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Culture Shift is a weekly newsletter curated by the HuffPost Culture writers and editors.
This week we're talking about Short Story Month, a burlesque tribute to Prince, the first play to feature an all-black and female creative cast and team on Broadway, the "Anatomical Venus," empathy in comedy, and the women artists of color making a space for change.
Inside The Bizarre 'Venus' Figures Once Used As Anatomical Models
She's called the "Anatomical Venus" and rests in peace, beneath a Venetian glass and rosewood case, in a medical museum called La Specola, which opened in Florence, Italy, in 1775.
She is beautiful, endowed with supple flesh, touchable curls that create a pillow around her head, and even a string of pearls around her neck. Her head is tipped back ecstatically, resembling a moment of spiritual rapture from one angle, an intense orgasm from another. She is, in her peaceful repose, as physically enchanting as Sleeping Beauty, save for the fact that her innards and guts are spilling out. (Read more here)
'Eclipsed' Production Duo On Breaking Through Broadway's Glass Ceiling
During a season where Broadway is grossing a record high of $1.37 billion, lead producers Stephen Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey of Front Row Productions are making history of their own with "Eclipsed."
Starring Lupita Nyong'o, Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah and Saycon Sengblo, "Eclipsed" — which is the first play written by, directed by, produced by and starring black women — tells the intense story of five women who are brought together by turmoil in their homeland of Liberia. (Read more here)
Celebrate Short Story Month With These 17 Stellar Short Stories By Contemporary Writers
We're now in the throes of Short Story Month, a gleeful celebration of fiction writing with a word limit. Here are 17 stories you should read in celebration. (Read more here)
A Burlesque 'Purple Rain' Is The Ultimate Tribute To Prince
Brown RadicalAss Burlesque is bringing the 1984 album back to the stage, from start to finish. (Read more here)
How 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Uses Empathy To Make Better Comedy
Maybe comedy doesn't have to be so mean. (Read more here)
Artists Of Color Are Creating A Space To Talk About Change
An exhibition, entitled "Mami," reflects on the process of discovering the Others within ourselves. (Read more here)
Book of the Week!
A flawed but dazzling coming-of-age story, Sweetbitter captures foodie culture and the highs and lows of getting by in New York City. (Read more here)
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