Tag Archives: American Repertory Theater

Oct 08

Using His Powers for Good: “300 Paintings”

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Sam Kissajukian in performance of 300 Paintings. Credit: Evgenia Eliseeva

Presented by American Repertory Theater
Written and Performed by Sam Kissajukian
Produced by Sally Horchow and Matt Ross in association with Octopus Theatricals

Now – Oct. 25, 2025
Farkas Hall
12 Holyoke Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Critique by Diana Lu

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Watching 300 Paintings feels a bit like being dropped straight into the mind of Sam Kissajukian, mid-manic episode—but with comfy seats, visual aids, and killer comedic timing. For 80 minutes straight, the comedian-turned-painter commands the stage with no script; his first 300 paintings flash on the black screen behind him. The result is a hilarious, high-energy, and surprisingly insightful comedic monologue that explores the fine line between genius and madness, connection and isolation, and what gets assigned as worthy in this late-stage capitalist world of unprecedented wealth disparity—a world obsessed with packaging everything, including ourselves, into “brands,” “content,” “product.” Continue reading →

Sep 05

Pushing the boundaries of genre and form: “Passengers”

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Photo by Alexandre Galliez.

Production by The 7 Fingers
Presented by American Repertory Theater
Co-produced by TOHU (Montréal, Canada) and ArtsEmerson (Boston, États-Unis)
Written, directed, and composed by Shana Carroll
Composition and music direction by Colin Gagné
Lyrics Colin Gagné, Shana Carroll
Lighting design by Eric Champoux
Projection design by Johnny Ranger
Featuring: Victor Crépin, Eduardo De Azevedo Grillo, Isabella Diaz, Marie-Christine Fournier, Téo Le Baut, Amanda Orozco, Michael Patterson, Basile Pucek, Santiago Rivera, Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard

September 2 – 26, 2025
Tickets
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Review by Maegan Clearwood

This production contains haze and flashing lights. 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –Since moving to Boston four years ago, I have been spoiled rotten by access to top-tier circus – from kitschy Halloween horrors with Boston Circus Guild’s Cirque of the Dead (now an annual tradition of mine) to a breathtaking showcase of talent from the instructors at Commonwealth Circus Center in Jamaica Plain. I am in awe of the twisty, bendy, flippy talent that’s on regular display here in my own backyard.  

Aside from this array of homegrown talent, Boston also has an ongoing love for Montreal circus troupe The 7 Fingers. The A.R.T. presented the ensemble’s spin on Pippin in 2012, and ArtsEmerson hosted Duel Reality last season, an irreverent twist on a Shakespearean classic. This fall, the troupe is back at The A.R.T. with its production of Passengers, which first premiered in Boston in 2019. Continue reading →

Jun 02

With A Side of Cheese: “Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)”

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Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts in Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).
Photo: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall

Presented by American Repertory Theater
A Kiln Theatre Production
By Jim Barne and Kit Buchan
Directed and Choreographed by Tim Jackson
Music Direction by Jeffrey Campos
Featuring: Christiani Pitts, Sam Tutty 

May 20 – July 13, 2025
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Digital playbill 

This production contains haze, fog, and flashing lights. Recommended for ages 12+.
Run Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes, including one intermission

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) hit Harvard Square just before Harvard’s various commencement ceremonies. It’s a politically charged time when Harvard has spent months fighting for its freedoms as an educational organization (among which, its freedom to receive federal funding as a contractor with the federal government). The Square is flooded with awed tourists collecting memories and memorabilia as their family members graduate from Harvard’s hallowed halls. Meanwhile, pissed off locals navigate around slow-paced bodies as we rush about our work-a-day lives. Coincidentally, it’s a dichotomy captured in Two Strangers. 

As in the musical playing at the Loeb Drama Center, the U.S. has a different reputation at home than it does outside of our country: The U.S. (and by extension Harvard University), depending on who you ask, is an untamed land of permissible behavior and flashy but great industrial innovations. The international community loves us or hates us depending on their income level and political leanings. Many of our citizens feel the same. 

So, it comes to no great surprise that main character Dougal (Sam Tutty) expects New York to resemble the city he’s seen in the movies: action adventures, “I’m walkin’ here,” tourist traps, and musical montages. Robin (Christiani Pitts) quickly corrects Dougal’s expectations. New York tourism is for people with money, she says. They are broke. It turns out, they are also broken on the inside. Oh hey – just like our transportation, judicial and political systems (etc.)! Welcome, new friend. Continue reading →

Mar 31

An Invitation to Sacred Vulnerability: “Night Side Songs”

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Jonathan Raviv and Brooke Ishibashi in “Night Side Songs” at Under the Radar’s “Under Construction.” Photo: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall

Presented by American Repertory Theater in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company
Words and music by Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour
Directed by Taibi Magar
Music Direction and Piano Arrangements by Alex Bechtel
Featuring: Jordan Dobson, Robi Hager, Brooke Ishibashi, Johathan Raviv, Mary Testa

March 27 – April 20
At the Cambridge Masonic Temple from March 27 – April 6
At Hibernian Hall, April 8 – 20
Tickets and information here

Content Advisory: This production contains descriptions of cancer treatments as well as discussions of grief, loss of a parent, and terminal illness. Recommended for ages 15+.

