Category Archives: Drama

Sep 02

The Better to Allure You With, My Dear

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Photo Credit: Wax Wings Productions

Grandma’s House
Directed by Jennifer Reddish, Script by Kevin Kordis

Factory Theater (791 Tremont Street Boston, MA) from August 22-September 2

Wax Wings Productions
Wax Wings Facebook Page

Review by Kitty M Drexel

(Boston) Grandma’s House is a dramatic re-envisioning of the classic “Little Red Riding Hood” tale. Playwright, Kevin Kordis, brings the relationship between the Wolf and Little Red into the 22nd century as he explores the many definitions of the term “Wolf.” In this cautionary tale about cautionary tales, the cast and crew invite their audience to enjoy the fable of their youth and manipulate them into challenging their understanding of what a wolf is and can be. Continue reading →

Sep 01

Two Hours of Sweet Traffic: ROMEO AND JULIET

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Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Still Harbor, Dorchester 8/31/12-9/2/12
As well as other performances along the Eastern Shore through 9/14/12

Brown Box Theatre Project
Brown Box Theatre Project Facebook Page

Directed by Kyler Tausten
Fight Choreographer: Conor Olmstead

Review by Craig Idlebrook

What are your evening plans this weekend?  Cancel them.  I’ve got a Shakespeare play for you.

Wait, no, I’m serious.  I can hear the arguments now from the Bard-haters: long-winded speeches, posturing on stage, something fit for academic halls.  But that’s why you’ve got to drop what you’re doing and see the Brown Box Theatre breathe some life into the dusty folios with a no-frills, fast-paced production of Romeo and Juliet.  Continue reading →

Aug 25

What If? Racial Diversity in “Romeo and Juliet”

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My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

―Romeo and Juliet Act 2 Scene II

Photo Credit: Happy Medium Theatre

Director: Paula Plum
Dance Choreographer: Kiki Samko
Fight Choreographer: Angie Jepson

Happy Medium Theatre Company
Happy Medium Theatre Co. Facebook Page

Exposé by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Happy Medium Theatre (HMT) took a risk: it cast a black Romeo against a white Juliet (who had excellent chemistry by the by). Bravo HMT for having the chutzpah for casting biracially! Bravo for making your audience ask “what if?” What if Romeo had been a Moore like Othello? What if Juliet had fallen in love with her Romeo and the resulting drama was a result over their family names and not the color of their skin? What if their love was measured against all other loves and found to be equal? What if HMT’s version of Romeo and Juliet was the version that had been performed for centuries rather than the typical all White cast? Topical questions for 2012: What if, indeed.

In a time when the Supreme Court system cannot make up its mind as to whether marriage is a religious or a civil rights issue, HMT’s production forces us to take a look at the history of love. Just 15 years ago one wouldn’t see a biracial couple on daytime TV much less a reproduction of Shakespeare. It is time for all love to be measured by its inherent worth on the streets. It is also time for the shock to be amputated from love that exists outside the norm on the stage. If it has been acceptable for a 13-year-old girl to marry a 17-year-old boy for hundreds of years then it is certainly time for that couple to reflect its audience members.

As artists, we have an obligation to entertain and educate our audience, an obligation to leave our audience in better condition after the show than before it starts. It is our privilege as enthusiasts to create theater with our community. Thank you Happy Medium Theater Company for taking the opportunity to be poignant and to pose difficult questions. Thank you for being brave. Bravi tutti!

Performances ran August 10-25, 2012 at the Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts,
537 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116

Aug 13

The Pillowman Offers Dark, Bitter Comedy and Meditation on Art

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Flat Earth Theatre Presents The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

Photo Credit: Flat Earth Theatre

The Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

August 10, 11 2012 @ 8PM
Sunday, August 12, 2012 @ 2PM
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8PM – Pay-What-You-Can
Friday, August 17, 18 2012 @ 8PM
Flat Earth Theatre Company               The Pillowman Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

Under a totalitarian government, writer Katurian (Cameron Beaty Gosselin) and his brother, Michal (Chris Chiampa) are unfortunate enough to be arrested by the corrupt police force of their unnamed country. Exactly why they have been taken into the custody of Detective Tuoplski (Juliet Bowler) and the violent Officer Ariel (James Bocock) is teased out minute by painful minute. In this bitter tragicomedy, playwright Martin McDonagh asks tough questions about the responsibility of art and crime. Continue reading →

