Category Archives: Comedy

Mar 30

Feminist Bark Without Feminist Bite: “Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous”

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Ines de la Cruz and Patrice Jean-Baptiste; Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by The Lyric Stage
By Pearl Cleage
Directed by Jacqui Parker
Featuring: Patrice Jean Baptiste, Deannah “Dripp” Blemur, Inés de la Cruz, Yasmeen Duncan

March 20-April 12, 2026
The Lyric Stage
140 Clarendon St
Boston, MA

Online Playbill 

Review by Maegan Clearwood

BOSTON — Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous poses one intriguing question after another. How can Black women make space for themselves within the canon of glorified, seemingly untouchable playwrights? What is the line between performance and exploitation? How can we forge connection across intergenerational feminist divides?

It also conjures up a potent image: a Black woman standing onstage, entirely nude, delivering monologues from the work of August Wilson, the most sanctified Black playwright in the American canon.

Unfortunately, these questions go largely uninterrogated, and the imagery takes shape entirely offstage. Continue reading →

Mar 18

Clowning, Catastrophe, and Communal Resistance: “The End is Nigh”

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Presented by Liars and Believers
Directed by Jason Slavick
Featuring Enrique Babilonia, Jesse Garlick, Ben Heath, Karina Ithier, Glen Moore, Hampton Richards

March 12-22, 2026
The Foundry
101 Rogers Street,
Cambridge MA

Review by Maegan Clearwood

CAMBRIDGE, Mas. — For centuries, the character of The Fool has used laughter to shed light on ugly existential truths. The End is Nigh walks in the clown-sized footsteps of Samuel Beckett and adds a dash of modern-day dystopian gameshow literature (think Squid Games or The Running Man), resulting in a theatrical collage that is brutally honest and surprisingly heartfelt.

The play, created by the Liars & Believers ensemble (with direction by Jason Slavick), invites audiences to cheer for the filming of “The End is Nigh,” the last television show to survive the apocalypse. Cutthroat host Consuela Hobbs (Hampton Richards) and her musical assistants (Jesse Garlick and Enrique Babilonia) drag three clown contestants onto the set, hoping that all three die gruesome, TV-worthy deaths. Continue reading →

Mar 15

The World Is Too Big Not to Be a Little Magical: “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!”

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Michael Tow, Anjie Parker – Photo by Annielly Camargo

Presented by Company One
Produced in partnership with Boston Public Library
A new play by Keiko Green
Directed by Shawn LaCount
Dramaturgy by Jessie Baxter

Mar 6 – Mar 28, 2026
Boston Public Library
Central Library in Copley Square
700 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
Digital Playbill

All tickets are Pay-What-You-Want ($0 minimum)

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Before the show opens, a Company One lobby posterboard asks audience members of You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World what song they’d like to hear at the end of the world. I’d hear my spouse playing David Bowie karaoke on the ukulele while my loved ones welcome me home. That’d be nice. At the end, I hope there’s enough magic left for everyone to hear their heart’s desire. 

It’s the end of the world as he knows it, and it hurts like Hell. Greg (Michael Tow) receives a terminal cancer diagnosis (and weird dream visitations from Greta Thunberg (Anjie Parker)), he finally understands his true purpose and races to save Mother Earth as our climate catastrophe looms. Meanwhile, his wife, Viv (Jade Guerra), tries to hold it all together, but really just wants to stop time and hide under the covers with her husband. And through it all, our emcee and their child, M (Kai Clifton, who dazzles in another leading role), charts their own path while Dad is dying, life is a drag, and the world keeps spinning. Ensemble members Parker, Alex Alexander and Nicholas Papayoanou play multiple supporting characters Continue reading →

Feb 23

It Starts with An Earthquake, Birds & Snakes, An Aeroplane: “The Bald Soprano” & “The Lesson”

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Photo by Ben Rose Photography.

Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston 
Written by Eugène Ionesco
Directed by Bryn Boice
Intimacy Choreography by Lauren Cook

February 21 – March 8 2026
BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

2 hours with ONE 15-minute intermission
Suitable for 13+

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Theatre of the Absurd plays are why normies make fun of us. These plays are, by definition, intentionally bizarre. If you enjoy works by Beckett, Jean Genet, Pinter, etc., you’ll enjoy Hub Theatre Company’s production of Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, currently at the BCA. Even if you don’t but do want to support well-assembled fringe theatre, it’s worth your while to check out Hub’s current offering.  Continue reading →

Jan 25

First Time with Feeling: “The Great Pistachio”

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Production Art.