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

CAMBRIDGE, Mass — Night Side Songs is not a religious story, but it is the closest I have ever come to having a spiritual experience in the theatre.

This production by the Lazour brothers, aptly described by the A.R.T. as a “communal music-theater experience,” is simultaneously concerned with the benign materiality and ineffable transcendence of human existence. In one moment, central character Yasmine (Brooke Ishibashi) discusses her love of Velveeta mac-and-cheese; in another, she contemplates the unfathomable smallness of existence – two distinct but equally holy experiences. Continue reading →

Feb 28

Dreams Are Not Prophecies: “The Odyssey”

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Alejandra Escalante, Kate Hamill, Nike Imoru, and Wayne T. Carr in The Odyssey.
Photo: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall

Presented by American Repertory Theater 
Written and adapted by Kate Hamill
Based on the epic poem by Homer
Directed by Shana Cooper
Dramaturgy HERE

Digital Playbill HERE

Feb 11 – Mar 16, 2025
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge MA 02138

This production contains sex, violence (including the death of children and animals), and references to sexual assault, as well as fog, haze, strobe, and flashing lights. 
Recommended for ages 14+.

“As a feminist playwright, I believe deeply in creating female-driven narratives and reclaiming the classics for people of all backgrounds and genders. My Odyssey is narrated by the three female Fates, who literally haunt Odysseus as the spirits of the women of Troy; women drive the story. Not only warriors bear the cost of war, and it’s easy to lose the stories of how often women and children are the victims of brutal conflict around the world.”

-Adaptor Kate Hamill in “A Note from Kate Hamill” on the A.R.T. website

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Kate Hamill’s The Odyssey running at the American Repertory Theater reimagines its title character Odysseus if he were just a guy. In Homer’s epic poem and the adapted play, Odysseus makes terrible choices which he conveniently blames on the gods and mortal women if he doesn’t like the consequences. The Odyssey reminds us that myths provide moral guidance that modern entertainment does not; when we remove the fantastical from our myths, we’re left with stories about everyday people ignoring red flags and turning from society’s fundamental principles of dignity, loyalty and honesty. 

Public schools have been teaching Homer’s The Odyssey for decades. It’s been turned into movies and T.V. serials. It’s inspired numerous fanfictions. Margaret Atwood’s 2005 The Penelopiad was made into a play for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England in 2007. It’s a fast read that pays homage to Atwood’s novel and Homer’s antagonized heroine. There’s even a 1987 episode of the original DuckTales entitled “Home Sweet Homer” loosely based on Homer’s poem. There are oodles of opportunities to know The Odyssey without reading the original… Which can be tricky to read and absorb depending on the dry clunkiness of the translation. Fortunately, Hamill’s play is anything but.    Continue reading →

Dec 17

History, Memory, and Poetry in Motion: “Diary of a Tap Dancer”

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The cast of “Diary of a Tap Dancer.” Photo: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall

Presented by the American Repertory Theater
Written and Choreographed by Ayodele Casel
Directed by Torya Beard
Scenic Design by Tatiana Kahvegian
Costume Design by Camilla Dely
Projection Design by Katherine Freer
Lighting Design by Brandon Stirling Baker
Featuring Ayodele Casel, Naomi Funaki, Afra Hines, Quynn L. Johnson, Funmi Sofola, Liberty Styles, Annaliese Wilbur, Ki’Leigh Williams

Dec. 12, 2024 – Jan. 4, 2025
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge MA 02138

Information and tickets here

Article by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

Content advisory: This production contains racial slurs, discusses domestic violence and drug use, and includes historical references to enslaved and oppressed people. It also contains haze and flashing lights. Recommended for ages 13+.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Ayodele Casel speaks dance. Diary of a Tap Dancer, Casel’s fittingly titled autobiographical play now running at the A.R.T., traces her lifelong relationship to this kinesthetic language, from her early days desperately searching for an expressive outlet, to her early career in a white- and male-dominated industry, and ultimately to the here-and-now: as a Black queer female artist on a stage in Boston, yearning to tell her own story in her own words while she has the time. The play also excavates Casel’s place within the broader context of dance history, gazing backward at the women who paved the way and forward toward the brilliant collaborators on stage with her.

