Category Archives: Comedy

Sep 18

Every Moment of Life Is Decay… And Ecstacy: “Laughs In Spanish”

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From left: Luz Lopez, Daniel Rios Jr., Brogan Nelson, Rebekah Rae Robles, and Paola Ferrer. Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company
Written by Alexis Scheer
Directed by Mariela Lopez-Ponce
Intimacy coordination by Paulina Martz
Dance consultant: Audrey Johnson

September 18 – October 12, 2024
Boston Center of the Arts
The Calderwood Pavilion: Roberts Studio Theatre 
527 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Laughs In Spanish is a snapshot into the lives of art gallery manager Mari (Rebekah Rae Robles) and her intern/best friend Caro (Luz Lopez) on the day of a major exhibit for a male celebrity artist. The paintings have gone missing! So the gallery’s security guard (and Caro’s boyfriend) Juan (Daniel Rios Jr.) investigates. 

They are troubleshooting when Mari learns that her mother is in town. Estella (Paola Ferrer), a true Hollywood star, arrives and disrupts everyone’s day with her presence. Her trusty assistant Jenny (Brogan Nelson) is at her side. Estella promises to help. Mari is dubious. Caro and Juan are keeping secrets. Jenny is trying to salvage Estella’s day. Continue reading →

Sep 16

If Not Friend, Why Friend Shaped?: “The Hound of the Baskervilles”

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Presented by Central Square Theater
Based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
By Steven Canny & John Nicholson
Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner
Featuring: Aimee Doherty, Jenny S. Lee, Sarah Morin 

September 12 – October 6, 2024
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

The running time is approximately 2 hours, 15 minutes including an intermission.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Central Square Theater’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is intentionally silly and joyfully performed. In this time of immature politicians who make up stories for negative attention like spoiled brats, it is refreshing to laugh with actors creating great theatre and not at bad actors bastardizing the First Amendment. THOTB runs in Cambridge, MA through October 6.  Continue reading →

Aug 27

“Let’s Misbehave:” A Gay Old Time

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Lydian Meloccaro (HE/THEY) & Adriana Alvarez (SHE/HER). Photo by Tobias Bond-Richardson.

Presented by Pansy Rampant Productions
Play by Lawrence Gullo
Co-facilitation by Liz Diamond and Jo Michael Rezes
Costume design by Sherman
Scenic design by Ellie Gillis
Lighting design by M Berry
Hair/makeup design by Em Salzman
Featuring: Mandy Jo Bemis, Sebastian Crane, Leanna Hieber, Lydian Meloccaro, Justin Peavey, Matti Steriti

August 23-25, 2024
The Foundry
101 Rogers Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
Information here

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The not-so-roaring-2020s are a struggle-full time, particularly for queer folks who just want to exist in peace. Playwright Lawrence Gullo’s labor of love, Let’s Misbehave, transports us back in time almost a full century, not as a form of escapism, nor to prove that one era was crueler or kinder than the other, but to simply remind us that trans people have always existed – not only existed, but thrived. There’s profound hope in that simple sentiment, especially right now.

Gullo’s play has been simmering for over a decade, evolving from a TV pilot to a Zoom reading to this summer’s Boston stage premiere, and in that time, its characters have clearly had time to grow into their own. Fittingly, the play has something of a sitcom feel, featuring a merry band of friends who more or less just like hanging out together – except that these friends are queer social outcasts living in London in the 1930s. Continue reading →

Mar 19

The Ice Mastodon Cometh: “The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons”

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Maraj and Neal Photo by Johanna Bobrow.

Presented by Theatre@First
by Rachel Teagle
Directed by Jess Viator

March 15–23, 2024
Unity Somerville
6 William Street
Somerville, MA 02144

Please note: Unity Somerville is not wheelchair accessible. There are stairs leading down to the performance space.  

Digital Playbill

Content note: Please be advised this show contains implied explosions, described violence, allusions to domestic violence, discussions of terminal illness, and homophobic and racially insensitive microaggressions.