Presented by Yorick Ensemble
By Nicholas Cummings
Directed by Rachel Hall
Fight choreography by Sydney T Grant
Puppet consultant: Em Sheeran

January 23 – February 1, 2026 
Boston Center for the Arts
Plaza Black Box Theatre
539 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116
Online playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel 

BOSTON — The Great Pistachio is an absurd gem of a play about nothing and everything that starts with the letter B: Brechtian, Beckett, burrow, beg, bunker, banjo, beige, brown, bureau of criminal apprehension, bruise, beets, Bertram, Boris, and Beatrice. To a lesser extent, it’s a play about things that start with the letters A and C: apocalypse and company policy. Yorick Ensemble brings this eccentric but thoughtful one-act play from the New York and Edinburgh Theatre Festivals to the Boston Center for the Arts for two weekends. If you survive Snowmageddon 2026, it’s worth carving a path to the South End to see it before it flits to another city.

Hold on to your butt, we’ve got a weird one. In a bunker at the end of the world, brothers Bertrand Brambles (John Brownlie) and Boris (Tim Lawton) are working on very important projects. Bertrand has written his magnum opus: a five-act, 272-page play free from worldly influence. Boris is determined to finally catch up on his newspaper reading; he won’t budge until he does. But! Boris might watch Bertrand’s play if Bertrand finds it a cast.  Continue reading →

Dec 16

He’s a Bollocks, but He’s Our Bollocks: “An Irish Christmas”

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Photos by Nile Scott Studios. This cast & crew photo would make an excellent holiday card.

A New England Premiere!
Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
By Matthew Keenan
Directed by Weylin Symes
Dialect coaching by Lee Nishri-Howitt 
Featuring Alex Deroo, Alex M. Jacobs, Chris Kandra, Julia Hertzberg, Alex Leondedis, Ross MacDonald, Paul Valley, Richard Snee, and Robert Walsh
With rotating walk-on appearances by Eleanor Colleran, Phoebe Jacobs, Gilda Fitzpatrick, and Anya Flores
Musicians: Lindsay Straw with rotating collaborators: fiddlers Cara Frankowicz and Clare Fraser, and accordionist Dan Accardi.

December 5-21, 2025
GBSC Main Stage
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180
Online playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Advisory: Colorful language and discussions of death.

STONEHAM, Mass. — ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the pub/ Some regulars (Ross MacDonald and Paul Valley) were drinking despite the grievances of its Scroogey schlub (a stern Robert Walsh who gives the role of David hidden depths). The bar and toilets were stocked by tender Bartek (a stalwart Alex Deroo) with care/While rosy-cheeked Frank (Richard Snee) hoped that sobriety would ne’er be there. Simon (Alex Leondedis) and Anna (Julia Hertzberg) bundled up in their coats/Had sincere glad tidings stuck in their throats. While all dreamed of gifts from ole Saint Nick/David chased them off by being a dick. With the arrival of Michael (Alex M Jacobs), blood brother and friend/David looked up from his accounting book and brought the jolliness to an end.

 “Now, Simon, Now Michael! Now, Frank and Jim! Now, Julia! Now, Bartek! Get away with that din!” The owner chased them out the bar/He chased them all out. 

So David was left to suffer alone for eternity/We’ve no doubt.    Continue reading →

Dec 02

Have Yourself A Horny ‘Lil Christmas: “Sweeney Claus: The Demon Father of Sleet Street”

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Photo by Michael von Redlich. Ryan Landry as Mrs. Leaveit and Thain Bertin as Sweeney

Presented by the Gold Dust Orphans
Written by Ryan Landry
Directed by Kiki Samko
Choreography by Hallie Nowicki
Music Direction and Arrangement by Tad McKitterick
Sets & Costumes by Scott Martino
Lights by Matthew Brian Cost
Props by Ryan Landry and Gina Carmela
Sound by Ryan Landry & Tad McKitterick
Spotlight Operation by Keith DeSutter
Wigs by Shaun O’Connor
Production Assistance by Clare Strickland and Clare Newman
Featuring: Ryan Landry, Thain Bertin, T Perry, Mary Mahoney, Tim Lawton, Kiki Samko, Scott Martino, Gina Carmela, Sarah Jones, Tad McKitterick, Lizette Morris, Dominika Zawada, Joey Pelletier, Hallie Nowicki, Marilyn Wilson, Simon Huynh, James Brooks Jr., Phaedra Ferrini, Lara Williams.

November 29 – December 21, 2025
The Iron Wolf Theatre
South Boston Lithuanian Citizens Association
368 West Broadway, 3rd Floor
South Boston, MA 02127

Critique by Kitty Drexel

UPDATE 12/02/2025:  Ensemble member Lara Williams was improperly credited in a previous draft. Her name is now correct. 

