Category Archives: Listings

Feb 27

Geeks Read Books: “Three Sisters” & “Marjorie Prime”

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Unbiased reviews for plays are written in exchange for hard copies. Theatre Communications Group has kindly forwarded Three Sisters by Chekhov and adapted by Tracy Letts, and Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison to The New England Theatre Geek.

Reviews by Kitty Drexel

Three Sisters
By Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tracy Letts
Theatre Communications Group
New York, NY
December 2016
$14.95

(NYC) Tracy Letts’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters is the dramatic literature equivalent of the “Google Translate Sings: ‘One Day More’ from Les Miserables” parody. It’s not accurate, but it’s not entirely incorrect either. The majority of the content is Chekhov’s original. Letts expresses it in new and festive ways. Continue reading →

Feb 07

Geeks Read Books: “Mary Page Marlowe” & “Night Is A Room”

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Two new plays by TCG Mary Page Marlowe and Night is a Room
Reviews by Kitty Drexel

Sign the petition to protect the National Endowment HERE.
The Republicans are trying to defund National Public Radio.

Begin reviews: 

Mary Page Marlowe
By Tracy Letts
Theatre Communications Group (TCG)
New York, NY 2016
$14.95

Summary from the TCG website: “In a series of elegant, nonchronological scenes spanning the years from 1946 to 2015, the play hopscotches through Mary Page Marlowe’s quiet existence as an accountant from Ohio—complicating notions of what it means to lead a ‘simple life’.” Continue reading →

Jan 19

THE GHOSTLIGHT PROJECT: January 19 @ 5:30 Across the Nation

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Image from The Ghostlight Project website.

TODAY
January 19, 2017 @ 5:30PM
Theaters near you
USA
Ghostlight on Facebook
Ghostlight on Twitter

If you need a place to be, to be with artists who desire to create safe havens for and with artists, and you are free this evening, please consider joining us as we gather for “THE GHOSTLIGHT PROJECT.”

Quoted from the Ghostlight Project Event Page:
“ON JANUARY 19TH, 2017 AT 5:30PM IN EACH TIME ZONE ACROSS THE COUNTRY, WE WILL GATHER OUTSIDE OF THEATERS TO CREATE A “LIGHT” FOR DARK TIMES AHEAD.

While the national event is simultaneous and collective, the particular event is yours. And here’s the thing: you’re theater people – you know how to create an event. We have suggestions and inspirations but the event is really for YOU to make. Be creative. Go deep. Get crazy.”

 

Continue reading →

Jan 02

Geeks Read Books: “Ode to Joy” by Craig Lucas

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Ode to Joy
Craig Lucas
Theatre Communications Group (TCG)
New York, NY (2016)
$14.95

Review by Kitty Drexel

(NY, NY) I cannot take seriously any play that describes its lead female role as “intimidatingly bright” in its character description. It’s the kind of description that communicates to any intelligent reader that the the playwright has no business writing “strong female characters.” I read the rest, but my heart wasn’t in it. Continue reading →

Dec 30

Geeks Read Books: “Here We Go/ Escaped Alone: Two Plays” by Caryl Churchill

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Here We Go/ Escaped Alone: Two Plays
Caryl Churchill
Theatre Communications Group (TCG)
New York, 2016
$14.95

Review by Kitty Drexel

(New York, NY meets Somerville, MA) As made evident by the title, Here We Go/ Escaped Alone contains two new plays by Caryl Churchill. They are as strange, and pleasantly unsettling as her other works. Churchill takes every opportunity to push buttons, and redefine theatre. Fans will be delighted by these two new scripts. Continue reading →

Dec 21

Directors, Music Directors, and Choreographers Sought!

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Arlington Friends of the Drama
22 Academy Street
Arlington, MA 02476
AFD on Facebook

Arlington Friends of the Drama is currently seeking Stage Directors, Music Directors and Choreographers for our 2017-2018 Season. If you are interested in directing for AFD next season, please send a current resume along with a brief paragraph describing your concept for each production you are applying for. You may apply for more than one production. Please respond by January 1, 2017. Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday evening, January 17th and Saturday, morning and afternoon, the 21st at the theater. Interview slots will be confirmed and conducted in 20 minute intervals. Please include a date and time preference when responding to this application form. Continue reading →

Aug 26

MIT Musical Theatre Guild Presents “ASSASSINS”

