Love Triangle

It is almost unbelievable that "The Oil Thief," a mesmerizing new one-act by Joyce Van Dyke, takes just 80 minutes to play out on the Boston Playwrights' Theatre stage. In that brief span, Van Dyke creates three unforgettable characters, depicts the complex and shifting relationships among them, mixes in a striking but never jarring series of allusions to "Hamlet," explores the geology of both the Niger Delta and the Shenandoah Valley, and does it all against the backdrop of the global energy crisis.

WOBURN -- Robert Gulla was so determined to keep Allison Myrick to himself that he stabbed her to death inside the basement of his Shirley home in a brutal act of domestic violence, a Middlesex prosecutor said in court today. Gulla is on trial for first-degree murder in Middlesex Superior Court for the Jan. 23, 2010, murder of Myrick, a Fitchburg State College student. Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern told jurors in her opening statement that Gulla was obsessed with Myrick, who had broken off their relationship, a decision Gulla...

Mitt Romney's political celebrity has taken an unlikely turn with a sensational-sounding entry in a gossip tabloid. "Mitt Romney love triangle shocker!" screams a headline posted online by the National Enquirer. The supermarket check-out publication reports – with salacious spin – how Ann Romney wrote to her future husband while he was a Mormon missionary in France and informed him she was developing feelings for another young man back in Utah. The Enquirer begins its tale by citing an anecdote in "The Real Romney," a...

Mitt Romney's political celebrity has taken an unlikely turn with a sensational-sounding entry in a gossip tabloid. "Mitt Romney love triangle shocker!" screams a headline posted online by the National Enquirer. The supermarket check-out publication reports – with salacious spin – how Ann Romney wrote to her future husband while he was a Mormon missionary in France and informed him she was developing feelings for another young man back in Utah. The Enquirer begins its tale by citing an anecdote in "The Real Romney," a...

WOBURN -- Robert Gulla was so determined to keep Allison Myrick to himself that he stabbed her to death inside the basement of his Shirley home in a brutal act of domestic violence, a Middlesex prosecutor said in court today. Gulla is on trial for first-degree murder in Middlesex Superior Court for the Jan. 23, 2010, murder of Myrick, a Fitchburg State College student. Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern told jurors in her opening statement that Gulla was obsessed with Myrick, who had broken off their relationship, a decision Gulla...

The murder trial of Stephanie Lazarus opens in Los Angeles Superior Court a quarter century after the killing of her alleged romantic rival. The defendant is a veteran police detective who says she did not kill Stephanie Rasmussen, the woman who married her ex-boyfriend. Investigators linked her to the case through DNA analysis of saliva from a bite mark on Rasmussen's arm. The case has all the elements of a TV crime drama — two pretty women, a bloody murder scene and a love triangle.

BRUSSELS — A jealous skydiver caught up in a love triangle sabotaged the parachute of her close friend, sending the woman plunging 13,000 feet to her death in a horrifying fall captured on video, Belgian prosecutors said yesterday. As her murder trial opened yesterday, Els Clottemans sat nervously in front of the mud-caked parachute bag and helmet that Els Van Doren wore as she frantically tried to open her parachute before crashing to the ground in November 2006. Clottemans, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, has vehemently denied the murder...

BOKSBURG, South Africa — One of South Africa’s highest-ranking police officers faced charges yesterday of plotting with other officers to murder a rival in a love triangle, and then covering up the crime for more than a decade. The case of Richard Mdluli, who denies the charges, is just one in series of scandals involving the police in South Africa where high rates of murder, rape, and other crimes are national crises. Questions about possible criminals within the force are now further undermining morale in the ranks and confidence among the public.

BRUSSELS — A jealous schoolteacher was found guilty of murder yesterday for sabotaging the parachute of a rival in a love triangle, causing her to crash to her death. The verdict against Els Clottemans, 26, ended a monthlong trial that revealed no hard proof she had sabotaged Els Van Doren’s parachute during a Nov. 18, 2006, jump over eastern Belgium. Van Doren, 38, jumped with 11 other parachutists, including Clottemans, from a plane flying at 30,000 feet. The 12 jurors agreed with the prosecution that the evidence was circumstantial but overwhelming.

A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD *** (Comcast Movies: Free Movies) Director Michael Mayer fosters a cozy environment for Dallas Roberts, Colin Farrell, and Robin Wright Penn - playing roommates, lovers, and friends in early 1980s New York City - to emote but not overact. For once, a love triangle where the love seems true. Adapted by Michael Cunningham from his novel. (R; runs through Dec. 31) WESLEY MORRIS THE ICE HARVEST *** (Comcast Movie Collections: Holiday Films)

The murder trial of Stephanie Lazarus opens in Los Angeles Superior Court a quarter century after the killing of her alleged romantic rival. The defendant is a veteran police detective who says she did not kill Stephanie Rasmussen, the woman who married her ex-boyfriend. Investigators linked her to the case through DNA analysis of saliva from a bite mark on Rasmussen's arm. The case has all the elements of a TV crime drama — two pretty women, a bloody murder scene and a love triangle.

