John Blondell (theater arts) traveled to Kazakhstan to direct Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for the Russian Theatre of Karaganda named after Stanislavsky in June. The show also plays at the Ohrid Summer Festival in Macedonia in August. John received an Independent Theatre Award for his direction of “The Magic Flute.” His colleague, Mitchell Thomas, earned an Indy for directing “Pride and Prejudice” in fall 2018.
Bruce Wydick, director of Westmont in San Francisco, has written a new book, “Shrewd Samaritan: Faith, Economics, and the Road to Loving Our Global Neighbor.” The work recounts both the beloved Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and the more enigmatic Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-9). A scholar of economics, he devotes early sections of the book to describing the sources of poverty in the world and the causes of inequality in rich countries. An experienced evaluator of relief programs, he describes his own rating system for assessing the effectiveness of interventions. The book discusses what works well and what is far less effective in poverty reduction, education and the advancement of health.