Diary of a Tap Dancer is ambitious in scope, and it doesn’t hit every emotional beat with the same impact – but when it succeeds, it is resplendent. Continue reading →

Sep 10

Parents Just Don’t Understand: “Romeo and Juliet”

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Rudy Pankow (Romeo) and Emilia Suárez (Juliet), credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

Presented by American Repertory Theater
Play by William Shakespeare
Direction by Diane Paulus
Movement direction and choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Scenic design by Amy Rubin
Costume design by Emilio Sosa
Lighting design by Jen Schriever
Sound design by Daniel Lundberg
Original music by Alexandre Dai Castaing
Featuring: Terence Archie, Sharon Catherine Brown, Brandon Dial, Terrance Mann, Rudy Pankow, Clay Singer, Emilia Suárez, Nicole Villamil

August 31 – October 6
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge MA 02138
Tickets here

Article by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Shakespeare’s most ubiquitous tragic romance hinges on the duality between love and hate. In Director Diane Paulus’ program note, she expresses a desire to tip the scale toward love, but this A.R.T. production is most successful in its exploration of another duality: that of tradition and rebellion; the tension between one generation and the next. Continue reading →

Jun 14

Something Elegant and Threatening: “Gatsby: An American Myth”

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Presented by American Repertory Theater
Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett
Lyrics by Florence Welch
Book by Martyna Majok
Music Directed by Wiley DeWeese
Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Dramaturgy by Nissy Aya
Fight and Intimacy Direction by Rocío Mendez

July 23 – August 3, 2024
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

This production contains depictions of suicide, violence, loud noises, gunshot sounds, bright and flashing lights, fog, and haze. Recommended for ninth grade and up.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Chavkin, Majok, and Welch’s Gatsby: An American Myth uplifts the plight of America’s laboring proletariat in ways F Scott Fitzgerald could never, would never imagine. It is a work of striking work of intersectional feminism that denudes the superficial morality of ultra-privileged one-percenters. It is sexy; it is rock n roll hot Jazz; it is a cautionary tale about the depravity of feral capitalism wrapped with a white bow.  

F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was first published in 1926. This critique discusses important plot points of the ART’s musical inspired by the novel. Anyone wishing to avoid spoilers is 98 years too late. 

Continue reading →

Feb 24

It’s not just about becoming a man; it’s about becoming a Good Man: “Becoming a Man”

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“Becoming a Man” at the A.R.T. Photo by Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

Presented by the American Repertory Theater
Written by P. Carl
Directed by Diane Paulus and P. Carl
Music & Sound Design by Paul James Prendergast
Video Design by Brittany Bland
Fight Direction by Ted Hewlett
Intimacy Coordination by Kayleigh Kane
Dramaturgy by Ryan McKittrick

Feb. 16 – March 10, 2024
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

The Digital Playbill

Run Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes with no intermission, including a 20-minute Act II discussion

Image by Mass Transgender Political Coalition

At this time of celebration for P. Carl, the LGBTQIA+ community mourns the murder of Nex Benedict. Benedict was a 16-year-old 2SLGBTQ+ child of Choctaw descent living on the Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma. A vigil for Nex Benedict will be held tonight, February 24 at 6 PM at the Boston Commons Gazebo in Boston, MA.

MORE INFO and info on volunteering for the vigil

Review by Kitty Drexel, queer ally followed by a review by Noelani Kamelamela, trans community member

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Becoming a Man by P. Carl runs at the American Repertory Theater through March 10 at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square. It is based on the memoir of the same name also by P. Carl and can be purchased down the street from the Harvard Coop or your local independent bookseller. 

Becoming a Man is about P. Carl’s (Petey Gibson) transition into his full self and the impact it has on his entire world. Carl comes out to his parents (Christopher Liam Moore and Susan Rome) while caring for their aging bodies. He confides in his best friend Nathan (Cody Sloan) during necessary sanity breaks away from the city. Carl celebrates his gender euphoria with swimming lessons with Eddie (Justiin Davis).  Continue reading →

Dec 15

A Delight: “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical”

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The company in the A.R.T. world premiere of Real Women Have Curves: The Musical. Credit: Nile Hawver/Maggie Hall.

Presented by American Repertory Theater
Music & Lyrics by Joy Huerta & Benjamin Velez
Book by Lisa Loomer
Additional Material by Nell Benjamin
Based on the Play by Josefina López
And HBO’s Real Women Have Curves, Screenplay by Josefina López & George LaVoo
Music Supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo
Directed & Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo
Dialect Coaching by Elisa Gonzales
Intimacy Coordination by Lauren Kiele DeLeon
Dramaturgy by Brisa Areli Muñoz

Dec. 6, 2023 – Jan. 21, 2024
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 

The online Playbill

ART’s content warning from its website: “This production stages and discusses xenophobic commentary, racism, sexual themes, and body shaming and contains haze and fog. Recommended for sixth grade and up.”

Runtime: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission

Review by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The New England Theatre Geeks believe that real women identify as women. The discussion about how “woman” is defined has come a long way since 1990. It still has further to go.  #TransWomenAreWomen

Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is playing at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge through January 21. It is based on the 1990 play and 2002 movie of the same name by  Josefina López. 

It is important to note that Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is not about the important discussion surrounding LGBTQIA identity. It is a musical based on a movie based on a play about a young Latina woman from L.A. That’s the story. 

There is other theatre that carefully, strategically, and emphatically discusses this issue from the perspective of intersectional feminists. Real Women Have Curves: The Musical is already doing a lot of heavy lifting. Please do not demand more from it than it plans to give.  Continue reading →