Category Archives: Comedy

Jun 17

Queer pride through historical reimagining: “Bull in a China Shop”

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Karen Dervin as Dean Welsh and Linnea Lyerly as Woolley; Photo by Brian Higgins.

Presented by The Treehouse Collective
By Bryna Turner
Directed by Lisa Tierney
Lighting design by Dan Clawson
Set design by Britt Ambruson
Featuring: Linnea Lyerly, Heidi White, Karen Dervin, Anneke Salvadori, Hannah Young, Lena Vani

Abbott Memorial Theatre at Hovey Players
9 Spring Street
Waltham, MA 02451
June 13 – 29, 2025

Accessibility Note: There are a total of 13 steps to get downstairs to the theatre, with no elevator access.  

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

WALTHAM – The most radical element of Bull in a China Shop is emblemized by its earliest visuals. Two women in early 20th century garb lounge on a bed together, tangled in each other’s arms. Everything is perfectly mundane: they discuss personal and professional dreams; they quarrel; they kiss. And they do explain their queerness to the audience. They simply exist in their historical moment, no excuses necessary.

Bull in a China Shop by Bryna Turner isn’t a perfect play, but it fits neatly into The Treehouse Collective’s ethos. Their seasons largely feature contemporary works that give voice to ahead-of-their-time trailblazers (particularly women and queer folks, although I hope their team will add some more racial diversity to their season selection in the future) whose stories have otherwise been silenced by the patriarchal, heteronormative archival machine. Continue reading →

Jun 16

The Best Summer of Your Life: The Nova Show presents “Camp Camp”o

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The Nova Show poster

Presented by Nova Comedy Collective
Hosted by David Thomas
Directed by Michael Trainor
Video by Ryan Dalley
Creator and showrunner: Kayleigh Kane
Featuring: Gwen Coburn, Colleen Donahue, Nick Perron, Kristina Feliciano, John Serpico, Erin Lee, Anthony Zonfrelli, Sumeet Sarin, Hannah Breen, Kylie Rolincik. 
Guest performers: drag performer Stabitha Christie, rapping comedy duo Magically Delicious, and standup comedian Will Smalley.
Chill tunes provided by D.J. TJ Reynolds and Todd Brunel on the saxophone

June 14, 2025
The Rockwell
Davis Square
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144

Online Playbill 
Eventbrite Page

Critique by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — June 14 was a busy day. “No Kings” protesters gathered peacefully in downtown Boston while the Pride for the People parade marched from Copley Square to the Common. For some, it was a long day of fighting fascist tyranny while celebrating another year of queer survival. After a rainy Saturday of marching, dancing and rebelling, an evening of libations and laughter watching Nova Comedy Collective’s “Camp Camp” in the warm belly of The Rockwell’s black box theater hit the spot.   

The Rockwell has become home to members of the local improv, comedy and standup community after Improv Boston, a People’s Republic of Camberville favorite for comedic relief, ceased its operations in 2023. The Nova Comedy Collective is one of the resident organizations that rose from Improv Boston’s ashes. NCC is here to deliver comedy in its many forms to weekend matinees, early evening and late night crowds (schedule pending) over a cold adult beverage while farting into a folding chair of suspicious stability. Continue reading →

May 18

Fame Puts You There Where Things Are Hollow: “As Bees in Honey Drown”

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The cast: photo by Gary Ng. Spot on costumes by Anna Silva. 

Presented by Theater UnCorked
By Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by David Miller
Fight Choreography & Intimacy Direction by Allison Olivia Choat

May 15 – May 18, 2025
BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” – Attributed to Andy Warhol. (The Smithsonian Magazine contests this attribution.)

