Unfortunately, grim is the best way to describe Company One’s recent production of Grimm, a retelling of seven classic Brother’s Grimm fairy-tales. Clocking in at a laborious 2 hours and forty five minutes, these “re-imagined” vignettes were not the dark and thoughtful pieces I had hoped for, but on the whole were a poorly written [...]
I have had the pleasure of reviewing much of the Company One 2009-2010 season. They have consistently demonstrated a great skill in play making, and I have often been drawn into the illusion they create. Once again Company One brought together the elements of a great production to lift the [...]
“You are in for a treat, my friend,” I told my companion as we took our seats in the Calderwood Pavilion to see Speakeasy Stage Company’s last production of the season, The Great American Trailer Park Musical by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso. I was admittedly unfamiliar with the show (so refreshing) but I did [...]
The Zeitgeist Stage Company really hit one out of the park on their last production of the season, Beau Willimon’s Farragut North. I have enjoyed each production that Zeitgeist has offered this season, but the impeccable acting, riveting story, and thoughtful use of staging put this show in a class all of it’s own. I [...]
I am going to say right off the bat that I have a very intimate relationship with Elmer Rice’s play, The Adding Machine. Having played Mrs. Zero myself, and having been nominated for a National acting scholarship because of that performance (/ shameless self promotion) I feel not only an intimate bond with the character, [...]
The Zeitgeist Stage Company has yet again transformed the intimate BCA Black Box into a unique playing space for their winter production, Alan Ayckbourn’s Private Fears in Public Places. Part apartment, part office, part hotel bar, the thrust-style space is fully explored by the actors, hiding and highlighting different interactions for different areas in the [...]
As I sit down to write this review for the Orfeo Group’s production of The Island of Slaves, I am presented with a particular conundrum. In reading the directors note I was thus informed, “[Y]ou’ll probably enjoy yourself more if you don’t know what’s coming.” At first glance, I took [...]
I had my first taste of Bread and Puppet Theatre as a graduate student under the incomparable tutelage of Emerson College’s John Bell- a world-renowned expert in the puppetry field. Bell infused each lecture with biting political commentary- and completely expanded my understanding of what puppetry could be and how it could be used to [...]
It’s a difficult thing for a reviewer when they are tasked to write a review of something that is extremely dear to them. [title of show] captured my heart back in 2006 when I stumbled upon its brilliance at the Vineyard Theatre. An inventive, unique little piece that taps into the heart of any person [...]
The civil rights movement and the about turn in the political posture that resulted have always been inspiring to me. I’m amazed when I think about people who have been repressed for centuries and how they work tirelessly to evoke non-violent revolution. Company One’s production of The Good Negro, by Tracey Scott Wilson, is a [...]