Tag Archives: Somerville

Sep 26

An Interview with Veronica Barron on “All Together Now #10”

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Presented by All Together Now.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Doors at 6 PM, Show at 7:00 PM

The Burren
Somerville, MA
Tickets
ATB on Facebook

Interview by Noelani Kamelamela

(Somerville, MA) Veronica Barron is a creator and performer in the Boston area.  On October 5 at 7 p.m., Barron will perform in All Together Now #10 at The Burren in Davis Square with Just Felice, Amanda Shea, and Honey Cutt.

As a singer, composer, actor, choreographer, dancer, musician, clown and puppet artist, Barron said she has been focused on creating work that examines the feminine experience and makes use of common, seemingly mundane and fragile materials to explore the limits of storytelling.  Continue reading →

Aug 26

Prison is a Place: “Cherry Docs”

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The cast; Photo by Tenneh Sillah.

Presented by Acropolis Stage Company
By David Gow
Directed by Evan Turissini
Law practice consultation by Will Korman
Judaism & culture consultation by Becky Price

August 23 – September 1, 2019
The Rockwell
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144
Acropolis Stage on Facebook 

Critique by Kitty Drexel

This critique contains minor spoilers. 

Trigger warning: depictions of violence, domestic terrorism, racism, hate speech, panic attacks, white fragility

(Somerville, MA) Cherry Docs may be the most relevant-to-our-times production this theatre season. Other area-productions will claim to be relevant (storytelling often is) but they won’t attack the western world’s ongoing white, male, hetero, cis problem like David Gow’s play. Gow even offers solutions to the problems that our white men create for us. The script isn’t perfect, but it does offer the victims of predatory, toxic male behavior a way out. Cherry Docs a more compassionate play than is credited.  Continue reading →

Jun 28

Tranquility isn’t Bliss: “Reagan Esther Myer”

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Photo taken by the Queen Geek; oh look, a room full of nightmares.

Presented by Rebecca Kopycinski
Mixing and video art by Michael Dewberry

June 27 – 30, 2019
Center for the Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Ave
Somerville, MA
Instagram It

Critique by Kitty Drexel

 “WARNING! You exhibit symptoms of a glitched ThotBot. An ULTRA Operative has been deployed to reboot your operating system. Avoid contact with other Bots until you have been successfully rebooted.”  – ThotBot.me, http://thotbot.me/glitch.html on 6/28/2019.

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The ThotBot Implantation Center fliers are all over Camberville. An acquaintance assumed they were for a cult. No, they are for Reagan Esther Myer, a one-woman, multimedia, performance art concert about a dystopian future in which The Ultra leads through thought-control and nearly all human brains rely on tech to retain peace of mind. In these days of Texas concentration camps and selling your gold for cash, this science fiction drama isn’t at all far fetched.    Continue reading →

May 22

An Alternate Tyranny and Timeline in Handel’s “Silla”

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Presented by The Cambridge Chamber Ensemble
Music by G.F. Handel
Libretto by Giacomo Rossi
Music Directed by Juliet Cunningham
Stage Directed by Ingrid Oslund
Produced/Executive Direction/Translation by Martha Birnbaum
Rossana Chung, violin
Rob Bethel, violincello
Lisa Putukian, oboe
Juliet Cunningham, harpsichord
May 17 – May 19, 2019
Warehouse IX
Somerville, MA
The Cambridge Chamber Ensemble on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Somerville, MA) Roselin Osser as Silla has the wild eyes, swagger, and exquisite cheekbones of a villain as he dominates the stage. In this alternate version of 2019, the Roman Republic is alive and well and Silla, after a successful military campaign, announces that he plans to rule as Perpetual Dictator of Rome. The reporters are horrified. Silla’s wife, Metella (the hilarious Theresa Egan) grits her teeth and stands by her man. As Silla begins to openly lust after other women and jail his political enemies, however, Melania–I mean, Metella, yes, begins to wonder just how much her loyalty to a tyrant husband is worth. Continue reading →

Mar 18

Apply Anointment Directly to Area: “Burning”

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Presented by Theatre@First
By Ginger Lazarus
Directed by Andrea Humez
Fight choreography by Nathan Johnson
Makeup/Blood by Meg Boeni

March 15 – 23, 2019
Unity Somerville
6 William Street
Somerville, MA
T@F on Facebook

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Trigger warning: domestic violence, victim blaming

(Somerville, MA) It’s very simple. If a man* cannot talk to a woman** then that man* isn’t good enough for that woman**. Effective communication is the foundation of any relationship. Anything less than efficacy will cause the relationship to fail. Burning is about how one such relationship failed more than just a pair of lovers.  Continue reading →

May 03

Meet the Producer: An Interview with The Startup’s Elisha Siegel

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An Interview with Elisha Siegel
Presented by Boston Chai Party
Foundation Kitchen
Somerville, MA
The Startup on Facebook

By Diana Lu

(Somerville, MA) When the words “Boston” and “startup” are used in the same sentence, most people think of software or biotech. However, Boston has also been a long-time incubator for some of the best comedy of this generation. Countless internationally famous comedians have cut their teeth at local institutions, such as The Comedy Studio and Comedy Connection. Today, the local comedy community is as welcoming as it is thriving—I recently heard a heartwarming story in which a young man who was interested in comedy visited a newly opened theater, and the theater manager let him in, took him in front of the empty theater, and just lit the spotlight for him, because he had never been onstage before. There are more theaters, shows, and open mics now, and in more areas of the city, than ever before. New performers have every opportunity to try telling jokes for the first time in their lives, while veteran comics march on creating, experimenting, and developing their unique voices, as well as producing independent shows. Audiences only need to Google “comedy Boston” for a slew of high-quality options to choose from on any given night of the week. Continue reading →

Oct 25

“The Werewolf”: Supernatural Melodrama is Split Open to Reveal Howling Good Time

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Photo credit: Sara Haugland; a werewolf, extra fluffy.

