Tag Archives: Central Square Theater

Nov 10

Yearning for Connection Across Memory: “Summer, 1976”

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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 →

Sep 16

Two Turn-of-the-Century Trailblazers: “The Kittie Knox Plays” & “Silent Sky”

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The Kittie Knox Plays 
Produced by Plays in Place with MassBike
Three one-act plays by Patrick Gabridge, Claire Gardener, Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by Michelle Aguillon
Music direction by Nicholas Chieffo
Choreography by Hampton Richards
Performances in Cambridge, Milton and Boston, MA
The plays are FREE, but registration is required. 

&

Silent Sky 
Produced by Central Square Theater, a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Sarah Shin
Sound designer and composer: Kai Bohlman
Choreography by Peter DiMuro
Performances in Cambridge, MA
Playbill online

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The 2025/2026 theatre season began in earnest for this queen theatre geek with two turn-of-the-century plays about two local headstrong, heart-set trailblazers: daredevil cyclist Kittie Knox (1874 – 1900) and astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921) and her colleagues at the Harvard Observatory. I had the great fortune of watching both productions on Saturday, Sept. 13. Like a curated tasting of fine wines, the productions have their distinct differences but offer something for every playgoer.  Continue reading →

Jun 03

Bold, Brutalist Political Commentary: “Mrs. Warren’s Profession”

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In Photo: Melinda Lopez, Wesley Savick, Nael Nacer, Evan Taylor, Luz Lopez, Barlow Adamson, Photo by: Nile Scott Studios

Presented by Central Square Theater
By George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Eric Tucker
Featuring Barlow Adamson, Luz Lopez, Melinda Lopez, Nael Nacer, Wesley Savick, Evan Taylor

Central Square Theater
May 29 – June 22, 2025
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

Cambridge, MA — If there is one theme that director Eric Tucker drives home with his take on George Bernard Shaw’s once-controversial drama, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, it is greed. Scenes of domestic heartbreak play out in a sleek, modern boardroom; children and parents bicker from either end of a lengthy conference table; and overhead, capitalism’s unfeeling gaze surveilles the characters in the form of frenetically changing stock market numbers.

In theory, this modern approach should illuminate aspects of the play that feel trite by 21st century standards. The mere mention of Mrs. Warren’s profession (spoiler alert: she owns a brothel.) was controversial by late-Victorian standards, but the play’s truly radical nature lies in a question that remains just as pertinent today: Can genuine human connection survive when capitalism renders everything, even the most primal of relationships, merely transactional? Continue reading →

Apr 09

Being Polite is the American Way of Lying: “Her Portmanteau”

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In Photo: Lorraine Victoria Kanyike, Patrice Jean-Baptiste Photo by: Maggie Hall Photography

Presented by Central Square Theater with the Front Porch Arts Collective
By Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Tasia A. Jones
Dramaturgy by Elijah Estolano Punzal
Original music and sound design by Eduardo M Ramirez
Dialect coaching by Bibi Mama
Featuring Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Jade A Guerra, Lorraine Victoria Kanyike

March 27 – April 20, 2025
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Online playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective present the fourth play in Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle, Her Portmanteau by Mfoniso Udofia. Many elements recommend this play, including great acting and moving storytelling. Additionally, while it is part of the Ufot Cycle, it stands alone as a tribute to a Massachusetts family trying to love each other despite intergenerational trauma, betrayal, and culture shock. 

In Her Portmanteau, the American Ufot family reconnects with the Nigerian Ekpoyong family. Adiaha Ufot (Lorraine Victoria Kanyike) welcomes half-sister Iniabasi Ekpeyong (Jade A Guerra) to her New York apartment. It is winter, and Iniabasi has neither the coat nor footwear for the frigid weather. Adiaga offers Iniabasi a sweater and woollen socks, but Iniabasi refuses them. Iniabasi had to wait over an hour at JFK Airport. She was supposed to land in Boston. Their mother, Abasiama (Patrice Jean-Baptiste), was supposed to pick Iniabasi up so they could stay at the family house in Worcester. No one looks like their photos. Iniabasi doesn’t know why things have changed or who to trust.  Continue reading →

Feb 10

Crones Belong in “SPACE”

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Presented by Central Square Theater
The Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science Production
A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production
By L M Feldman
Directed by Larissa Lury
Created by L M Feldman and Larissa Lury

January 30 – February 23, 2025
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — There is no way Central Square Theater could have predicted the exact sequencing of events following the presidential inauguration on January 20, but, because its art is based in the sciences, it must have had an inkling that SPACE by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury would be topical. It’s Black History Month and the White House is stripping women and minorities of equity and inclusion opportunities to favor the most bleached, tantrum-fueled presidential idiocrasy oligarchy since Reagan allowed his hate and other mucuses to trickle down and stop up our national funding pipelines. But I digress. SPACE is a good show about badass astronauts who defied the odds to kick ass up and down U.S. history.   

SPACE is told in two parts and recognizes time as an a-linear construct. The story bounces through the years like a racquetball on a closed court. Part One integrates the stories of the U.S. aviation’s best and brightest pilots yesterday and today: Bessie Coleman & Irene Leverton (Valencia Proctor), Jerri Sloan & Christina Hernandez (Monica Risi), Hazel Ying Lee, Wally Funk & Ivy Rieker (Hui Ying Wen), Jackie Cochran & Gene Nora Stumbough, Jasmin Moghbeli & Jean Hixson (Mitra Sharif), Mae Jemison & Jane Hart (Kaili Y Turner), Sally Ride & Geraldyn Cobb (MK Tuomanen), and the male scientists and male politicians who stop them because they don’t believe vaginas belong in space (all played by Barlow Adamson who utilizes a grand JFK accent à la Abbott Vaughn Meader). We watch these heroic women go from the 1940s Women’s Airforce Service Pilots to lobbying Congress to allow women in the space race. We watch them undergo physical, mental and cultural tests to prove their space-worthiness. They do everything right and still can’t touch the cosmos because of military gatekeeping.