Review by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — Theatre@First’s plucky production of Rachel Teagle’s The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons is lots of fun! It runs at Unity Somerville church through March 23.  

Jess’s (Angele Maraj) life is chugging along – could be better, could be worse – when, one day, the world’s population wakes to discover their childhood dreams have come true! Jess awakes as a mastodon (never to be confused with a mammoth), tusks, and all because Buster (Juan Jose Boschetti) wished everyone’s wishes would come true.  Continue reading →

Feb 18

You Don’t Have to Apologize for Existing: “John Proctor is the Villain”

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Left to right: Brianna Martinez, Jules Talbot, Victoria Omoregie, Haley Wong in John Proctor is the Villain; directed by Margot Bordelon; photo by T. Charles Erickson

Presented by The Huntington
By Kimberly Belflower
Directed by Margot Bordelon
Dramaturgy by Lauren Halvorsen
Choreography by Victoria L Awkward 
Fight and Intimacy Direction by Jessica Scout Malone
Voice and dialect coaching by Christine Hamel

February 8 – March 10, 2024
The Huntington @ Calderwood/BCA
527 Tremont St. 
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — It’s simple: believe girls. Believe women. Believe femme non-binary persons. Believe gender-expansive people who don’t fit your idea of how a person should look. Believe our stories. We don’t want fame. We want due process.  

The Huntington’s John Proctor is the Villain running through March 10 at the BCA is an age-old story of victim blaming and abuser protection.  Four teen girls (Brianna Martinez, Victoria Omoregie, Jules Talbot, and Haley Wong) are coming of age in post-#MeToo Appalachia. The four best friends and their bro classmates (Maanav Aryan Goyal, Benjamin Izaak) are taught by the school’s coolest homeroom teacher, Mr. Smith (Japhet Balaban), and new counselor Ms. Gallagher (Olivia Hebert).  Continue reading →

Feb 10

A “Little Peasants” Reading at The Burren Backroom

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Presented by Food Tank 
Written by Bernard Pollack
Directed by Dori A. Robinson
Dramaturgy and Production by Elena Morris

Wed, Feb. 7 @ 7 PM
Wed, Feb. 21 @ 7 PM SOLD OUT
The Burren Backroom 
Somerville, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The Food Tank presents two readings of Little Peasants: A Peek Behind Closed Doors of a Food Workers’ Union Organizing Campaign. This article is based on the reading performed on Feb. 7 at 7 PM. Little Peasants is supported by the Somerville Arts Council through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Continue reading →

Jan 03

A Bite-Sized Wrench in the Machine: “Lunch Bunch”

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(at table) Laura Hubbard as Nicole, Alex Leondedis as Greg, Parker Jennings as Tuttle, Cristhian Mancinas-García as Jacob, Michael (Shifty) Celestin as Tal, Paola Ferrer as Hannah, Julia Hertzberg at Mitra – Photos: Danielle Fauteux Jacques

Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company
Play by Sarah Einspanier
Direction and Sound Design by Danielle Faeuteux Jacques
Scenic and Sound Design by Joseph Lark-Riley
Featuring: Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia, Parker Jennings, Paola Ferrer, Michael (Shifty) Celestin, Alex Leondedis, Julia Hertzberg, Laura Hubbard, Dev Luthra, Katie Pickett, Brooks Reeves

December 30, 2023 – January 21, 2024
Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet St
Chelsea MA, 02150

Content advisory: dialogue about diet culture

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

CHELSEA, Mass. — Lunch Bunch feels longer than its snappy one-hour run time, and that’s very much a positive: the lives depicted onstage are so harried, so high-stakes, so existentially draining, that I left Apollinaire Theatre Company feeling as though I’d lived an entire lifetime. Continue reading →

Dec 28

Welcome to the Party, Pal: “Yippee Ki Yay” at The Huntington

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Darrel Bailey; photo by Rod Penn.

