Tag Archives: Emerson Paramount Center

Nov 02

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

Posted on by

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 →

Sep 21

TD Garden, #1 Diva Karaoke Experience: “Kristina Wong, #FoodBankInfluencer”

Posted on by

Kristina Wong influencing food; photo by Sally Blood.

Presented by ArtsEmerson
Written and performed by Kristina Wong
Directed by Jessica Hanna
Music directed by Howard Ho

Sept. 19 – 21, 2025
Robert J. Orchard Stage
Emerson Paramount Center
559 Washington St
Boston, MA 02111

Critique by Noe Kamelamela 

Content warning: food insecurity and the general chaos of 2025

BOSTON — I would rather hear a sad announcement in person. I also prefer to receive happy updates in person, face-to-face. If I have to absorb any kind of information regarding current events, I prefer the stylings of a comedian. Particularly, I want a comedian who knows they are not a journalist. I hope to experience two to five seconds of joy because it is 2025, and the current recession and situations are stressful enough. At least, laughing a little while facing a different, potentially new to me crisis, makes dealing with it more bearable.

Kristina Wong, #FoodBankInfluencer made good use of the bad news sandwich format. It contains horrifying truths to learn about and also uplifting sing-alongs to enjoy. It discusses histories of genocide, and it offers every audience member free food. Continue reading →

Apr 04

Not your average Karen’s brave play about disability: “It’s A Motherf**king Pleasure”

Posted on by

The Cast; Photo Credit: Alex Brenner.

Presented by ArtsEmerson 
FlawBored from UK
Director/dramaturg – Josh Roche
Created by Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani, and Chloe Palmer

April 2 – 13, 2025
Emerson Paramount Center 
Jackie Liebergott Black Box 
Boston, MA

Recommended for Ages 16+
Content warning: Strong Language, Ableism, Graphic Spoken Descriptions of Injury
Running Time: 60-ish minutes, no intermission

BOSTON — Sitting in the audience for FlawBored’s It’s A Motherf**king Pleasure in Emerson’s Jackie Liebergott Black Box, I felt unhindered joy watching the cast members Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani, and Chloe Palmer toss disability anxiety back into the faces of theoretical ableds whose anal accessibility pedantry makes our lives more work than it already is. My friends, it truly was a motherfucking pleasure.  Continue reading →

Nov 04

The Power of Radical Imagination: “On the Eve of Abolition”

Posted on by

Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz.

Presented by Arts Emerson
Written by Papel Machete
Directed by Jorge ‘Cano Cangrejo’ Díaz Ortiz
Directing team: Deborah Hunt and Sugeily Rodríguez Lebrón
Selected voices by Rob Thelusma, Krystal Clark, Mumia Abu-Jamal
Puppet and mask design and direction by Deborah Hunt
Lighting design by Luis Felipe Rivera Santiago
In community partnership with Prison Radio and Sisters Unchained

October 31 – November 3, 2024
Emerson Paramount Center, Robert J. Orchard Stage
559 Washington Street Boston, MA 02111
Tickets here

Critique by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

Content advisory: flashing lights, strong language, gun violence

BOSTON — In Papel Machete’s On the Eve of Abolition, an ensemble of multi-talented performers demonstrate the power of imagination on two levels.

For one, there is the majesty of inventive storytelling. Papel Machete presents an ever-unfolding series of theatrical surprises: doll-sized prison doors open to reveal cells where marionette revolutionaries bide time until their uprising; pop-up book scenes of abolition camps and prisons are displayed simultaneously on stage and through video projection; characters appear in a variety of awe-inspiring configurations, from tiny figurines trapped in paper prisons to life-sized dancers in detailed, expressive masks. Continue reading →

Sep 25

Too Much of a Good Thing: “MONKEY, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable”

Posted on by


Presented by White Snake Projects
Based on Journey to the West
Libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs
Composed by Jorge Sosa
Stage direction by Roxanna Myhrum
Music direction by Tianhui Ng
Puppet design by Tom Lee and Chicago Puppet Studio

Featuring Chuanyuan Liu, Dylan Morrongiello, Carami Hilaire, Cristina Maria Catro, John Paul Huckle, Maria Dominique, Lopez, Carlos Jose Torres Lopez, Nathaniel Justiniano, Angelo Guo, Eliott Purcell, Lawrence Chan, Amanda Gibson, VOICES Boston

September 23 – 24, 2023
Emerson’s Paramount Center Theater
559 Washington St
Boston, MA

Review by Maegon Bergeron-Clearwood

BOSTON, Mass. — MONKEY, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable ticks three of my personal favorite boxes. it features puppets and opera, two traditions that are rife with simple but powerful techniques for bringing fantastical stories to life. It also features martial arts, a personal passion of mine that I rarely see experimented with onstage. It’s a tantalizing combination of performance elements, and I could not have been more excited to discover how White Snake Projects would weave them together. Continue reading →

Feb 02

Beijing to Melbourne to Boston: “Made in China 2.0”

Posted on by

Presented by ArtsEmerson
A Malthouse Theatre Production
Written & Performed by Wang Chong   
Codirected & Production designed by Emma Valente  
Codesigned by Emma Lockhart Wilson  
Dramaturgy by Mark Pritchard

February 1 – 12, 2023
American Sign Language Performance – Saturday, February 11 at 2:00 PM 
Audio Described Performance – Sunday, February 12 at 2:00 PM 
Emerson Paramount Center 
Jackie Liebergott Black Box 
559 Washington Street 
Boston, MA 02111

Recommended for Ages 16+
60 minutes, no intermission

Review by Kitty Drexel

Boston, MA — ArtsEmerson respectfully asked journalists attending Wang Chong’s Made in China 2.0 to please refrain from discussing certain topics in an email days before the performance. They did this to ensure Chong’s safety while he visits the US and when he eventually leaves the US. Boston can be dangerous. 

