliot is introduced along with her initially needy personality.

This chapter may come as a surprise to readers, especially since Brooks continuously argues that the road to character is an internal journey. Yet through Eliot’s relationship with George Henry Lewes, she matures in her writing and in her character. This led to a deep happiness for George Eliot that truly sounds like a fairy-tale ending.

Augustine, whom many readers know as the saint who once implored, “Lord, make me chaste—but not yet,” has an entirely different sort of love story to share with an entirely different reader. Rather than remain in a romantic relationship (“At one point Augustine called his 15-year relationship with his lower-class common-law wife ‘a mere bar-

‘The Road to Character’ Author David Brooks Publisher Random House Pages

300

Price $28

gain of lustful love’”), he silenced his amorous heart to be more open to a higher, allinclusive form of love.

British writer Samuel Johnson is the last party guest to arrive, but it is perhaps his inner story that is the most interesting. He was so frightened by his own destructive imagination that he frequently gave in to sloth and refused to write. When he finally did take up his craft, he believed in writing for a greater cause. His writing was not meant to entertain; it was meant to challenge his readers to live honest lives and dedicate them to other people.

The lives of Eliot, Augustine, and Johnson present an altogether different road, one that involves insecurities and demons that must be tamed. Perhaps Brooks is suggesting that there is more than one kind of path: paths that are discovered early on and paths that are discovered after a series of struggles. One is not necessarily better than the other; the world is in need of both types of heroes.

By using each of these heroes and their others-centered minds, “The Road to Character” invites readers to embark on a similar mission—one in which they discover their own vocation and how it leads to more fulfillment than a status update on social media. Brooks, it seems, has discovered his vocation, and it is neatly displayed in “The Road to Character” to inspire the rest of us.

Chelsea Scarnegie, with a degree in writing, lives and writes in the Chicago area.

C6

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts COURTESY OF THROCKMORTON FINE ART

Women Pioneers Mexican Photography I

Through Nov. 14 Throckmorton Fine Art 145 E. 57th St., Floor 3

This exhibition presents views of women, myth, and photography intertwined through nine pioneers who embrace new attitudes for women. Since 1896 through to the present, freedom earned through personal decision and efforts includes the early social risks taken in a still-traditional society. Free.

Throckmorton-NYC.com

“Waiting for Padreciti,” 1987, by Mariana Yampolsky.

THINGS TO DO COMMUNITY EVENTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Salon Evening: The Passions of Andrea del Sarto Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.

Music Room at The Frick Collection 1 E. 70th St. The Frick Collection premieres a ravishing Salomé choreographed by Marcelo Gomes of American Ballet Theatre and inspired by the painting St. John the Baptist, currently on view in the special exhibition Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action. Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon will recite Robert Browning’s famous poem “Andrea del Sarto,” while Associate Curator Aimee Ng presents the artist as a man who loved deeply and imbued religious figures with an almost erotic beauty, proclaiming in paint their passionate faith. $40 public, $35 for members.

Frick.org/salon Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival Through Nov. 29, open daily 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. The multimedia exhibition features original instruments, handwritten lyrics, and video and film footage.

"Folk City" traces the roots of the revival, its growth in New York, its major players, and its impact on American politics and culture during the tumultuous 1960s. $3–$14. MCNY.org

NEW ELSEWHERE Neighborhood Concert: Gilad Hekselman Band Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Bronx Museum of the Arts Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman’s lively, fluid sound and skillful improvisation have earned him recognition as a rising star in the New York City jazz scene. Free.

BronxMuseum.org

NOW Ensemble Nov. 8 at 5 p.m.

80 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn Dynamic composerperformer collective NOW Ensemble’s music straddles the line between contemporary classical and indie rock. With an unusual instrumental lineup of flute, clarinet, electric guitar, bass, and piano, this innovative ensemble is passionate about making 21st-century chamber music and bringing classical music to new audiences. Williamsburg via the G, L, or B62. Free.

