Theatre
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Or, by Liz Duffy Owens in Lenox
The First Woman Playwright Aphra Behn at S&Co;.
By: - Jul 30th, 2016In A Room of One's Own, a speech delivered to college women, by Virginia Woolf, I first learned of Aphra Behn (1640-1689). During the bawdy period of Restoration comedy she was the first British woman to earn a living writing plays. In addition to a play about her Or, and a play by her, The Emperor of the Moon, through the efforts of Shakespeare & Company we now know a lot more about this pioneer of women in theatre.
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The Stone Witch
A Play That Deals With Fame, Ambition and Aging
By: - Jul 29th, 2016An ambitious unpublished author is guided to meet his writing idol through an editor. What unravels reveals how fame can isolate, and how ambition can move one to do unexpected things. Judd Hirsch is a marvel, Kristin Griiffith shines and Rupak Ginn turns in a nuanced performance.
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1927's Golem at Lincoln Center
Modern, Modern Times Are Here
By: - Jul 27th, 2016Golem One looks part Botero in the lobby of the Time Warner building, where kids play with the tiny penis all day. Golem 2 is more like Chaplin in a St Exupery aviator outfit. Golem 3 is an amalgam of all the visuals we’ve seen. Intriguing. This enchanting theatrical drama uses every imaginable tool to achieve its ends.
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Madama Butterfly at Hubbard Hall
Saying Goodbye to Hubbard Hall Opera Theater's Founding Artistic Director
By: - Jul 26th, 2016Artistic Director of Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, Alix Jones, talks to us about how small-scale opera started at Hubbard Hall, why is succeeded, and where it might go next.
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Peerless by Jiehae Park in Pittsfield
Affirmative Action Via Macbeth
By: - Jul 25th, 2016In a raucous, energetic, daunting production of Peerless by Jiehae Park Barrington Stage has boldly brought twentysomething, off off Broadway to the Berkshires. This assault to the senses may not be appealing to older audiences. It gives us a lively glimpse into the mind set of evil twns evoking Macbeth to murder their way to acceptance at the colleges of their choice. Does that make sense?
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Romance Novels for Dummies at WTF
No Southern Comfort from Boo Killebrew
By: - Jul 24th, 2016What happens when you conflate Old Miss and Brooklyn routed through Boston University? As a playwright Boo Killebrew draws on her childhood and the heritage of gracious Southern women with the here-and-now sexual politics of a single mother and her sister traying to get the shards of her life together. That illusion of a stay at home wife and mother came to a screeching end with the death of her husband. Now just 29 she is picking up the pieces in a misfired drama striving for comedy.
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Shakespeare Globe's Merchant of Venice
Jonathan Pryce a Complicated Shylock
By: - Jul 24th, 2016Man’s cruelty to man is central to this comedy. This production wraps the audience into its web with humor, shock and awe.
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Sense and Sensibility at Old Globe
Jane Austen Sparkles in San Diego
By: - Jul 23rd, 2016San Diego’s venerable Old Globe Theatre is currently staging a vibrant, engaging and thoroughly delightful production of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”.
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War Paint at Chicago's Goodman Theatre
Competing Costemtic Queens
By: - Jul 22nd, 2016War Paint is the story of two cosmetic industry pioneers, women who achieved corporate success in an era when it was even more difficult to do so than today. But once you get past the competition between the Polish Jewish immigrant Helena Rubinstein (Patti LuPone) and the sunny blonde Elizabeth Arden (Christine Ebersole) known for her pink color palette, there’s not much story left.
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Ira J. Bilowit at 90
Renowned New York Theatre Critic
By: - Jul 22nd, 2016Although elderly and in poor health Ira J. Bilowit, who has passed away at 90, continued to cover and work in theatre. Just last November he was co-chair, with Sherry Eaker, of a New York conference of the American Theratre Critics Association. He was among the most respected and revered members of that organization.
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Buyer and Cellar at Miracle Theatre
One Man Show in Coral Gables
By: - Jul 22nd, 2016Barbra Streisand is in this original and highly entertaining play – sort of, although you believe she really is, judging from the electrifying, hyperventilation-defying, incredible performance from award-winning actor Chris Crawford. He plays a handful of characters throughout the roughly one-hour, 45-minute play with no intermission.
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Moliere's Bourgeois Gentilhomme
French Production at Lincoln Center Festival
By: - Jul 21st, 2016Moiiere's gift for embedding comedy in character, and weaving the elements of musical theatre in a unified whole were on full display at the Gerald Lynch Theatre. We continue coverage of the annual Lincoln Center Festival.
