Author Archives: Kitty Drexel

Apr 14

Harvard University presents FAR AWAY, April 26 – 30, 2017

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The Theater, Dance & Media Concentration at Harvard University presents its spring production,
FAR AWAY

By Caryl Churchill
Directed by Annie Tippe

Cambridge, MA:  The newly formed Theater, Dance & Media Concentration at Harvard University launches its third production with Caryl Churchill’s FAR AWAY, directed by Annie Tippe.

Joan wakes up in the middle of the night and sees something she’s not meant to see.  She’s convinced to keep a secret that will forever alter the course of her life. Caryl Churchill’s brief and chilling Far Away paints a not so-far-away future where fear of “the other” rules supreme, and beauty, politics and violence strike an uneasy kinship. Equal parts humorous and horrifying, we are drawn into a fantastical world where even the birds and rivers are at war. Joan is left to ask herself: How do I know if I’m on the “right side”?

FAR AWAY performs April 26-30, in Farkas Hall in the heart of Harvard Square.  

Farkas Hall
12 Holyoke St, Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, Apr. 26, 7:30pm
Thursday, Apr. 27, 7:30pm
Friday, Apr. 28, 7:00pm
Saturday, Apr. 29, 7:30pm
Sunday, Apr. 30, 2pm
Tickets are $5 for students/seniors and $10 for general admission, and are available through

The Harvard Box Office 
12 Holyoke St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone:  617-496-2222
TTY:  617-495-1642
www.boxoffice.harvard.edu
For more information, please visit www.tdm.fas.harvard.edu Continue reading →

Mar 29

Larceny in Their Hearts: “TopDog/UnderDog”

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Presented by Huntington Theatre Company
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Billy Porter

March 10 – April 9, 2017
Avenue of the Arts
Boston, MA
Huntington on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

Trigger warning – gunshots

(Boston, MA) Emasculation is something a man allows himself to feel. He can prevent emasculation by choosing not to feel that way. He can choose not to let society’s BS gender roles impact his self-definition of manhood. Flip the script: change how you think to change how you feel. Continue reading →

Mar 27

Hope Is Not Dead at 24: “The Little Dog Laughed”

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Presented by Take Your Pick Productions
By Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by Cassandra Lovering

March 24 – April 7, 2017
Plaza Black Box Theater
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA

Trigger warning – brief but not inconsiderable penis

Review by Kitty Drexel

“Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.”
-an English nursery rhyme.

(Boston, MA) The Little Dog Laughed spins heteronormative Hollywood on its ass. It unmasks the romantic comedy paradigm and reveals the festering truths wriggling underneath the surface of lies. It does so sweetly, calmly, but so honestly.   Continue reading →

Mar 20

First Do Harm: “Mrs. Packard”

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Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin; Mrs. Packard and inmates.

Presented by Bridge Repertory Theatre & Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company
Written by Emily Mann
Directed by Emily Ranii

March 15 – April 9, 2017
Multicultural Arts Center
East Cambridge, MA
Bridge Rep on Facebook
Playhouse Creatures on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

Trigger Warnings: Torture, domestic abuse, nudity, implied horror, gaslighting

“Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.”
– Traditional nursery rhyme about “Peter” who couldn’t control his (allegedly sexually adventurous) wife so he killed her.  

(East Cambridge, MA) The more things change; the more they stay the same. Mrs. Packard is about how a panel of straight, white men made uninformed decisions on a woman’s health without her consent. Sound familiar? It should. It’s 2017, and treating women with respect is still a revolutionary act. Continue reading →

Mar 06

WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents SHAOLIN WARRIORS

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WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents SHAOLIN WARRIORS
Saturday, April 1, 8pm
Orpheum Theatre
1 Hamilton Pl., Boston MA
WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts on Facebook
$58, $48, $37, $30, Reserved Seating (includes Orpheum Theatre $2 restoration fee)
For tickets and information call World Music/CRASHarts at (617) 876-4275 or buy online at www.WorldMusic.org.