NationalSawDust.org Stacks: Three Decades of Writing Fellows Nov. 13–Feb. 12, 2016 Opening reception on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.

NYFA Gallery, 20 Jay St., Suite 740, Brooklyn An exhibition of published works from over 100 NYFA Literary Fellows featured within a site-specific installation by Anne Muntges (fellow in Printmaking/ Drawing/Artists’ Books ‘14).

Free. NYFA.org Children's Book Fair Nov. 14, noon–4 p.m.

Brooklyn Museum This year's fair features more than thirty-five Brooklyn-based authors and illustrators and includes storybooks, picture books, graphic novels, and books for young adults. Free.

BrooklynMuseum.org The Magical World of Strega Nona Nov. 14, 1 p.m.

Peter Jay Sharp Building, BAMcafé Legendary children’s book author and illustrator Tomie dePaola comes to BAM on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his original Caldecott Award-winning book Strega Nona and the publication of a new collection of stories. Maria Russo, children’s books editor of The New York Times Book Review, leads a discussion with the prolific author on the origin of the story and the magic of the beloved “grandma witch.” $8.

BAM.org

VISUAL ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style Nov. 19–Feb. 21, 2016 Metropolitan Museum of Art This Costume Institute exhibition will focus on the internationally renowned style icon Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, whose originality and elegance established her as one of the most celebrated fashion personas of the twentieth century. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620 Oct. 20–Jan. 10, 2016 Metropolitan Museum of Art Printed sources related to the design of textile patterns first appeared during the Renaissance. Six intricate interlaced designs, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and later copied by Albrecht Dürer, stood at the beginning of a fruitful international exchange of pattern designs through print. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org American Realism: Past and Present Through Nov. 30 Cavalier Gallery, 3 W. 57th St., Floor 4 In presenting this extraordinary survey of American Realist works, the Cavalier Gallery has created a historic show that highlights the importance and diversity of the American Realism Movement.

CavalierGalleries.com Arms and Armor: Notable Acquisitions 2003–2014 Through Dec. 6 Metropolitan Museum of Art Focuses on approximately 30 works from Europe, the United States, Japan, India, and Tibet. $12–$25 suggested.

MetMuseum.org

About Face: Human Expression on Paper Through Dec. 13 Metropolitan Museum of Art The representation of human emotion through facial expression has interested western artists since antiquity. $12–$25 suggested.

METMuseum.org

ENDING IN MANHATTAN Women Pioneers Mexican Photography I Through Nov. 14 Throckmorton Fine Art, 145 E. 57th St., Floor 3 This exhibition presents views of women, myth, and photography intertwined through nine pioneers who embrace new attitudes for women. Since 1896 through to the present, freedom earned through personal decision and efforts includes the early social risks taken in a still-traditional society. Free.

Throckmorton-NYC.com

PERFORMING ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Lulu Nov. 5–Dec. 3 Metropolitan Opera 30 Lincoln Center Plaza Acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge (The Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to Berg’s notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including her own.

Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands of Met Music Director James Levine.

From $27.

MetOpera.org CARMEN.maquia and Club Havana Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.

30 Lincoln Center Plaza Ballet Hispanico, celebrating 45 years of repertory that reflects the ever-changing diversity of Latino cultures, will be featured in Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance, a film series presenting performances by four of America's leading companies: Ballet Hispanico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

LincolnCenterAtTheMovies. org

New York Lyric Opera Theatre Gala Nov. 14 at 8 p.m.

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall The New York Lyric Opera Theatre performs scenes from well-loved operas such as Puccini’s La bohème and Madama Butterfly, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Massenet's Manon, Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, and Verdi's La traviata, among others. $54.50. CarnegieHall.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Tosca Through Dec. 1 Metropolitan Opera 30 Lincoln Center Plaza The many facets of Puccini’s eternal diva are explored by a quartet of charismatic sopranos: Oksana Dyka, Angela Gheorghiu, Maria Guleghina, and Liudmyla Monastyrska. From $25.

