Free Republic

Well, well, well—HBO has done it again. Just when Harry Potter fans were cautiously optimistic (or at least resigned) about the upcoming TV reboot, Deadline dropped the bombshell that British actor Paapa Essiedu is reportedly set to play Professor Severus Snape, the eternally bitter, greasy-haired potions master. And let’s just say, the internet is not handling it well. While Essiedu is widely respected for his performances in I May Destroy You and The Lazarus Project, many fans are losing their minds over the fact that Snape, canonically described as “sallow-skinned” and deathly pale, will now be played by a Black...

A potential Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," an acclaimed solo show about an American demonstrator killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home, has been postponed because of concerns about the show's political content. The production, a hit at the Royal Court Theater in London last year, had been tentatively scheduled to start performances at the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village on March 22. But yesterday, James C. Nicola, the artistic director of the workshop, said he had decided to postpone the show after polling local...