Jan 20

The Invisible Work of Holding It Together in “Job”

Credit: Benjamin Rose Photography

Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company
By Max Wolf Friedrich
Directed by Marianna Bassham

Jan 16 – Feb 7, 2026
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Helen Ganley

Approximate run time: 1 hour 20 minutes with no intermission.

This production contains strong language, gun use, and discussions of trauma, violence, and abuse. Distressing sounds are used and were ethically sourced. Strobing effects and red and green flashing lights are also used.

BOSTON — “Everyone needs therapy.” As a 24-year-old woman living in Boston, it’s a phrase you hear tossed around constantly. It might be invoked while unpacking a friend’s toxic ex, a coworker’s strained family dynamics, or a roommate’s own internal battles. The phrase carries an easy confidence that there is a place for these stories to go, a person trained to receive them, and a clean separation between the one who speaks and the one who listens.

Job unsettles that assumption. Its patient is a content moderator, professionally tasked with absorbing the internet’s most disturbing images so others don’t have to encounter them. If therapy depends on the idea that pain can be transferred without consequence, Job asks what happens when both people in the room are already doing that work for a living. What begins as a therapeutic exchange becomes a hall of mirrors, where emotional labor reflects endlessly back on itself. Continue reading

Jan 14

A Dream Without a Plan Is Just A Wish: “The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)”

Yetunde Felix-Ukwu and Victoria Omoregie. Photo by Ken Yotsukura Photography.

Presented by Company One, a co-production with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
By Nia Akilah Robinson
Directed by Mina Morita
Dramaturgy by Sonia Fernandez

Jan 9 – Jan 31, 2026
The Modern Theatre at Suffolk University
525 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Approximate run time: 1 hour 30 minutes with no intermission.
Seating is general admission.
This play includes strong language and the use of flashing lights.

BOSTON — For theatre folks, nothing puts current events into perspective like a play. America feels like it’s on fire, but it always has been. The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar), now running at Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre through Jan. 31, shows us how to find joy with our loved ones during our darkest moments; times and practices may change, but people do not; and, we may not get the closure we want, we get the closure we get. If you need a short break from the news to redirect your intentions, check out Company One’s Pay-What-You-Want tickets Continue reading

Dec 24

An Opportunity to Tell the Truth or, Your Silence Will Not Protect You: “Is This A Room”

The cast. Photo via Apollinaire Theatre Company.

Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company
By Tina Satter
Based on the original FBI Verbatim transcript is HERE.  
Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Scenic & Sound Design: Joseph Lark-Riley
Lighting Design: Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Stage Manager: Kaleb Perez-Albuerne
Assistant Stage Managers: Miguel Dominguez, Laura Hubbard
Featuring: Parker Jennings, Brooks Reeves, Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia, Bradley Belanger

Dec. 12, 2025-Jan. 11, 2026
Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150

Is This A Room on The Culture Show Podcast 

FBI Verbatim transcript is HERE.  

Approximately 75 minutes with no intermission. 

Content warning: Flashes of light, high tension, The Fed

Article by Kitty Drexel

“I sincerely apologize and take full responsibility for my actions. In particular, I want to apologize to my family.”  – Reality Winner to Chief U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall at her federal trial in Augusta, GA in 2017.

CHELSEA, Mass. — On June 3, 2017, Reality Winner, a linguist contractor for the National Security Agency, was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Augusta, Georgia, regarding her part in the leak of a classified document to The Intercept. Their conversation was recorded in accordance with FBI protocol. The leaked document was a classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. 

On August 23 of that year, Winner was convicted and sentenced to five years and three months in a federal prison under the Espionage Act of 1917. At the time, it was the longest federal prison sentence ever imposed for classified leaks to the news media.  Continue reading

Dec 16

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

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

Nov 23

Wrestling with empathy through documentary theatre: “SpaceBridge”

The ensemble. Photo by Walter Wlodarczyk.