BOSTON — There are days when life in the theatre feels like the lowest level in a multilevel marketing scheme. Famous artists and producers at the top of the pyramid (on Broadway and the West End) make the most money; their flashy success entices others to buy into the business: drama school, dance, voice, acting classes, accent coaches, pay-to-plays and voice-over camp. Semi-famous, professional artists and administrators who hustle like they’ve been conditioning since the womb make ends meet; they can afford niceties like starting a family without going into serious debt. The rest of us schmucks, to borrow a term from Theater Uncorked’s As Bees in Honey Drown, must work at least one (or three, if you’re a stage manager) side hustle to afford the theatre lifestyle. Continue reading →

May 12

“Spiritual Advisors” at the Boston Fringe Festival

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Presented as part of the Boston Fringe Festival 
Produced by The Asian American Playwright Collective (AAPC)

May 6-11, 2025
The Rockwell 
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144

Critique by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The Boston Theatre Festival hosted at Somerville’s Rockwell Theater was not the first fringe festival in Massachusetts. But! It is the only festival currently carrying the fringe moniker. I sincerely hope the producers keep up the momentum for 2026. In these days of fascist, unconstitutional grant dissolution, joyful theatre production is a form of resistance.    Continue reading →

May 08

Naïve innocence to Vindictive corruption: “Mean Girls”

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Pictured (L-R): Katie Yeomans (Cady Heron), Kristen Amanda Smith (Gretchen Wieners), Maya Petropoulos (Regina George), and MaryRose Brendel (Karen Smith). Photo by Jeremy Daniel, 2025

Presented by Emerson Colonial Theater
Book by Tina Fey
Music by Jeff Richmond
Lyrics by Nell Bejnamin
Directed by Casey Hushion
Choreographed by John MacInnis

April 29th – May 4th, 2025
Emerson Colonial Theater
106 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

2 hours 15 minutes with one intermission

Review by Helen Ganley

BOSTON — Cliques endure throughout life, beginning as early as elementary school and continuing into adulthood. You might find them at work, with the crew that always goes to Happy Hour (with no extended invite), among couples who only hang out with other couples, or with PTA Power Parents who plan events without outside input. The most common place to find them, however, is in high school. Emerson Colonial Theater’s production of Mean Girls explores the dangers of cliques while emphasizing the importance of authenticity and kindness throughout life. Continue reading →

May 05

Focusing on the Footnotes: FOUNDING F%#ERS, A World Premiere

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Photo by Maggie Hall Photography.

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
A Don Fulton New Works Project
Written by Conor Casey
Director – Weylin Symes
Assistant Director/Choreographer – Tyler Rosati
Scenic Designer – Katy Monthei
Lighting Design – Corey Whittemore
Costume Design – Deidre Gerrard
Sound Design – Caroline Eng
Properties Master – Adelaide Majeski
Production Stage Manager – Marsha Smith
Fight Captain – Marge Dunn
Production Manager – Meghan Ward
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant – Kira Troilo, Art & Soul Consulting LLC

May 2 – May 18, 2025
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

2 hours with a brief intermission

STONEHAM, Mass. —

Too often, history is presented as a straight line, especially when it comes to successful revolutionary moments in history. Think of the common perception of the Civil Rights movement; so often it is portrayed as a lone figure marching in a straight line to victory when, in reality, it was a coalition of competing voices and branches, with victories, defeats, missteps, and contradictions. This impulse to purge doubt and impose order on chaotic change sanctifies our view of these historical figures and movements, and obscures the messy work needed to make change. Continue reading →

Apr 15

Hell Hath No Fury: “Don’t Eat the Mangos”

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Left to right: Evelyn Howe, Jessica Pimentel, Yesenia Iglesias; photo by Marc J. Franklin.

Written by Ricardo Pérez González
Directed by David Mendizábal
Featuring: Jessica Pimentel, Yesenia Iglesias, Evelyn Howe, Susanna Guzmán, José Ramón Rosario
Voice of Radio: José C. Massó III
Fight Director and Intimacy Coach: Ted Hewlett

March 26 – April 27, 2025
The Huntington Calderwood
527 Tremont Street. Boston, MA 02116

Content warnings: Don’t Eat the Mangos includes frank discussion of past sexual assault, incest, and traumatic forced abortion. The play includes depictions of patriarchal control in a family setting, at-home end-of-life care, and violent suffocation. There is a brief discussion of suicide and the inclusion of homophobic and sexist slurs.

This play is performed in English and Spanish. 