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Macbeth at Stratford Festival
Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino Rethinks the Scottish Play
By: - Jul 21st, 2016Shakespeare’s Macbeth was presented with no timid wariness about “the Scottish play” but instead a dark, mysterious exploration full of visual and emotional surprises, including a sexy young Macbeth and a terrifying, shifting landscape dominated by the three witches, not the royal killer couple. Stratford’s Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino is clearly the star of the production, directing it where it usually doesn’t go.
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The Pirates of Penzance at Barrington Stage
Swashbuckling Rogues Invade Pittsfied.
By: - Jul 21st, 2016In a world gone utterly mad, for a great escape, there is nothing quite like an evening at Barrington Stage and the swashbuckling production of the perennial Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert & Sullivan. It has been masterfully created by that other theatrcal partnership Rando and Bergasse the pair that brought Barrington's On the Town to Broadway.
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Breath of Kings: Rebellion
Stratford Festival of Canada
By: - Jul 20th, 2016We welcome the distinguished critic Herbert Simpson and his coverage of Stratford Festival of Canada. Here he reviews Breath of Kings: Rebellion Richard II and Henry IV Part 1I which will be performed through September 24.
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Neil Simon's Broadway Bound
Stage Door Theatre Florida
By: - Jul 19th, 2016In “Broadway Bound,” Neil Simon shines a light on people who are flawed. You not only forgive them at the end, you feel as though you’re leaving part of your own family as the curtain closes.
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Musical 1776 in Palm Beach
At Don and Ann Brown Theatre.
By: - Jul 18th, 2016The well-known historical musica "1776" about our founding fathers’ mission to make America independent from England is on stage through July 24 in the intimate, semi-circular Don and Ann Brown Theatre in Palm Beach, Florida.
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The Chinese Room at Williamstown
World Premiere of Michael West Play
By: - Jul 17th, 2016The hilarious comedy The Chinese Room by the Irish playwright Michael West is having its world premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival. The current production allows for fine tuning for when the play transfers Off Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club. It is sure to be a hit in New York.
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Kanze Noh's Inaugural at Lincoln Center
Traditional Japanese Theater Intrigues
By: - Jul 16th, 2016Even if you don't know the conventions of Noh Theater, developed over 600 years in Japan, there is great pleasure in its performance. The Kanze Noh troupe sports players whose descent can be traced back 22 generations. Deep emotions are generated by performances of dramas from this rich history.
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Between Riverside and Crazy at Steppenwolf
Funny and Poignant Stephen Adly Guirgis Play
By: - Jul 14th, 2016Between Riverside and Crazy is a rowdy, raunchy play with lots of action. (Sensitive ears alert: When I said raunchy, that’s what I meant.) Yasen Peyankov directs it with style and glee.
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Wastwater at Chicago's Steep Theatre,
By English playwright Simon Stephens
By: - Jul 12th, 2016Wastwater by Simon Stephens is a loosely connected trilogy of stories, skillfully directed by Robin Witt. They’re set near London’s Heathrow Airport, where the village of Sipson is threatened with obliteration for the sake of a new airport runway. The playwright is best known for his Tony-winning adaptation, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
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Macbeth at Old Globe
Lowell Davies Outdoor Festival Theatre
By: - Jul 12th, 2016Under the deft direction of Brian Kulick, this ‘Macbeth’ production has been updated to a visual setting more or less around the time of World War I. However, the language, spirit, and the murderous intrigues that Shakespeare loved so dearly are still present. It’s a clever way to update the core story that is familiar to all without sacrificing any dramatic elements or story points as conceived by the Bard.
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Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare & Company
Authentic Production Directed by Tina Packer
By: - Jul 11th, 2016A great production of Merchant of Venice requires inspired casting. The Tina Packer production has a truly magnficent Shylock in company member Jonathan Epstein taking on the complex and demanding role for the fifth time. It is his second with Packer. This version also has a first rate Portia in Tamara Hickey and suitably apathetic and melancholy Antonio played with nuance by John Hadden. It was Packer's intent to take the gloves off in attacking issues of race, religion, gender, homosexuality and racism.
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Little Shop of Horrors Gobbles Audience
Smash Musical Comedy at Colonial Theatre
By: - Jul 10th, 2016A lot of theatre this season is feeding us heavy duty, pc, brain food. But for pure fun release and esape the best show in the Berkshires, Little Shop of Horrors, is presenting a hilarious musical comedy about a man eating plant which is chewing the scenery and devouring audiences at the Colonial Theatre.
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The Paper Hat Game at 3-Legged Dog
Torry Bend Blends Media with a Punch
By: - Jul 08th, 2016Scale is an important factor in how we respond to objects, art and theatre. Using the small frame of a puppet theatre, Torry Bend tells the story of a man who distributes paper hats on the Chicago Transit system. We could be anywhere in this intriguing take on urban life.
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