Presented by The Hungtington
A Die Hard parody
Produced by James Seabright
Written by Richard Marsh
Directed by Hal Chambers
Performed by Darrel Bailey

December 27-December 31, 2023
Huntington Theatre 
264 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 

The digital playbill 

Run Time: 75 minutes no intermission

Recommended for ages 14+

Review by Kitty Drexel 

BOSTON, Mass. — Bruce Willis told us Die Hard is not a Christmas movie in 2018.

Richard Marsh’s Yippee Ki Yay is a Die Hard parody, but it’s not about Die Hard. It’s about love: the love between a man and his favorite film, the love between two Die Hard uberfans, and the love between an NYPD cop and his shoes.

Yippee Ki Yay: The Die Hard Parody is visiting The Huntington through December 31. There are only a few performances left.

Allow me to explain why nearly everyone needs to see this one-man tour de force play about a Bruce Willis movie from 1988. It’s come from the Edinburgh Fringe (Do we want a fringe festival in Boston? Support fringe shows to get a fringe festival.) for audiences of most ages whether those ages enjoy action films or not. Bailey performs the play like an epically kinesthetic standup routine. Only people who hate fun dislike standup comedy. Continue reading →

Nov 13

Queer and Loving It: “Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors”

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Presented by New World Stages
Author: Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen
Director: Gordon Greenberg
Original Music/Sound Design by Victoria Deiorio 
Dialect coaching by Jerome Butler
Intimacy direction by Judi Lewis Ockler 
Puppetry design by Tijana Bjelajac
Schedule of Performances 
New World Stages / Stage 5 
340 West 50th Street
New York NY 10019

1 hour and 30 minutes, no intermission

Review by Kitty Drexel

NEW YORK — Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors is cutely queer. It isn’t in New England yet, but it could be when the rights become available. Performances are ongoing at New York’s New World Stages through November.

This Dracula, like so many of its predecessors, tackles Bram Stoker’s most famous novel with a modern spin and blatant sexual references. Persons seeking a severe homage to either the novel in letters or the 1992 film with Winona Rider and Gary Oldman should look elsewhere. This play lacks depth but makes up for it with absurd puppetry and the clever execution of thoughtful props. Continue reading →

Sep 29

Big Guts, Good Choices: The Huntington and The Porch present “Fat Ham”

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Presented by The Huntington in association with Alliance Theatre and Front Porch Arts Collective
Written by James Ijames
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Choreography by PJ Johnnie Jr.
Fight Direction and Intimacy Coaching by Jesse Hinson
Dialect Coaching by Adi Cabral
Voice Lessons by David Freeman Coleman

September 22 – October 29, 2023
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA 
527 Tremont St
Boston, MA 

Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission

Review by Kitty Drexel

“Haam”
Slang: Hard as a motherfucker. One can go haam for anything: Sports, homework, smoking, sex, drinking, driving, etc. From UrbanDictionary.com

Or, 

“HAM”
Slang: A Ham is a burger with no bread. A loser, a peasant, a bum with no motion and no desire or solution to make some money. Whatever you do stay away from Hams they are contagious and NEED a vaccine. From UrbanDictionary.com

BOSTON, Mass. — 2023 Pulitzer-prize winning play Fat Ham is at the BCA’s Calderwood Pavilion now thru October 29. Stevie Walker-Webb brings James Ijames’ hilarious opus to Boston thanks to the collaboration of Front Porch Arts Collective, the Huntington, and Alliance Theatre. 

Many modern Shakespeare productions claim to be for a new audience. Some of these productions are merely Shakespeare set in an urban environment or slightly updated to correct historical sexism, racism, or homophobia. There’s nothing wrong with maintaining this tradition.

Fewer Shakespeare productions are truly for a modern audience: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) summarizes the Bard’s works; Shit-Faced Shakespeare performs for improv-loving, alcohol-fueled audiences of frat-bros and frat-bro allies. Fat Ham truly goes where no modern production has gone before.  

Fat Ham transcends a retelling of Hamlet. It doesn’t merely transpose the story of a young man bent on parricide/patricide because the ghost of his father visits him after his uncle marries his mother. It goes harder.  Continue reading →