SOUTH BOSTON — December has arrived and so has this year’s Gold Dust Orphans Christmas panto parody, Sweeney Claus: The Demon Father of Sleet Street by Ryan Landry. It’s a rollicking good time! Get your tickets before they sell out. 

Sweeney Claus marries the Sondheim and Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to Christmas capitalism via the Gold Dust Orphan panto tradition. It follows the essential plotlines of the Sondheim classic with some deviations. Dasher (Thain Bertin) is a disillusioned sea captain who lands in Scituate, Massachusetts, to set up his barber shop and search for his lost wife and daughter. Dasher finds himself in the spare room at Mrs. Leaveit’s (Landry, giving the people what they want by occasionally showing some leg) bakery. They concoct a plot with an aptly named sailor, Semen (T Perry), to rescue Dasher’s daughter, Johanna (Mary Mahoney). Continue reading →

Nov 26

The Horrors Persist and So Do They: 8th Annual Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show

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Photo credit Santiago Felipe.

Presented by BenDeLaCreme
Created by BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon
Written and directed by BenDeLaCreme 
With additional writing by Jinkx Monsoon
Choreographed by Chloe Albin
Original compositions by Major Scales
Lyrics by BenDeLaCreme, Jinkx Monsoon & Major Scales
Featuring: Chloe Albin, Isaiah Brooks, Jace Gonzalez, Jim Kent, Ruby Mimosa, Derrick Paris, and Gus Lanza as “Hunky the Elf”

November 22, 2025
Wang Theater
270 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — It’s nearly Thanksgiving, and the Winter Solstice is a little over a month away. You know what that means. It’s time to gird your chestnuts and deck your lover’s halls because Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are touring their 8th annual Holiday Show across the U.S.! This year, they brought their strange, jolly, and unusual stage shenanigans to Boston’s Wang Theater stage in the most titillating way possible: through the horror anthology, The Gingerbread House of Horrors!  Continue reading →

Nov 19

No Ghosts Need Apply: “A Sherlock Carol”

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The cast; Photo by Nile Hawer.

Presented by the Lyric Stage Boston
By Mark Shanahan
Directed by Ilyse Robbins

Nov. 14 – Dec. 21, 2025
140 Clarendon St
2nd floor
Boston, MA 02116
Online Playbill

Running Time: Two hours plus one 15-minute intermission.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — A Sherlock Carol at Lyric Stage Boston is a Doyle and Dickens delight that mashes the beloved characters from both Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series in one gleeful package. This mashup is a needed departure from an overdone but beloved holiday tradition that will amuse Dickens fans, please Doyle fans, and introduce the children of both to classic literature in a new format. It runs through Dec. 21. Continue reading →

Nov 18

Tickets, Please: “the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo)”

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Photo scavenged from online.

Presented by Teatro Chelsea
by Matthew Barbot
Directed by Armando Rivera
Associate Director – Luz Lopez
Fight direction – Naomi Kim

October 31- November 22, 2025
Chelsea Theatre Works Blackbox
181 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Estimated Runtime: 95min w/ no intermission

“Cuando a sus playas llegó Colón;
Exclamó lleno de admiración;
‘Oh!, oh!, oh!, esta es la linda
tierra que busco yo.’”
“When at her beaches Columbus arrived,
he exclaimed full of admiration:
‘Oh! Oh! Oh!
This is the beautiful land, that I seek.’”

– Taken from “La Borinqueña.” Lyrics by Manuel Fernández Juncos (1846-1928). Translation by Samuel Quiros. 

CHELSEA, Mass. —  The title of Matthew Barbot’s play, the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo), is derived from the lyrics of Puerto Rico’s national anthem, “La Borinqueña.” Parts Waiting for Godot and Snowpiercer (2013), the production asks what failed Puerto Rican nationalist assassins Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola would think of the United States’ appropriation of Puerto Rican culture through the decades. Was their sacrifice worth it? Who has taken up the mantle of independence since the event of their activism? Teatro Chelsea’s production is now running at Chelsea Theatre Works through November 22.

It’s 1950. Members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, Oscar Collazo (Carlos Zalduondo) and Griselio Torresola (Nathaniel Justiniano), travel by train from New York to Washington, D.C. Their mission: to assassinate President Harry S. Truman (Alexander Crespo Rosaro II) in the name of Puerto Rican independence. They have two pistols and a conspiratorial Can-Do attitude. They intend to use their train trip to solidify their plans, but their fellow travelers (Ashley L. Aldarondo) keep interrupting Oscar and Griselio’s trip. Teatro Chelsea’s website says this play is “Loosely based on historical events and definitely based on recent ones, the beautiful land i seek (la linda tierra que busco yo) is a funny, gripping rollercoaster ride through Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States.” Director Rivera plays a poet with one foot in the future and the other in the present.  Continue reading →