MetOpera.org

NEW ELSEWHERE Beyond Time Nov 19–Nov 21 BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Pitched gongs, thunderous taiko drums, nomadic chanting, and enlightened laughter score this multidimensional foray into temporal transcendence from Taiwan’s U-Theatre. From $20.

BAM.org

MUSIC NEW IN MANHATTAN Anna Gourari on Piano Nov. 10 at 8 p.m.

Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & Seventh Avenue Following her Carnegie Hall debut, Russian pianist and ECM recording artist Anna Gourari returns to Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with poetic and virtuosic piano music from the 19th and 20th centuries. $20–$50.

CarnegieHall.org Jean-Yves Thibaudet on Piano Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & Seventh Avenue

Schumann’s Romanticism and the iridescent colors of Ravel’s piano music are at the heart of this recital by JeanYves Thibaudet. $17–$102.

CarnegieHall.org Flute Chamber Music Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

Bulgarian Consulate General 121 E. 62nd St. Carol Wincenc and Hristina Blagoeva on flute, Boris Blagoev on violin, and Daniel Anastasio on piano. Free.

BCEny.org Michelangelo Quartet Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & Seventh Avenue If Haydn was the king of the Classical string quartet, his String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1, is one of his crown jewels—a brilliant display of learned technique and melodic richness.

Beethoven, once a student of Haydn’s, also made bold statements in his quartets, including quotations from a Russian folk tune in his Second “Razumovsky." $58.

CarnegieHall.org The New York Pops, Sophisticated Ladies Nov. 13 at 8 p.m.

Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & Seventh Avenue In the centennial year of her birth, the orchestra celebrates Billie Holiday and other groundbreaking icons of American popular song, from Ella Fitzgerald to Sarah Vaughan to Dinah Washington. $20–$122.

CarnegieHall.org Piano Quintets With Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.

The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Met Full of great ideas, the energetic musicians of the Chiara String Quartet have established themselves as one of the most powerful and passionate practitioners of the string quartet genre. $50 single concert, $170 for series of four concerts, $1 children.

MetMuseum.org

Dear Readers If you have an event to suggest, please send details to NYC_Arts@ EpochTimes.com in the format you see here.

C7

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts ALL PHOTOS BY BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES

(L–R) Walson Wang of ELITE magazine, Jo Yang of ELITE magazine, Seth Holehouse of Epoch Media Group, Hennessy Private Client Director Jacquie Lee, Hennessy Ambassadeur de la Maison Cyrille Gautier-Auriol, Pamela Tsai of Epoch Media Group, Hennessy Regional Market Manager Sandra Suarez, and Ellen Wang of ELITE magazine.

An Evening of Elegance and Refined Taste

By Benjamin Chasteen | Epoch Times Staff alking into the private party at Mr. K’s restaurant, a fruity, lingering scent filled the air as bartenders were making drinks with special Hennessy cognacs.

Hennessy and co-host ELITE magazine, part of Epoch Media Group, kicked off the holiday season with a special, top-level tasting. As Hennessy Ambassadeur de la Maison Cyrille Gautier-Auriol guided the guests through the delicate tastings, he explained the storied history of Hennessy and the process they

use in making their distinctive cognacs to the guests. There was the Hennessy XO— the original, and created for the personal use of the aristocratic Hennessy family; Hennessy 250, a collector’s blend celebrating the 250th anniversary, and the Hennessy Paradis Imperial brought out perfectly chilled in glasses with large, immaculate ice cubes. The sit-down dinner and special tasting was well attended by the magazine’s and Hennessy’s VIPs and business partners.

A bottle of Hennessy Paradis Imperial cognac.

Hennessy Ambassadeur de la Maison Cyrille Gautier-Auriol and guest Jia Yan.

Hennessy hosted a special sit-down dinner to kick off the holiday season.

