Nancy S. BishopChicago,
"Not About Nightingales,” an early Tennessee Williams script, is a Depression-era tragedy with many elements that foretell Williams’ genius as a playwright. Its setting—a large prison where the prisoners revolt against their horrific treatment—is unusual for Williams, but the dialogue ...
Aaron KrauseFort Lauderdale,
You can associate any one of many ferocious animals with the formidable, fiendish, she-devil of a school headmistress, Agatha Trunchbull, in renown author Roald Dahl’s beloved tale “Matilda.”
But it’s safe to say we all become mother bears ...
Recalling the "Occupy" Movement at St. Paul’s Cathedral
Emily S. MendelBerkeley,
“Temple,” a U.S. premiere production at the Aurora Theatre, is a powerful exposition on how the religious officials of London’s St. Paul Cathedral reacted to the Occupy movement’s 2011 encampment outside Sir Christopher Wren’s renowned church. Artfully directed by Aurora ...
Lynne FriedmannSan Diego,
A break room in a Detroit auto plant functions as more than a place to store lunch, drink coffee, and engage in company gossip in the thought-provoking “Skeleton Crew,” on stage at The Old Globe.
Gruff, chain ...
Nancy S. BishopChicago,
"Linda Vista," in its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, is a smart and thoroughly entertaining production—a very adult comedy—funny, sexy and poignant. Dexter Bullard, who directed "The Flick" and has directed Letts’ plays before, has created a fast-moving story of ...
Emily S. MendelBerkeley,
“Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin” is one in a series of one-man musical biographies written and performed by Hershey Felder. Berkeley Rep theater goers and critics, myself included, have already sung the praises of Felder, the gifted concert pianist, composer ...
Aaron KrauseMiami,
Like a speeding bulldozer crushing everything in its path, a nightmarish past comes barreling back into the lives of two lesbians about to get married in “Son,” a new work by playwright James L. Beller Jr.
The promising ...
A surrealistic tale of an émigré from Czechoslovakia in the 70s.
Lewis WhittingtonPhiladelphia,
Adapt! is a new play written and directed by Blanka Zizka, cofounder of the Wilma Theater and is having its premiere there this month. Half autobiography and surrealistic dream, the play dramatizes Zizka’s own experience as an ...
Karen WeinsteinLos Angeles,
A confession is in order. I love Sondheim. I adored “Into The Woods” when it was presented by The Oregon Shakespeare Company at the Wallis in 2014. I rushed to take grandchildren to the 2015 film with Meryl Streep. I ...
Emily S. MendelSan Francisco,
Robert Lepage’s 1991 creative drama of transatlantic love, loss and foreign complications intersperses tales of American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1981) (outstanding Wellesley Robertson III) and French writer, playwright and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau (1889 –1963) (marvelous Olivier Normand) with a ...