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unnamedCome see MTG’s summer production of Assassins! A musical about the men and women who took US politics into their own hands. Assassins features a beautiful score and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a clever book by John Weidman.
Directed by Matt Putnam ’09
Assistant Direction by Noelle Colant ’17
Vocal Direction by David Favela ’18
Music Direction by Marek Subernat ’19

Performances will be held at MIT’s Kresge Little Theatre
September 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 8 PM, & September 4 at 2 PM
MTG’s Assassins Facebook event page
Reserve your tickets at http://web.mit.edu/mtg/www/TicketReservations.html

Tickets are:
$3 – Incoming MIT freshmen
$6 – MIT and Wellesley students
$10 – MIT faculty, staff, and community; all other students; seniors and children
$15 – General public

Assassins is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
www.MTIShows.com

Aug 17

Trinacria Theatre Company presents “La Storia di Colapesce”

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The Trinacria Theatre Company Produces Its Inaugural US Performance Tour
LA STORIA DI COLAPESCE
An Original International Theatrical Event, from Sicily to the United States.

Limited Run: August 26 – 27 2016, three performances only
Show Dates:
Friday, August 26th, 8pm
Watertown Sons of Italy
520 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA 02472

Saturday, August 27th at 1pm
Langone Park in the North End
Commercial Street, Boston 02109

Saturday, August 27th at 7pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church*
48 Middle St, Gloucester, MA 01930
*A portion of the proceeds from this performance will benefit St. John’s Youth Ministry.

Purchase tickets in advance here: http://lastoriadicolapesce.brownpapertickets.com
More info is available at www.trinacriatheatre.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TrinacriaTheatre
Instagram: www.instagram.com/trinacriatheatreco

(Boston, MA) Trinacria Theatre Company presents its inaugural theatrical production, La Storia di Colapesce in various locations in the Boston and Greater Boston Area. The production is an original piece created and devised by the company during a 4-week residency in Sicily, at the Istituto San Placido Calonerò in the Messina region of Sicily. The cast of La Storia di Colapesce is comprised of an ensemble of eight American theatre artists. The Trinacria Theatre Company’s mission is to use theatre as a tool to promote Sicilian history, heritage, and culture at home and abroad. Continue reading →

Jul 30

Geeks Read Books: “Sotto Voce” by Nilo Cruz

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Cover design by Lisa Govan.

Cover design by Lisa Govan.

 

 

 

“If the sea were to shout,
we would all be deaf.”
– Carlos Fuentes, “Destiny and Desire”

 

 

 

 

 

“Sotto Voce: A Play”
Nilo Cruz
TCG Books
Theatre Communications Group, New York, 2016
$14.95
Available: http://www.tcg.org/; https://www.amazon.com/; and other purveyors of fine dramatic literature.

Review by Kitty Drexel

(New York, NY) Sotto Voce is a three person (two women, one man) play about the ways we harness our fears to confront the past and understand our consequential future. Playwright Cruz’s prose lilts off the tongue like a lover’s kiss. His character interactions sweep the stage of the imagination like poetry: gentle, unrushed but intense. Yet, his script is not without its thematic and dynamic problems. With the exception of two German characters revealed in flashback, these individuals manipulate each other with little compassion. Continue reading →

Jun 23

Promo: “Sindependence Day III: Stumbling Up to Boston”

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The Federation of Belligerent Writers Presents Sindependence Day III: Stumbling Up to Boston
Davis Square Theatre in Somerville
Saturday, July 16th
Doors at 9pm, 21+
$13.50 online, $15 at the door.

Promo by Gillian “Demoness Bixen” Daniels

(Somerville, MA) The Federation of Belligerent Writers is taking on Boston! Come party with us Saturday, July 16th, at 9pm, Davis Square Theatre in Somerville for our special event, Sindependence Day!

We’re a bracketed style, masked writing tournament. With one foot in improv and the other in mayhem, the initially luchador wrestling-inspired contest began as a mid-week open mic challenge at Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester.

It’s since grown to a weekend event with hundreds of fans.

The tournament is simple. During each round, two competitors take the stage, one in the red corner, the other in the blue. Three words are chosen at random by hosts Cassie Tai Tortorici as “Basic Bitch Becky,” a Starbucks-swilling, foul-mouthed stage manager, and Ethan White as “El Locutor Fabulso,” the allegedly-impartial verbal sparring partner to Becky, also known as “That Guy.” Continue reading →