Grace Chan, brand manager for Hennessy.

Hennessy cognac paired with chocolate mousse.

C8

@EpochArts

November 6–12, 2015 TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts

ALL PHOTOS BY METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC./COLUMBIA PICTURES EON PRODUCTIONS/DANJAQ, LLC AND COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC.

Film Review

‘Spectre’ It’s the End of Bond as We Know It and We Feel Fine

Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux in “Spectre,” the latest James Bond installment.

By Mark Jackson | Epoch Times Staff

J

ames Bond movies were highly anticipated events in the 1970s; a British fantasy that frolicked in the shallow end of the male American Dream pool.

We thrilled to the Bondgredients; opening sequence: dashing spy, seen through a rifled gun-barrel, ignoring you, until he swivels, and “blam!” goes the Walther PPK, blood runs down the screen—“dum-dada-dumdum, dum-dum-dum-dum dada-dumdum …” followed by naked-lady silhouettes swimming around the psychedelic screen, to the big-band, kitschy, horn-heavy strains of the classic Bond score.

Bond girls, like heavenly beauties, except with outrageously outré triple-x double-entendre names. The perfectly timed, totally predictable stating of the Bond name (and there was much hooting and applause). “Shaken, not stirred” (more hooting). The schooling in the art of Q’s cool spy toys.

Bond must further be chastised by M, platonically flirt with Miss Moneypenny, stunt drive a sexy car.

Bond’s 007 was suave, debonair, tall, dark, handsome, manly, looked very GQ in the suit (worn underneath the wetsuit, goggles, and speargun). Sean Connery and Roger Moore had all this foolish fun nailed down with a sledgehammer. And the ladies loved Sean. They didn’t know he wore a toupée the whole time.

The Craig Bond Then along came Jason Bourne and revolutionized spy movies forever; grittier, more workaday. Bond got Bourne’d. Which worked, for a bit. He also got blond. This worked too, because Daniel Craig, like that broke-from-tradition blond mega-moviestar before him, Robert Redford, although blond—had a dark personality.

“Spectre’s” ostensibly got all of a Bond film’s favorite things: style, one-liners, gizmos, girls, fetishized adult beverages, stunts, villains, and exotic locations. But while “Spectre’s” not a bad

Bond, it appears the end of the Craig-Bond era has arrived. Bond in general may have finally worn out its welcome (this has been going on for well-nigh 50 years). We’ve likely contracted a collective case of Bond-nnui.

Day of the Dead Judy Dench’s dead M gives 007 a mission from the grave, which sends him around the globe; we see him first blending into Mexico’s famed Día de los Muertos parade to start spying on the evil organization SPECTRE. They’re very mysterious. We don’t know what it is they actually do.

All you need to know is that SPECTRE may be connected very high up, in the U.K.’s new intelligence administration that’ll likely be replacing the replacement of Dench’s M (Ralph Fiennes), and is wired in everywhere like an Orwellian Big Brother, and would rather use technology and drones than the decrepit 00 (licensed to kill) spy program.

Heading up SPECTRE is one Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). He intends evil but comes off evil-lite; blabs a lot Bond backstory that links all Craig’s James Bond movies together. Sort of like Mel Gibson’s Braveheart saying, “Unite the clans!” All of which is unnecessarily contrived and not at all interesting.

Bond Action “Spectre’s” action is decent, by today’s standards. Had we seen these action set pieces in the ‘70s we’d have needed oxygen tanks to recover from fainting. Fact is though, we have already seen them—“Spectre” pays tribute to a string of James Bond’s greatest action hits.

The difference is, in today’s action-saturated, numbed-senses, “been-there-seen-that” world, the action here is one small step ahead of “meh.”

This is partially due to Craig’s somber Bond having no joy in the proceedings. Connery, Moore, and Brosnan were always mutedly delighted and ready with a quip for us all to recite for weeks.