Journalists were encouraged to discuss Chong as an artist, his previous work, how his work was received, and his upcoming work. We were asked to be sensitive when discussing Chong’s style of theatre-making and why it’s considered risky. 

I readily agreed to ArtsEmerson’s request. Freedom of speech is important to me. The sanctity of human life is too. America loves freedom!  Continue reading →

Oct 28

The Precise and the Indefinable: “On Beckett” 

Posted on by

Photo via https://artsemerson.org/events/on-beckett/

Presented by ArtsEmerson, with Irish Repertory Theatre 
Produced by Octopus Theatricals
Conceived and performed by Bill Irwin
Based on the writings of Samuel Beckett, Texts for Nothing, The Unnamable, Watt, and Waiting for Godot.

October 26 – 30, 2022
Open Captioning, Oct. 29, at 2:00 PM
Audio Description, Oct. 30, 2:00 PM
Emerson Paramount Center
559 Washington St
Boston, MA 02111

Beckittns on Instagram

90 minutes, no intermission

Critique by Kitty Drexel

ArtsEmerson isn’t asking you to turn your phone off for its health. Turn your damn phone off, you git. 

BOSTON, Mass — On Beckett is a masterclass taught by Bill Irwin on the works of playwright, novelist, Nobel Prize winner, and, among other things, WWII resistance fighter Samuel Beckett. Irwin’s dedicated performance, journalistic dramaturgy, and storytelling transcend the medium of the solo show. 

On Beckett isn’t merely a performance incorporating the works of the infamous playwright; it is a doctorate-level dissertation. Emerson, give Irwin his honorary Ph.D.     Continue reading →

Mar 19

I Need Your Hand on My Heart: “Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends”

Posted on by

Presented by ArtsEmerson and Sleeping Weasel
Written by Charlotte Meehan
Directed by Tara Brooke Watkins
Choreographed by Peter DiMuro
Videography by Lee Francois
Original composition “Alone Together” by Kirsten Volness

Live: March 12 – March 27, 2022
Streamed: April 1 – 10, 2022
Emerson Paramount Center
Jackie Liebergott Black Box
559 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends by Charlotte Meehan is about people. People are confusing, leaky, wonderful, breakable creatures capable of great love and harrowing despair. 

This play is also about disability. We are introduced to Meehan’s characters and their relationships, and then we learn about their relationships to Parkinson’s Disease. People with disabilities are human first so it is right that we learn the world of the play in this order. 

In Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends, three imperfect couples navigate their relationships. We watch them live with Parkinson’s Disease. The persons with PD are surviving. The caretakers are too. Survival means something different to each couple. We learn what survival means at the same time they do.  Continue reading →

Nov 19

“WET: A DACAmented Journey.” A Lucid Dreamer Speaks.

Posted on by


Presented by ArtsEmerson
Produced by Cara Mía Theatre & Ignite/Arts Dallas
Written and Performed by Alex Alpharaoh
Directed by Brisa Areli Muñoz

November 8-25, 2018
Emerson Paramount Center
Boston, MA    02111
ArtsEmerson on Facebook

Review by Diana Lu

(Boston, MA) Alex Alpharaoh’s one-man show is a captivating fusion of poetry and play. Alpharaoh transforms from character to character, suspense to comic relief with shape-shifter ease, never missing a stanza as he leads the audience through his onstage persona, Anner’s, ceaseless real-life struggles as an undocumented person in the US. Even traveling to see his dying grandfather for the first and last time is a life-threatening ordeal. It’s not life-or-death, but life as you know it-or-an undiscovered country certainly feels like comparable stakes. Continue reading →

Oct 24

The Prison System is Legalized Slavery: “The Peculiar Patriot”

Posted on by


Presented by ArtsEmerson
Produced by National Black Theater & Hi-ARTS
Created and Performed by Liza Jessie Peterson
Directed by Talvin Wilks

October 17-28, 2018
Emerson Paramount Center
Boston, MA
ArtsEmerson on Facebook

Review by Noelani Kamelamela

(Boston, MA) For relatively local folks who missed the remount of The Peculiar Patriot at the National Black Theatre in Manhattan this summer, grab tickets and head over to the Paramount Center. If you can’t catch The Peculiar Patriot over the rest of it’s Boston run, but if you know a theatre and a community who needs this show, bug the heck out of them to pay these artists and get this to as many audiences as possible.   Continue reading →