Presented by ArtsEmerson
Produced by Visual Echo & Irina Kruzhilina
Conceived and directed by Irina Kruzhilina
Written by Irina Kruzhilina and Clark Young
Cinematography by Aleksei Postnikov
Featuring Ellen Lauren, Alisa Shaverdova, Anastasia Skorobogach, Anna Skorobogach, Arina Skorobogach, Artem Skorobogach, Leon Ladia, Lily Borzenko, Mark Savin, Mars Markelov, Sasha Boikova, Sonia Tsatskina, Adele Nigrini, Alexis Edel, Drake Malave, Henry MacDowell, Isaac Stinson, Maisie Pickar, Nate Hatter, Sabine Gutenberg, Silas MacLean and Zora Graves

November 21 – 23, 2025
559 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111
Emerson Paramount Center
Tickets here 

Review by Maegan Clearwood

Recommended for ages 12+

BOSTON — If you’ve seen documentary theatre before, then nothing in SpaceBridge will surprise you: live movement is interspersed with statistics, news reports, and recorded interviews, split into chapters and stitched together with a framing device. The multimedia production elements are flashy and sophisticated, as one would expect from a piece spearheaded by Irina Kruzhilina, who, among other credits, co-founded the MFA program of the New School and is a resident artist at LaMaMa. 

But the true power of SpaceBridge comes from the storytellers themselves: 11 young Russian refugees, children of antiwar activists currently living in New York City shelters while seeking political asylum. With their eight American friends, they present the output of an intensive workshop program, telling story after story of fear, grief, compassion, and hope.  Continue reading

Nov 10

Yearning for Connection Across Memory: “Summer, 1976”

Laura Latreille, Lee Mikeska Gardner; Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Central Square Theater
By David Auburn
Directed by Paula Plum
Featuring: Lee Mikeska Gardner, Laura Latreille

November 6 – 30th, 2025
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Critique by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

CAMBRIDGE, Mass — Summer, 1976 is an intimate play. It is literally small, with a cast of two, a runtime of just 90 minutes, and a cozy little set that brings the actors practically nose-to-nose with the audience. But more interestingly, it is a story about yearning: two women stumble headfirst into an unexpected friendship, underestimating how hungry they are for deep, heart-opening vulnerability. They also underestimate how terrifying that kind of connection can be.

David Auburn’s play transports us to Ohio during the American bicentennial. Offstage, the women’s liberation movement is in full swing. Onstage, at Central Square Theatre, we could be anywhere, anytime. The set (Kristin Loeffler) features two brightly colored dollhouse-like facades to indicate where different scenes take place, but nothing onstage screams 1970s, and the costumes (Sydney Hovasse) allude to a bit of hippy inspiration without throwing the audience back in time. Continue reading

Nov 02

Puppetry is an Empathy Machine: “The 4th Witch”

The Little Girl and the Old Woman. Photo by Katie Doyle.

Presented by ArtsEmerson
A Manual Cinema Production
Concept & Direction by Drew Dir
Devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace & Julia Miller
Original Score & Sound Design by Ben Kauffman & Kyle Vegter
Puppet / Silhouette Design by Drew Dir
Mask Design: Julia Miller
Lighting Design: David Goodman‑Edberg
Costume / Wig Design: Sully Ratke
Musicians: Caroline Jesalva, Lia Kohl, Lucy Little, Alicia Walter 

October 30 – November 9, 2025
Emerson Paramount Center
Robert J. Orchard Stage
559 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111

Content: Recommended for Ages 12+ 

Duration: Approximately 65 minutes, no intermission

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Manual Cinema’s The 4th Witch shows its audience Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the perspective of a novice witch. Eastern Europe, WWII: Macbeth (Jeffrey Paschal) is a giant, faceless monster in a Nazi uniform and a gas mask. The French countryside is his battleground. A happy little girl’s (Sarah Fornace) life is changed forever as Macbeth’s fascist army tears through her home, destroying goodness at every turn. In her search for safety, the girl falls ill and barely escapes Macbeth’s soldiers with her life. An old woman (Julia Miller, Lizi Breit & Leah Casey), who is more than she seems, takes in the girl, nurses her back to health, and teaches her the ways of the forest. Her lessons include cooking, herbal remedies, and unlocking her potential witchcraft through the power of feminine rage.  Continue reading

Oct 29

Straddle the Line in Discord and Rhyme: “The Wolves”

The Wolves cast; photo via Facebook.