(Boston, MA) Representing over a thousand years of Chinese martial-arts culture, Shaolin Warriors showcases the remarkable skill, stunning artistry, and death-defying martial-arts prowess of more than 20 kung fu masters. This spectacular theatrical display features many forms of Shaolin kung fu as well as a look at the daily life of the warriors and their Zen philosophy. Beginning at a very young age, the kung fu masters are trained in mental and physical disciplines, perfecting the art of hand-to-hand and weapons combat, which allows them to perform astounding feats of athleticism.  Continue reading →

Mar 02

5 Handfuls of Butt: “A Ride On the Irish Cream”

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Presented by Oberon
Written/Created/Co-composed/Lyrics by Erin Markey
Directed by Jordan Fein
Co-composed & Musical Directed by Emily Bate
Co-composed by Kenny Mellman 
Choreographed by Chloe Kernaghan 

Feb. 28 – March 4, 2017
Club Oberon
Arrow St
Cambridge, MA
Oberon on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Cambridge, MA) There is something exquisitely beautiful about a conventionally attractive woman being unconventionally, relentlessly, fearlessly strange in society’s general direction into perpetuity. It is a breathtaking thing. Erin Markey isn’t Jennifer Lawrence cutesy, “normal” weird. Markey and her merry band of revelers are Disco Pigs, Bellatrix LeStrange, mutated Alice in Wonderland kinds of weird. Their rock musical A Ride on the Irish Cream is gloriously odd.  Continue reading →

Feb 27

Vouchers Will Not Save Our Schools: “Exit Strategy”

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UPDATED on 2/28/17: Because holy crapping fudge DeVos is either a sincere idiot, or a racist ass (mostly likely, both). https://twitter.com/AdamHSays/status/836416602736312320

Photo by Joel Benjamin. With Robert Bonotto, Victoria George, Johnny Quinones, Jalani Dottin-coye and Matt Fagerberg.

Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company
Written by Ike Holter
Directed by David Miller

Feb. 17- March 11, 2017
Plaza Theater
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St in Boston’s South End
Zeitgeist on Facebook

This production is made possible in part by The Bob Jolly Charitable Trust, which was established by the late Boston actor Bob Jolly to support local theater artists.

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) Exit Strategy opens with a quote for Betsy DeVos’s Senate Hearing on Jan. 17, 2017. DeVos is a rich, white women with no experience in public education and a strong preference for charter schools. She’s in love with vouchers. To her, “accountability” is just a 14 letter word. She is completely oblivious of the hard work public school teachers do every single damn day in order to teach their students. Her ignorance, arrogance and entitlement are the three donkeys of the educational system’s apocalypse. Our kids, especially the underprivileged, deserve better. Her philosophies are the kind that allow schools to crumble apart with children still in them. Continue reading →

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 17

Elvis Doesn’t Waltz: DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP

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Photo by Emma Young; a tense moment for Commodore Perry and family.

Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre Company
Written by Laura Neill
Directed by Joshua Glenn-Kayden
Dramatugy by Jessica Foster

February 10-25, 2017
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02116
Fresh Ink on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) Fresh Ink Theatre Company serves its community by developing the works of currently living, local-ish playwrights. They do awesome work. Don’t Give Up the Ship is the first show in their 2016/2017 season. Please vote for the arts with your attendance.    Continue reading →

Feb 14

Deja Vu All Over Again: “I, Snowflake”

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The cast; photo discovered on Anthem Theatre Co’s Facebook page.

Devised and presented by Anthem Theatre Company
Conceived, written and directed by Bryn Boice

Feb. 10 – 11, 2017
BU Dance Theatre
915 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA
Anthem on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

Trigger Warnings: Adult themes, gunshot sound effect, feminism

(Boston, MA) Bless you, Merriam-Webster. On January, 29, 2017 at 6:32PM, the hero in charge of the Dictionary’s Twitter account posted this lovely article on the slang origins of “snowflake.”  The article’s existence implies that the social movement currently applying this term to liberals are doing so incorrectly. Similarly Anthem Theatre Company strikes back at detractors with a timely, necessary production of I, Snowflake: A Post-election Reaction. Continue reading →