Aug 06

Be a Good Little Widow is a Good Little Show

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Image Credit: AIM Stage

Image Credit: AIM Stage

Be A Good Little Widow

August 2- 12

Directed by Courtney O’Connor, AIM Stage, http://www.aimstage.com/index.html

Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm Street, Somerville, MA

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Somerville, MA) In its inaugural productions, AIM Stage performs a successful balancing act between humor and tragedy. Bekah Brunstetter’s skillfully wrought Be a Good Little Widow is about the awkward timing of grief, the impact it has on relationships, and the bittersweet experience of watching someone disappear completely from your life. I was enormously touched and entertained by it. Continue reading →

Jul 31

A Few Moments of Grace: Steel Magnolias

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Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, directed by Nancy Curran Willis
Nextdoor Center for the Arts, July 13-28 2012, http://www.nextdoortheater.org/STEEL.html

photo credit: Nextdoor Center for the Arts

Reviewed by Kate Lonberg-Lew

(Winchester, MA) When I watch an Olympic gymnast fly on the balance beam or the uneven bars, I
know I am watching genius, not because I know the difference between a punch- front summersault and a double pike, but because they make it look easy, effortless. The same can be said of playwright Robert Harling, the author of Steel Magnolias. Continue reading →

Jul 02

“Polaroid Stories” Messily Blends Myth and Teen Anguish

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Kiki Samko, Luke Murtha, Michael Underhill, Elizabeth Battey, and Michael Caminiti, photo credit: Heart & Dagger Productions

Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka, Heart & Dagger Productions, Boston Actors’ Theatre, and Happy Medium Theatre**,  Black Box Theatre at Boston Center for the Arts, 6/29/12-7/14/12, http://www.heartanddagger.org/.

**THIS REVIEW WAS SCHEDULED PRIOR TO THE CHANGES IN OUR REVIEWING POLICY AND WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE THAT HAPPY MEDIUM THEATRE COMPANY WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED

Reviewed by Gillian Daniels

(Boston, MA) With mixed success, Polaroid Stories attempts an abstract production that marries mythology and youth drug culture.  It’s a uneasy union.  The actors, at least, mine the material to the best of their abilities. Continue reading →

Jun 11

Happy Medium Theatre’s The American Plan

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The American Plan by Richard Greenberg, Happy Medium Theatre Company, Factory Theatre, 6/8/12-6/16/12, http://www.happymediumtheatre.com/.

Feature by Gillian Daniels

Happy Medium Theatre’s The American Plan starts off light.

Set during an early-1960’s summer, a young couple meet cute and begin a hesitant courtship near a resort in the Catskill Mountains.  The first act sets up initially simple obstacles, mysterious pasts and disapproving parents.  By the second act, the play finally bears its teeth, revealing far more bile for the age than its nostalgic exterior would suggest. Continue reading →

Jun 02

Vampires, Actually: YOUR WILDEST DREAMS

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Your Wildest Dreams by Joey C. Pelletier, Heart & Dagger Productions, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 5/18/12-6/2/12, http://heartanddagger.weebly.com/.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

So you want to be a playwright.  Great.  From painful personal experience, let me offer one suggestion: limit your characters.  I know you will be tempted by the prospect of adding a zany waiter with a secret past or a crazy aunt with who steals the scene at dinner, but don’t.  Playwriting is hard.  Making a fully dimensional character is hard.  Keeping the audience’s attention is much harder than you think, and there is no worse sinking feeling than watching your friends make excuses halfway through your stage-reading, believe me.  Continue reading →

May 23

Trojan Women: An Atmospheric View of the Devastation of War

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photo credit: Whistler in the Dark

Trojan Women by Euripides,
Whistler in the Dark,
The Factory Theatre,
5/18/12-6/2/12, http://www.whistlerinthedark.com/productions/trojanwomenprod.html.

Reviewed by Anthony Geehan

(Boston, MA) The end of war is something that is looked on as a celebratory event. Images of servicemen returning home, country’s flags being raised, and a collective sigh of relief from the population are the usual symbols that are associated with victory. There is however always a losing side in a war who must deal with a devastated homeland, a shamed or exterminated army, and the loss of everything their civilization was or could ever be. Continue reading →