Yearly Archives: 2015

Mar 02

Success is a Bitch: TERRA NOVA

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Photo by Jake Scaltreto. The Bros.

Photo by Jake Scaltreto.

Presented by Flat Earth Theatre
by Ted Tally
Directed by Jake Scaltreto

Feb. 20-28, 2015
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
Flat Earth on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Watertown, MA) On January 17, 1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott led the British Antarctic Expedition to the South Pole. Named the Terra Nova Expedition, Scott and his companions raced to the Pole on foot (plus ponies), dragging a one thousand pound sled, in furs and fleeces, hoping to beat Norwegian Roald Amundsen while securing it for the British Empire. While accomplishing the journey, Scott got there second and did not secure it for the King. Hampered by steep misfortunes and terrible weather, Scott and his crew froze to death 11 miles from their pickup point. Their records and scientific specimens were later found by a search party ensuring that their efforts were not in vain. Scott and his crew are further survived by the dramatic interpretation of the events, Terra Nova presented by Flat Earth Theatre. Continue reading →

Feb 27

Sleeping Weazel Presents: BADASS

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SLEEPING WEAZEL PRESENTS BADASS
a Women’s History Month Festival of new works

Dates 
March 5th-7th, 2015
March 12th-14th, 2015
All shows begin at 8:00 pm
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA

Tickets
$25 at the door or online: www.sleepingweazel.com/upcoming-events

FEATURING:
The Tempest (or Bark’s Dream): 
a storm in one act
written by Kate Snodgrass
performed by Steven Barkhimer
directed by Melia Bensussen
 
Shameless to the Bone!
written and performed by
Magdalena Gómez

Jazz ‘n Class:
a performance meditation
written and performed by
Robbie McCauley Continue reading →

Feb 26

Icy Distance in Apollinaire Theatre Company’s GREENLAND

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Photo credit: Apollinaire Theatre Company

Photo credit: Apollinaire Theatre Company

Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Co.
By Nicholas Billon
Directed by Meg Taintor

Feb. 20 – March 15, 2015
189 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150
Apollinaire on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Chelsea, MA) One of the more terrifying aspects of climate change is its irreversibleness.  Once the environment has altered, it’s impossible to get the world back to where it was.  In Nicolas Billon’s 60-minute Greenland, we don’t only contemplate the fragility of the planet but the family unit.  The irreversible change that befalls Tanya (Charlotte Kinder), her uncle Jonathan (Dale J. Young), and her aunt Judith (Christine Power) is smaller than global warming but, in the show, just as brutal. Continue reading →

Feb 24

The Intimacy of Lingerie: INTIMATE APPAREL

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Photo by Glenn Perry.

Photo by Glenn Perry.

Presented by Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Summer L. Williams
Music directed/compositions by Allyssa Jones

Feb. 13 – March 14, 2015
140 Clarendon St
Boston, MA
Lyric Stage on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) Intimate Apparel is a complicated show that discusses history, race, class, education, and gender in approximately two hours. It is summarized as being a play about a seamstress who crafts fancy underpants. She plans to open a beauty parlor but marries a man she’d only met through letters. It is so much more. Nottage gives a face to the women that history so frequently forgets: the sex workers, the day laborers, the socialites. The history books are filled to capacity with men who’ve changed history. Continue reading →

Feb 24

Because He Could: ALBATROSS

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Presented by the Poets’ Theatre in collaboration with Ocean Conservancy
Directed by Rick Lombardo
Written by Matthew Spangler & Benjamin Evett
Based on “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The poem can be read here.

Feb. 13 – March 1, 2015
The Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre
Emerson/Paramount Center
Boston, MA 02111
Poets’ Theatre on Facebook
Ocean Conservancy on Facebook

Trigger Warnings: graphic violence, harsh language

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) Disney’s Captain Jack Sparrow is a poster boy for pirates. He’s grimy, clever thief with a heart of tarnished gold. Jack likely smells rank but has an unmistakable charisma that drives audiences  wild. Some want to be him; some want to f^ck him, etc. It’s no wonder that this franchise made so much money.

