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 [...]
It is said that eating chocolate can be psychoactive and make the consumer happy. There are even studies that say brain stimulants are found in the sweet treat. Some say it’s an aphrodisiac. Chocolate comes dark, milk, semi-sweet, and mocha; it comes as ice cream, hot chocolate, chocolate mousse, fudge, chips, [...]
The Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and Boston Children’s Theatre have joined forces this month to present the warm, nostalgic, little jewel, A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Dylan Thomas’ touching tribute to the holiday spirit of his youth is enchantingly captured and lovingly celebrated by this delightful cast.
Part holiday story, part salutation to a beloved aunt, A [...]
It has often been my experience that political dramas can lack a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ in capturing the true turmoil of any particular body politic. Company One’s production of The Overwhelming, however, was an exceptional exception. The entire performance was tightly wound around an invisible, but palpable tension of something impending. Every element [...]
What a spectacular little gem of a show the Speakeasy Stage Company has bestowed upon us with their holiday offering, Reckless by Craig Lucas. Without a hint of irony, Reckless manages to offer true manifestations of holiday emotions, joy, thankfulness, forgiveness, fear, loneliness- all without being preachy or hokey. With colorful and imaginative set dressings [...]
It’s a time-honored tradition for the All American Male. Grab a few buddies, a trusty canine, a few beers, a bag of beef jerky, and head out into the woods for a guys only retreat. Craig Wright’s Lady is a peek into one such excursion- where childhood friends Kenny, Dyson and Graham, along with Kenny’s [...]