Enough Now However, “Spectre” does get into the unforgiveable area of intelligence-insulting action sequences that beat you about the head and shoulders with spectacle, in hopes you won’t notice the whole kit and kaboodle just did an end-run around your common sense.

Like, “Okay, so, this guy just got hit with a bomb, blinded, the whole place exploded, burned to the ground (he has no friends—how’d he get to a hospital?) but mere days later he’s managed to rig an entire skyscraper with an elaborate, lethal scavenger hunt, and walk around and orchestrate the proceedings?”

Come now.

Most action flicks have a significant portion of this fluff these days, which is the cinematic equivalent of those rumors we’ve heard about earthworm-filler being added to hamburgers in certain fast-food chains to stretch the meat and lower the cost. Neither are nourishing.

Bond Style In the same way fashion infiltrated the Oscars over a period of a couple of decades, men’s style-magazine toys and fashion have increasingly usurped Bond’s more meaningful messages. And there weren’t that many to begin with.

The Bondgredient car-worship portion of the film features a gorgeous Jaguar C-X75, and an Aston Martin DB10. In the same way watching food prep in the current gustatory movie “Burnt” often subliminally feels like a TV food ad, watching these two insanely expensive, high-horsepower vehicles chase each other around Rome always feels like a high-end car commercial.

The Connery, Moore, and Brosnan Bonds were decidedly dapper. But the Craig-Bond’s bespoke tailoring is so in-your-face, it’s almost surprising not to see, at the bottom of the screen: “James Bond’s suit by Giorgio Armani, 37 Sloane St., London SW1; wristwatch

by Patek Philippe 18K Gold Calatrava, shoes

by Ferragamo …”

The Bond Girl The Craig-Bond has a lustful, old-Bond tryst (Monica Belluci) and a new, emotional BourneBond protector relationship (Léa Seydoux).

In the same way the Craig-Bond gritted up the action with parkour and pain, the palpable pathos of the emotional Craig-Bond moves the character out of the crass, Mad Men, ‘60s-type playboy era. Problem is, this new guy might be too sensitive to carry a license to kill.

Which might not be so terrible. Let’s face it—the 24 Bond films sugarcoat, spit-polish, and glorify a profession that essentially boils down to a whole lot of breaking-and-entering, snooping, sniping, sneaking, stealing, sexually manipulating, peeping, hacking, conniving, lying, framing, evidence-planting, poisoning, backstabbing, double-crossing, propagandaand-disinformation-disseminating, trespassing, terrorism, torturing, and cold-blooded murder. All in service to the queen, of course.

Apparently Daniel Craig’s tired of Bond.

Maybe we’re getting tired of Bond too. “The name’s Bond ... James—“ “Yeah we know.” The high degree of scene-recycling in “Spectre” would indicate that. Probably we’re not yet tired of the intrigue of the whole profession of spying. But we soon might be.

‘Spectre’ Director Sam Mendes Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Wishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista Running Time 2 hour, 28 minutes Release Date Nov. 6 Rated PG-13

Theater Review

Crisis of Infidelity Explored in Mundane Production

By Judd Hollander

Neither Joe DiPietro’s script nor David Saint’s direction takes the basic idea and makes it memorable.

‘Clever Little Lies’ Westside Theatre/ Upstairs 407 W. 43rd St. Tickets 212-239-6200 or Telecharge.com Running Time 1 hour, 30 minutes (no intermission) Closes Jan. 3

MATTHEW MURPHY

NEW YORK—No good deed goes unpunished is a point proven in Joe DiPietro’s amiable comedy “Clever Little Lies” at the Westside Theatre.

Like many longtime married couples, Bill (Greg Mullavey) and Alice (Marlo Thomas) can easily pick up on the feelings of the other and know if something is amiss. Alice quickly does so when Bills tries to hide that their married son, Billy (George Merrick), is having an affair with Jasmine, his much younger fitness trainer.