Eight years after he died of prostate cancer, Johnny Ramone's autobiography is finally being published. "Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone" is set for release April 2 by Abrams Image. In an interview Tuesday, his widow, Linda, described the book as "kind of his last word that he knew would be out. " "It is a really powerful book because his whole life has gone before him and he knows it's going to come to an end, and he really needs to tell everybody what he's feeling inside, so that's what makes it so amazing," she added later.

A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD *** (Comcast Movies: Free Movies) Director Michael Mayer fosters a cozy environment for Dallas Roberts, Colin Farrell, and Robin Wright Penn - playing roommates, lovers, and friends in early 1980s New York City - to emote but not overact. For once, a love triangle where the love seems true. Adapted by Michael Cunningham from his novel. (R; runs through Dec. 31) WESLEY MORRIS THE ICE HARVEST *** (Comcast Movie Collections: Holiday Films)

BOKSBURG, South Africa — One of South Africa’s highest-ranking police officers faced charges yesterday of plotting with other officers to murder a rival in a love triangle, and then covering up the crime for more than a decade. The case of Richard Mdluli, who denies the charges, is just one in series of scandals involving the police in South Africa where high rates of murder, rape, and other crimes are national crises. Questions about possible criminals within the force are now further undermining morale in the ranks and confidence among the public.

TEHRAN — Iran yesterday hanged a former soccer player’s mistress — known as a “temporary wife’’ — who was convicted of murdering her love rival in a case that captivated the Iranian public for several years. Shahla Jahed was hanged at dawn, after spending more than eight years in jail for the slaying of the player’s wife, the official IRNA news agency reported. Jahed had become a temporary wife of former soccer star Nasser Mohammad Khani. She was charged in 2002 with stabbing his wife, Laleh Saharkhizan, to death and was convicted of murder in 2004 and again...

BRUSSELS — A jealous schoolteacher was found guilty of murder yesterday for sabotaging the parachute of a rival in a love triangle, causing her to crash to her death. The verdict against Els Clottemans, 26, ended a monthlong trial that revealed no hard proof she had sabotaged Els Van Doren’s parachute during a Nov. 18, 2006, jump over eastern Belgium. Van Doren, 38, jumped with 11 other parachutists, including Clottemans, from a plane flying at 30,000 feet. The 12 jurors agreed with the prosecution that the evidence was circumstantial but overwhelming.

Locked Up Abroad: Saddam’s Iraq 10 p.m., National Geographic This series is both terrifying and amusing. It’s terrifying to hear tales of going to jail in a foreign country. The alienation and fear sound excruciating. And it’s amusing to watch the show’s re-creations, which are always a little kitschy and poorly acted. Tonight’s episode is about contractors who were held in a Baghdad prison in 1990, where they heard other inmates getting tortured to death. Trapeze 8 p.m., TCM Carol Reed directed a number of extraordinary movies, including “The Fallen Idol,’’ “The Third Man,’’...

Fox's "Point Pleasant" brings back memories of "Carrie," Brian De Palma's great 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's first novel. "Carrie" made the teen hierarchy into something catastrophically painful to those at the bottom -- who were not lovable geeks but the tortured losers who were said to have "cooties. " Crushed by the mean girls, the telekinetic Carrie White could overcome her self-annihilation with a burst of homicidal rage. And it was a bloody mess. "Point Pleasant" is "Carrie," but now the misfit with the lifeless hair has been made over by "The Swan," then sent back...

BRUSSELS — A jealous skydiver caught up in a love triangle sabotaged the parachute of her close friend, sending the woman plunging 13,000 feet to her death in a horrifying fall captured on video, Belgian prosecutors said yesterday. As her murder trial opened yesterday, Els Clottemans sat nervously in front of the mud-caked parachute bag and helmet that Els Van Doren wore as she frantically tried to open her parachute before crashing to the ground in November 2006. Clottemans, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, has vehemently denied the murder charge and accusations she killed her...

I kind of love Ian McShane in “The Pillars of the Earth,’’ the new Starz miniseries set in 12th-century England. As the wonderfully, absurdly evil Bishop Waleran Bigod, he is wearing a wig that made me think of Norman Bates’s mother. At times, he’s in enough mascara to lead Green Day, and he spits out his lines as if he were starring in “King Lear.’’ He’s creepy — McShane, who was Al Swearengen on “Deadwood,’’ can’t not be creepy — but he’s got camp allure, too. He carries off his churchly drag with aplomb, and thunder literally...