Short Takes, January 2026

Short Takes on two plays, a few Oscar-nominated movies, and an irresistible cake!

Theater

A Streetcar Named Desire (by Tennessee Williams)

I watched a bare bones production (by design) of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire at ACT-SF’s Toni Rembe theater.

I had last watched Streetcar as an opera, commissioned by the San Francisco Opera. My friend Sunita, her mother Lulu and I managed to snag $10 tickets, standing room only at the back. It was extraordinary. At the end, when Blanche du Bois sings that she has always depended on the kindness of strangers, I wept, as did many others. One of the most beautiful, brilliant plays ever written, and the one that made the career of Marlon Brando, after he performed the role of Stanley Kowalski on Broadway, and then brought it to a worldwide audience in Elia Kazan’s movie.

This production, a travelling one, is quite special – minimal sets and costumes, just the actors and the immortal dialogue of Tennessee Williams. I was enthralled by the focus on the words, with little else to distract from the profound experience. I now wonder if perhaps that is the true test of every play—to be performed with minimal accompaniments, much like Shakespeare’s plays back in the day, as well as Bengali street theater when I was a student some decades ago. I found the musical soundtrack to be distracting—sometimes a little loud. My daughter and I watched the it on Preview night – perhaps they tuned it down subsequently. The ACT-SF run has concluded, and if it is performed near you in the future, do not miss it.

Hershey Felder, The Piano and Me

The virtuoso pianist who has told and played the story of so many composers (Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff) brought his own story to the stage at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. Born in Montreal, Canada of Hungarian Jewish immigrants who fled the holocaust, the young Hershey took to the piano like a fish to water. His observant grandfather was the first to notice and foster his talent. Enrolling at McGill University at 16 for a music degree, Hershey Felder was taught by many legendary teachers in Canada and in New York. This is a moving performance, sprinkled with humorous accounts of incidents in his life, of meeting his wife who happens to be former Prime Minister of Canada, Kim Campbell.

Movies

It is Oscar season, and perhaps, like me, you are desperately trying to watch as many films as you possible can before March 15th and the Academy Awards roll around. Here are a few I have seen.

Sinners

(directed by Ryan Coogler, with Michael B. Jackson, Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo)

Wow!  I watched this in May 2025, when it came out in the theaters. It is a Ryan Coogler film, starring Michael B. Jordan in a double role. Set in 1932 Mississippi, it crosses genres: historical fiction, and a vampire movie! Terrific plot, brilliant acting and direction. The music is captivating, and the legendary Buddy Guy makes an appearance as the grown-up Sammie, an aspiring musician.

See it if you haven’t! As you know it’s been nominated for a huge number of Oscars.

Bugonia

(directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons)

Emma Stone does magnificent work in the role of the CEO of a healthcare company. She is kidnapped by some conspiracy-theorist young men who want her to take them to the planet that she (who aforementioned loonies believe is an alien!) is from. Her acting is riveting—facial expressions, delivery. I won’t say more because it will give too much away. The plot is a little far-fetched, but her performance makes it worthwhile.

Sentimental Value

(directed by Joachim Trier, with Stellan Skarsgard, Renate Reinsve, Inge Ibsdotter Lilleas, Elle Fanning)

Oh my gosh, what a beautiful, beautiful film.  The Europeans, they know how to make cinema. This is a Norwegian / German /French production, with Stellan Skarsgard in the role of an aging, difficult, once-great film director, working on a comeback. His older daughter Nora is an actor, and his younger daughter Agnes, a historian. They have each experienced some trauma in the house in which the film is set, and the film gently, even tenderly, explores the troubled relationships between father and each daughter, each daughter with her work, their respective partners.

One Battle After Another

(directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn are simply luminous in their roles. The film explores race and power dynamics, with ample doses of white supremacy and black power. The latter, however, is not convincing. The black women are brilliant actors, but a few are portrayed in what seems some white male fantasy of black womanhood. It does have a fascinating, fast-moving plot, and the Sean Penn character, seeking admission into an exclusive white club, seems eerily like the Confederacy of Death Eaters and Dunces that constitute our current government. Definitely worth a watch, but see what you think of how black women are depicted.

Food And Drink

Buche de Noel, aka Yule Log

When Christmas was approaching last year, I found my thoughts turning to a yule log, also called a Christmas log or Buche de Noel. Visions of it floated, and I mentioned it to the Offspring. “Yuck!” she said. Why do you like it? I don’t!” I defended this extraordinary confection made with rolled chocolate cake with chocolate/hazelnut mousse in between, shaped in the form of a tree log, often with holly and berries decorating it.

Faced with such vehement disapproval, I retreated. But not for long!  I want a Buche de Noel, I said to myself, and I am going to order one. Draeger’s in Menlo Park made one for a small fortune—they required a two-day notice. I picked it up on the appointed day, and was astonished at how huge it was. I served slices of it at three separate small holiday gatherings. And there was still more!

The Offspring’s continuing disdain threw a wrench in my plan to have those with a youthful metabolism make it disappear, and my aging metabolism presented a clear stop sign. So, defeated, I froze the remaining slices. A fine outcome, actually--every few weeks, I take out a slice and am transported to holiday heaven.

A cocktail to die for: Habibi!

My friend Pia celebrated a milestone birthday at Dish Dash, the much loved Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown Sunnyvale. The cocktail menu had many interesting items, and I decided to try Habibi. I was blown away by how exquisite it was. Magnificent combination of Mezcal, passion fruit, and lime, served in a glass rimmed with black salt. I was so enchanted that I forgot to take a photo of the drink itself! So you'll just have to go there, habibi, and try it.