Presented by WholeTone Opera 
Based on Le Loup-Garou by Louise Bertin
Fresh Libretto by Teri Kowiak & J. Deschene
New Music by Molly Preston

October 20—31st
The Rockwell in Davis Sq, Somerville
255 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144
The Werewolf on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Davis Square, Somerville, MA) The Werewolf fooled me. Genuinely fooled me. I don’t know if that was its intention, but it did. It begins wholly in the realm of operatic convention. Alice (Jeila Irdmusa/Katie O’Reilly) wanders through the dark woods, possibly beset by something terrible. She meets her sisters, played by Nathalie Andrade, Elizabeth Clutts, Brooke Dircks, and Rebecca Wright, and they frolic. Then she encounters a handsome young man (played fantastically by Andy Troska through out the play) and they, well, also frolic, though in a much more suggestive way. Then we jump forward to Alice and her sisters preparing for her wedding, where Bertrand (Nick Stevens) reveals a werewolf (or loup-garou) is on the loose and the charming, flamboyant Vincent (Von Bringhurst/Nora Maynard) is referred to as a man of “unusual tastes,” everyone starts kissing each other, and the ethereal aura of the beginning collapses into a riotous comedy of errors with supernatural elements and a prominent queer subplot. Continue reading →

Oct 23

WholeTone Opera Presents “The Werewolf,” Oct. 20 – 31

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WholeTone Opera Presents: THE WEREWOLF
At The Rockwell in Davis Sq, Somerville
October 20 & 27, 7pm
October 21 & 28, 10pm
October 22 & 29, 1pm
October 31st, *HALLOWEEN* 8pm
Tickets: http://bit.ly/2x575HH
The Werewolf on Facebook

From the company that brought you La Zombiata, the zombie love opera, comes a freshly transformed and fiercely queer production. This Halloween, WholeTone Opera and The Rockwell present:
THE WEREWOLF!

A cursed and seductive nobleman has transformed into a loup-garou (werewolf)! He terrorizes a quiet village where almost no one is quite as they seem. To whom will the clever young witch, Alice, choose to pledge eternal devotion? To the werewolf, or the pious falconer? Or will Vincent, a sassy young nobleman, be the one to find true love at long last?

Adapted from Louise Bertin’s 19th century melodrama, Le Loup-garou, with new music by Molly Preston.
Visually inspired by early 20th C horror films with set design by Helen McCarthy & video projection mapping by Theresa Silver.
Modernized English libretto by Teri Kowiak & J. Deschene.
Special opener at every curtain featuring Parlor Opera Players!
Pre-show Tarot available from Cali Panesis.

Ring in this Halloween with comedy, horror, gaity, and WholeTone Opera at The Rockwell!
Costumes Encouraged!

Oct 17

A Drunken and Rowdy Roar for Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”

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Presented by Magnificent Bastard Productions
Written by William Shakespeare (possibly)
Produced by Magnificent Bastard Productions

October 14 through November 25, 2017
The Rockwell  ↭  Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm Street, Somerville, MA  02144
MBP on Facebook

Review by Bishop C. Knight

* WARNING:  nudity, inebriation, and foul language

(Somerville, Massachusetts)  Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare has ruined me.  No, I did not become an alcoholic after attending their performance of The Taming of the Shrew.  However, I now require theatre experiences where the cast enjoys themselves as much as the audience.  The easygoing actors began the evening with basically a stand-up routine that had absolutely nothing to do with English theatre, but we the patrons loved this opening act, and I am pretty sure William Shakespeare himself would have loved it too.   Continue reading →

Apr 18

“No Exit”: Raising Hell in a Somerville Basement

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Photo by Teri Incampo

Presented by Exiled Theatre
By Jean-Paul Sartre
Adapted from the French by Paul Bowles
Directed by Katharine Jordan

April 14-30, 2017
Auspicious Phoenix: The Space Studio
438 Somerville Ave
Somerville, MA 02143
Exiled Theatre on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Review by Travis Manni

(Somerville, MA) Walking past the Somerville Market Basket, down an alley to the right, I was unsure what to expect from Exiled Theatre’s production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. To help set the mood, audience members were directed to “descend into Hell” (aka down a flight of stairs) into a basement space. Bulbs hung from the ceiling, and a modest but tasteful array of couches donned the scene—some were for the actors, some acted as seats for the audience. There was a great amount of effort to prepare the audience for what they were about to witness, and its effect made for a great welcoming. Continue reading →