Presented by Hive Theatre Company
By Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Margaret McFadden

Oct. 17 – 19, 2025
BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes with ONE intermission

Content Warning: The Wolves contains strong language, discussions of sexual content, and references to mental health struggles, eating disorders, and mentions of death and grief.

BOSTON — If William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies were adapted for a modern teenage girls’ soccer team, it would be The Wolves. In Golding’s novel, prepubescent boys are stranded on an island without adults. Unmitigated chaos ensues. In The Wolves, an indoor girls’ soccer team, also with negligible adult oversight, adapts much better to their ogled but unsupervised soccer practices. Earlier this month, we saw the Hive Theatre Company’s Wolves ensemble stretch, bully their peers, and embrace their challenges for the newest generation of theatre makers. 

The Wolves is a microcosm of the teenage girl’s experience navigating life’s big and small questions. Playwright Sarah DeLappe captures the demands of modern living in her script; her characters tackle topics like the historical evils of the Khmer Rouge amidst conversations about kissable boys. They stretch their lithe bodies before a home game while discussing the teen version of “having it all.” Through the lens of the pregame routine, DeLappe looks under the superficial facade of the cutesy teen stereotype to show us their personhood.  Continue reading

Sep 23

Swagger and Thunder Over Coffee: “The Mountain Top”

Dominic Carter as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography.

Presented by The Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
Written by Katori Hall
Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Assistant Directed by Kayla Sessoms

September 19 – October 12, 2025
 The Suffolk University Modern Theatre
525 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111
Digital Program: Link

Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission

Review by Helen Ganley

“Never meet your heroes, because they’re sure to disappoint you.”

BOSTON — This Proust quote drips with cynicism, suggesting that if we become too familiar with those we admire, they’ll inevitably fall short of our expectations. I disagree. Heroism isn’t about being untouchable; it’s precisely the fact that they are human, flaws and all, who nonetheless achieve something extraordinary that makes them heroic in my eyes.

The Front Porch Arts Collective’s production of “The Mountaintop” challenges this very notion. Written by Katori Hall, the two-character play reimagines Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 3, 1968. There, he engages in a flirtatious yet profound conversation with a motel maid named Camae, one that blends the ordinary with the spiritual. The play premiered in London in 2009 before transferring to the West End, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. Its Broadway debut came in 2011 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, starring Samuel L. Jackson as Dr. King and Angela Bassett as Camae. With its mix of realism and magical elements, The Mountaintop offers a moving meditation on mortality, legacy, and the unfinished work of justice. Continue reading

Sep 22

You Gotta Fix the Trouble in Your Own Neighborhood Before Makin’ Trouble Anywhere Else: “The Ceremony”

Photo by Ken Yotsukura.

Produced by CHUANG Stage, in partnership with Boston University School of Theatre and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (with The Huntington)
A World Premiere by Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Kevin R. Free

September 11 – October 5, 2025
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
Boston, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Holy cats, tickets are sold out! Congratulations to the cast, crew and staff of The Ceremony! Break all the legs! A ticket waitlist is HERE

BOSTON — The saying goes, weddings, funerals, and babies bring out the best and absolute worst in people. Whether fearing change, fearing loss of control, or feeling overwhelmed by all of the pesky details, these three situations stir madness in even the most sensible of people. So, it makes sense that a loving but frequently rocky family dynamic, such as the Ufots’ in Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle, would experience some instability during wedding planning. The Ceremony, now at BU’s Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre, shows us what happens when a family’s intergenerational secrets threaten a happy couple’s wedding plans.  Continue reading