Sparrow is a lie. He is the Hollywood equivalent of a romantic adventure on the high seas with creatures great and majestic during a time that never was. Pirates are not charming; they are brutal criminals capable of unthinkable acts. Historically, pirates sailing the Atlantic sacked and ravaged rival merchant ships. Cruelty was de rigueur. Continue reading →

Feb 23

Crying Uncle: UNCLE JACK

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10929149_10152928903511072_1633828632893124184_nPresented by Boston Center for American Performance and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Written and Directed by Michael Hammond
Adapted from the play by Anton Chekhov

February 12 – March 1, 2015
BU Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio
264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
Boston Playwright’s Theatre on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Boston, MA) You know, I’ve never noticed it before, but there really is something innately Chekhovian about major summer-stock theatres (particularly in the New England Area). Out in the wilds of Western Massachusetts, a seasonal culture abounds. Large, stately mansions (mostly empty during the rest of the year) stand ready to receive their visitors; high-status patrons, family dear and estranged, and random acquaintances who have long been treated as family. The constant financial difficulties that running these estates entails weave through life upon them like a second soul. The back-to-nature feel of the Berkshires where city-slicker actors arrive to work, to fall in love, and to torment the people who call this big empty place “home” the rest of the year could very well be a cherry orchard or a provincial Russian estate. The incestuous, teeming nature of a long-standing summer-stock company almost reeks of Chekhov; the half-forgotten love affairs, the misbehavior that will never be spoken of again, and the half-cocked gun on the mantelpiece just waiting for its Act Four moment…. Continue reading →

Feb 20

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts PRESENTS: Golden Dragon Acrobats performing, “Cirque Zíva”

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WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts PRESENTS
From the People’s Republic of China & direct from Broadway

Golden Dragon Acrobats

Performing the Boston premiere of Cirque Zíva
Saturday, March 21, 3pm & 8pm
Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston

Text taken directly from the World Music/CRASHarts website.

BOSTON, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents the Golden Dragon Acrobats performing the Boston premiere of Cirque Zíva on Saturday, March 21, at 3pm and 8pm at the Emerson/Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St., Boston. Tickets are $30-$58. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.

For More Information visit: www.goldendragonacrobats.com

Cirque Zíva is sure to entertain, delight, and keep audiences of all ages on the edge of their seats. Performed by the internationally celebrated Golden Dragon Acrobats from Hebei Province, China, this fast-paced, technically innovative performance showcases traditional Chinese acrobatics, dance, and costumes; ancient and contemporary music; and modern theatrical techniques. The renowned acrobats dazzle with amazing feats of athleticism, heart-stopping stunts, and the grace of their centuries-old art form.

(c) Amitava Sarkar

(c) Amitava Sarkar

Continue reading →

Feb 20

Ignore what your Momma Told you: TALK TO STRANGERS

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Presented by Liars and Believers
In collaboration with the Boston Circus Guild
Directed by Jason Slavick
Music Direction by Chuck Lechien

One Night Only: February 19, 2015
The Oberon
2 Arrow Street, Cambridge MA
Liars and Believers on Facebook
Boston Circus Guild on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Cambridge, MA) Liars and Believers are well-versed in the art of collage. Bringing together dance, clowning techniques, poetry, music, mask-work, circus performance, and whatever you could call the live-improv style randomness that happens at Club Oberon, they have presented a beautiful ode to the pain of anonymity brought about by the modern technological era in their piece Talk to Strangers. Transient and fleeting, I could no more pin this piece down with words than replicate it. Continue reading →

Feb 16

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts PRESENTS: “The Son of the Sheik”

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(c) Courtesy of World Music/CRASHarts

(c) Courtesy of World Music/CRASHarts

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts PRESENTS:

Performing the Boston premiere of its live score for the silent film
The Son of the Sheik
Saturday, March 7, 8pm, Somerville Theatre

For additional information, please visit:
http://www.alloyorchestra.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38827091910

Boston, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents Alloy Orchestra performing the Boston premiere of its live score for the silent film The Son of the Sheik on Saturday, March 7, 8pm at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $25, reserved seating. For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.

The world-renowned Alloy Orchestra presents the Boston premiere of its live musical score to the 1926 classic silent film The Son of the Sheik, directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, and George Fawcett. Valentino died suddenly just as the film was being released, unleashing an outpouring of love and support for the deceased actor along with his last and perhaps finest film. This wonderful swashbuckling romance is being presented in a beautifully restored print along with one of Alloy Orchestra’s best original scores.

(c) Ivan Singer

(c) Ivan Singer

Rudolph Valentino’s last film, The Son of the Sheik, is a film of passion, betrayal, and redemption. He is often cited as the silver screens greatest lover, and this film demonstrates why this reputation is justly deserved. In The Son of the Sheik, Valentino plays an unusual dual role of both the Sheik and his son. The film was a huge hit, grossing a million dollars in the first year, and critics have deemed it the greatest work of the actor’s career. Alloy Orchestra premiered their new score for The Son of the Sheik, along with the new 2k digital restoration of the film by sister company Box 5, at a special event of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on September 20, 2014. Continue reading →