Determined to save her son’s marriage, Alice invites Billy and his wife, Jane (Kate Wetherhead), to come by that evening for a seemingly casual evening of coffee and cheesecake; in actuality, it is so they can have a serious talk.

However, as is often the case in situations like these, things don’t work as planned.

Alice finds herself bringing up a long-ago incident in her own past, forcing all present to re-examine their relationships with one another and attempt to pick up the pieces before something they once took almost for granted becomes broken beyond repair.

DiPietro has written an interesting deconstruction of a marriage with each of the four participants having their say on the subject.

With the recent arrival of their first child, Jane has spent so much time trying to be the perfect mom (reading the latest Internet studies, continually dismissing possible candidates for a nanny position, and seriously considering quitting her job and staying home full time) that it has caused Billy to feel completely left out.

Jane’s absorption is what drives Billy to his gym in search of an outlet, where he meets and seemingly falls in love with Jasmine.

With Bill having no luck in making his son face his responsibilities by offering some hard truths about marriage,

it falls to Alice to come up with a rather unexpected solution to the problem.

The theme about the realities of marriage, which the play keeps coming back to, is the ultimate message by the playwright. No one is happy all the time; responsibilities to your significant other and to your children are part and parcel of the marriage experience.

The premise of Alice’s long-concealed secret works well as a vehicle for that message—especially in the beginning. At that point, one can’t tell if the incident actually happened or if Alice is just making it up to espouse some truths she’s learned during her years of married life.

Had this uncertainty continued throughout, leaving the audience to figure out the answer, the show would have played at a much higher level than what was actually presented.

Ultimately, however, the subject matter is treated too broadly at some points and too rushed in others with a feeling of needing to tie everything up in a nice neat package by the end of the play.

Neither DiPietro’s script nor David Saint’s direction takes the basic idea and makes it memorable or different from any other innumerable comedic works on marital infidelity.

In addition, the characters feel too much like stock figures without depth or individuality. Even the dramatic moments don’t register as strong or fresh. It would have been nice, for example, to look a little deeper into the character of Bill, who comes off as the most onedimensional of all, yet being the one affected the most by what happens.

It also would have been good to introduce the character of Jasmine and her point of view on all this, rather than just having her referred to.

There are some funny lines in the text, such as when Alice, who runs a bookstore, bemoans the decline of literature in the modern age—where F. Scott Fitzgerald is forgotten and “Fifty Shades of Grey”

reigns supreme. Yet just as works of “classic literature” may be harder to sit down and read than the latest “hot and sexy” thriller of the moment, making a relationship work is much harder after marriage than in the first heady months of courtship.

In an interesting bit of irony, Alice notes she ordered 1,000 copies of the latest “Fifty Shades” sequel because they “fly off the shelves” and help keep her business alive. In the same vein, Billy has entered into the affair with Jasmine as (he says) a way of keeping himself feeling alive.

Mullavey is stalwart as the loyal husband who hates just about anything that upsets his status quo. He’s worked hard to achieve over the years.

Merrick is good as a man suffering a midlife crises and desperately looking for an escape to a time when responsibility was a buzzword instead of reality.

Wetherhead is fine as Jane, a bit of a shrew when first seen, as she tries to be the perfect mother. One of her best moments comes when she breaks down and tells Alice how no one explains beforehand just how hard it is to take care of a child.

Thomas is excellent as Alice (who has the best comedic lines), a woman who just wants what’s best for her family. She learns that inserting oneself into a difficult situation may have lasting consequences.

The final irony is the play’s title, with no lie that is told—be it about cheesecake or infidelities—is never totally clever. It is never little at all.

Though most people will find at least some of what’s presented relatable—who hasn’t wanted to escape from their life at some point—the characters and premise aren’t fully formed enough to really hit home. “Clever Little Lies” has funny elements, but will probably be quickly forgotten once you’ve left the theater.

Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication The Stage.