In the Huntington Theater Company's fine, deceptively straightforward-seeming new production here of "Hedda Gabler," directed by Nicholas Martin, Kate Burton is giving one of those rare benchmark performances that redefine both a classic character and an actress.
Essentially nothing more than a round tool fitted with a flat layer of fine mesh, this deceptively simple kitchen appliance can be used in a variety of ways, from straining to sifting, doubling as a food mill or simple sieve.
All are slick examples of a Joris Karl Huyschemelike scheme to make deceptively cheap-looking merchandise out of the finest materials.
David Howard's moody lighting was another fine ingredient, as were Ruth Keller's deceptively plain costumes.
A bill working its way through Sacramento could sharply increase the penalties for driving while using a handheld cellphone, fines that some say are already deceptively higher than had been expected.
Still, working with musicians who really understand him, and a sympathetic soloist, the fine English pianist Imogen Cooper, Mr. Davis achieved sublimity in this deceptively simple work.
Nevertheless there are some fine things, most notably an excellent display of subtle, deceptively modest but tough still lifes and landscapes — paintings, watercolors and etchings — by the beloved Giorgio Morandi at Galerie d'Arte Maggiore.
Which is directly to the point of this deceptively sincere movie about masculinity and its discontents that Mr. Gordon-Levitt, making a fine feature directing debut, shapes into a story about a young man's moral education.
Drake was at his finest here, too, finding deep emotional resonances in the deceptively simple accompaniments.