BOSTON — After the first seeing the striking mango tree (designed by Tanya Orellana with rising sunlight designed by Cha See) burdened with tangibly ripe fruit next to a cozily busy cottage, the audience hears the silence-splitting call of the Puerto Rican coquí frog. (I’ve never been to P.R., but I’ve heard the coquí’s invasive rant from inside my family’s home on Big Island, Hawai’i enough times to recognize the frog’s plaintive call for nonrecreational booty even in my nightmares.) 

The sound design by Jake Rodriguez layers the persistent morning call of coquís under the clanging of daily housework in Don’t Eat the Mangos’ first moments. Shortly after the first lines of dialogue, a ringing bell joins the coquís call. These sounds, with director David Mendizábal’s staging, plus the tense character work between the actors, indicate that something is not right in this house.  Continue reading →

Apr 04

Not your average Karen’s brave play about disability: “It’s A Motherf**king Pleasure”

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The Cast; Photo Credit: Alex Brenner.

Presented by ArtsEmerson 
FlawBored from UK
Director/dramaturg – Josh Roche
Created by Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani, and Chloe Palmer

April 2 – 13, 2025
Emerson Paramount Center 
Jackie Liebergott Black Box 
Boston, MA

Recommended for Ages 16+
Content warning: Strong Language, Ableism, Graphic Spoken Descriptions of Injury
Running Time: 60-ish minutes, no intermission

BOSTON — Sitting in the audience for FlawBored’s It’s A Motherf**king Pleasure in Emerson’s Jackie Liebergott Black Box, I felt unhindered joy watching the cast members Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani, and Chloe Palmer toss disability anxiety back into the faces of theoretical ableds whose anal accessibility pedantry makes our lives more work than it already is. My friends, it truly was a motherfucking pleasure.  Continue reading →

Mar 31

When the Wheels Come Off: “The Play That Goes Wrong”

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The cast. Photo via Greater Boston Stage Company.

Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer
Director – Tyler Rosati
Original Scenic Design – Peter Colao
Scenic Design – Danielle Ibrahim
Lighting Design – Katie Whittemore
Costume Design – E. Rosser
Sound Design – James Cannon
Properties Master – David Allen Prescott
Intimacy/Violence Design – Samantha Richert
Production Stage – Manager Meghan Ward
Fight Captain – Sarah Morin

March 28 – April 19, 2025
Greater Boston Stage Company
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

2 hours with a brief intermission

Some comic violence. May be too intense for young viewers.

STONEHAM, Mass. — Regular theatergoers quickly understand that live performance is a tightrope act, and the mind can wander to what can go wrong during lulls on stage. That may be why theatrical disasters are such fertile ground for stage comedy. To pull off such a play requires mastering the (sometimes nominal) source material and then acting at acting badly. Things can quickly get complicated, making the farce on stage sometimes something of a miracle to pull off.

The cast of the Greater Boston Stage Company’s The Play That Goes Wrong largely succeeds in this difficult task, creating chaos on stage that set the audience howling with laughter. The script provides a target-rich environment for comedy, and the energetic and committed cast capitalize on most of the opportunities provided. Continue reading →

Mar 27

An Umbrella of Representation: “Queer Voices Festival”

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The Queer Voices Festival
Presented by Boston Theater Company
The Balcony or The Last Night by Pascale Florestal, she/her/hers
Halftime v. Intermission by Michael J. Bobbitt, he/him
Left Overs by Roni Ragone, they/them
Limpia by Leonard P. Madrid, he/him
Oop, Can’t Say That by Tom Zhang, they/them
Seance by Dylan Horowitz, He/Him & She/Her
Zelda by Haz Cady, he/him

March 21 -23, 2025
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

2 Hrs 15 Minutes with 1 intermission

Review by Helen Ganley

BOSTON — This past weekend, the Boston Theater Company hosted its 2nd annual Queer Voices Festival at the Boston Center for the Arts. We are caught in an onslaught of voices, opinions, and legislation—the whipping wind of oppression slapping us in the face, the ice of hatred hardening on the sidewalk, daring us to fall. This event gathers a community under the umbrella of representation, shielding them—if only for an hour and a half—from the deluge outside.
Continue reading →