Click it. Sally Ride wasn’t sorry. You won’t be either.

Continue reading →

Dec 18

Celebration Through Sitcoms: “Holiday Feast”

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Presented by The Front Porch Arts Collective
Directed by Jackie Davis
Stage Directions by Kandyce Whittingham
The scene chewing “Holiday Feast” team is HERE.

​Dec. 12-14, 2024
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Porch’s “Holiday Feast” was an evening of staged readings from beloved Black sitcoms Amen, The Jeffersons, A Different World, and Family Matters. The Porch did what it does best; it brought its community together in a celebration of Black joy. 

It was silly: The cast sometimes diverged from the script to playfully mess with each other as good friends do; actors embraced the quirks of revered characters George Jefferson, Whitley Gilbert and Steve Urkel. It was serious: Christmas episodes teach important lessons while recognizing their characters’ shortcomings… But, the cast didn’t dwell in severity; they found joy and kept it lifted through the evening. When the moment called for it, we sang along with the cast. There were teary eyes and boisterous laughs; the very best ingredients for a great night of theater no matter who you are. 

Christmas can be a dark time for some folks. It is for me. Watching other people laugh and love is healing. And, the United States is about to go into a dark period of conservative politics armed and ready to hurt minority groups for daring to feel joy in their presence. Very soon, our joy will be weaponized against us (like when Harris danced at a party, and it became a reason not to vote for her). It behooves us now to claim our joy and our healing as rebellion. We will need it and each other in the New Year to get through the following four. 

So, I urge you to find your joy and to hold close friends, old and new, who will celebrate it with you. The New England Theatre Geeks wish you a merry Kwanzaanukkahdad and a mele New Year! I hope it’s a good one without any tears.  

Sep 16

If Not Friend, Why Friend Shaped?: “The Hound of the Baskervilles”

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Presented by Central Square Theater
Based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
By Steven Canny & John Nicholson
Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner
Featuring: Aimee Doherty, Jenny S. Lee, Sarah Morin 

September 12 – October 6, 2024
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

The running time is approximately 2 hours, 15 minutes including an intermission.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Central Square Theater’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is intentionally silly and joyfully performed. In this time of immature politicians who make up stories for negative attention like spoiled brats, it is refreshing to laugh with actors creating great theatre and not at bad actors bastardizing the First Amendment. THOTB runs in Cambridge, MA through October 6.  Continue reading →

Jun 11

Imperfect Healing: “next to normal”

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Next to Normal – Highlights from Central Square Theater on Vimeo.

Presented by Central Square Theatre and The Front Porch Arts Collective
Music by Tom Kitt
Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Direction and Choreography by Pascale Florestal
Voice and Music Direction by Katie Bickford
Intimacy Direction by Sean Patrick Gibbons
Featuring Cortlandt Barrett, Diego Cintrón, Ricardo “Ricky” Holguin, Sherée Marcelle, Dashawn McClinton, Anthony Pires, Jr.

May 30 – June 30, 20024
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Review by Kate Lew Idlebrook

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Central Square Theater’s next to normal is a mother struggling with the daily grind of managing her family’s busy lives. A father worried he isn’t doing enough to support his wife and children. A teenage daughter who wants her parents to truly see her. A son who is fighting not to be left behind. The whole Goodman family insisting that it’s all “gonna be good.” It’s all just so relatable. Continue reading →

Feb 05

You Can’t Quit Everytime Someone Denies You Funding: “Machine Learning”

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Armando Rivera. Photo: Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Central Square Theater
Produced in partnership with Teatro Chelsea
A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production
Written by Francisco Mendoza
Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman
Dramaturgy by Sofia Cardona

January 25 – February 25. 2024
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Machine Learning runs approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.

Content warning: Themes of addiction, toxic masculinity, a child in an emotionally and mentally abusive environment, and human suffering. 

Prop cigarettes are used in this production.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Machine Learning by Francisco Mendoza is presented jointly by Central Square Theater and Teatro Chelsea. It is directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman and will play at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA through February 25.

Machine Learning imagines a world where the abilities of AI have grown far past ChatGPT and Siri. Jorge (Armando Rivera) is a promising but aimless grad student without a university to sponsor his work. Anita (Sugandha Gopal), a robotics and AI professor agrees to bring Jorge into her program on the condition that Jorge will choose a project and stick with it.  Continue reading →

Nov 06

Let the Sun and Light Come Streaming: “The Rocky Horror Show”

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The Rocky Horror Show at CST! First Rehearsal! from Central Square Theater on Vimeo.

Presented by Central Square Theater 
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Richard O’Brien
Directed by Jo Michael Rezes & Lee Mikeska Gardner
Music Direction by Jack Cline
Choreography by Ilyse Robbins
Gender Consulting and Intimacy Direction by Shira Helena Gitlin
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Consulting by Kira Troilo

October 26 – November 26, 2023
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue 
Cambridge, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — I have a lot of personal feelings about The Rocky Horror Show. It is my favorite, and I had to shake off my preconceived notions of what a production should be to give a fair critique. 

Preferences aside, a critic asks and answers two questions when critiquing: What did the artist attempt to do? Did they do it? The rest of the article is opinionated fluff and dramaturgy. 

  1. What did Central Square Theater attempt? The company produced Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show for CST’s beloved audience of MIT nerds and nerd allies. 
  2. Did CST do it? Yes. 

A potential third question is “Did they do it well?” This question is subjective. Multiple perspectives can be true at the same time.  Continue reading →