Tag Archives: June

Jun 07

More Fun Than Interviewing Pigeons: “The Birds and the Bees”

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Presented by Sleeping Weazel
Written by Kate Snodgrass (Bark), Adara Meyers (Birds), Charlotte Meehan (Beesus)
Directed by Melia Bensussen (Bark & Beesus), Shana Gozansky (Birds)

June 2 – 11, 2016
Plaza Black Box Theater
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA
Sleeping Weazel on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) The Birds and the Bees: A Festival of New Plays is good albeit strange theatre. Play #1, The Last Bark is the most concrete of the three plays that make up this production. Birds is post post-modern theatre. Beesus & Ballustrada is even more abstract than Birds. The performances are compelling. The scripts are perplexing. Continue reading →

Jun 07

Tracing Lines of Humanity in “Brilliant Traces”

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Photo credit: Kyler Taustin

Photo credit: Kyler Taustin

Presented by Brown Box Theatre Project
By Cindy Lou Johnson
Directed by Kyler Taustin

June 4-12, 2016
All performances are free to the public
Atlantic Wharf, 290 Congress Street
Boston, MA
Brown Box Theatre Project on Facebook

Review by Travis Manni

(Boston, MA) A remote cabin in Alaska during a treacherous snowstorm is the perfect setup to isolate the characters in Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces. And while having one of these two people burst in wearing a wedding gown was quite shocking, what was even more captivating about this play was the emotional depths to which it was willing to plunge. Continue reading →

Jun 06

Beyond the Bard: “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)”

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WRTDesJul

Photo back to front: Victoria George, Lily Odekirk, Marta Rainer* AEA*

Presented by Wellesley Repertory Theatre
Written by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Directed by Nora Hussey

May 26 – June 26
Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre
Wellesley, MA
WRT on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Wellesley, MA) Having just recently completed my own Doctorate in Shakespeare, I can relate deeply to the struggles of Constance Ledbelly, the heroine of Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).  To those who spend any amount of time studying Shakespeare’s works, the bard’s characters become constant companions; roommates, lovers, friends; nearly corporeal in their presence in our lives.  They haunt us; whispering echoes of themselves on loop day and night; and sometimes (if we are very lucky) revealing secrets of themselves only to us.  These secrets we prize at a worth beyond compare for they are the true goal of such study. Continue reading →

Jun 04

Keep Going: “Killer Maples: The Musical”

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The Cast of "Killer Maples," photo via http://www.yellingmantheatre.com/

The Cast of “Killer Maples,” photo via http://www.yellingmantheatre.com/

Presented by Yelling Man Theater
Book and lyrics by Trip Venturella
Music by Andres Ramos
Directed by John Scala

June 3-5, 2016
POP Allston
Allston, MA
Yelling Man on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Allston, MA) Killer Maples is a cute chamber musical with exceedingly raw potential. It will eventually be a diamond in the rough. It’s still pressurized coal right now. The creators have a lot of work ahead of them if that’s something they are interested in. The performances set for this weekend are a preview of what the show can become with edits and rewrite for emotional and plot clarity. Continue reading →

May 25

“Mud Blue Sky”: A Comedy About Turbulent Lives

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Photo by Marc J. Franklin

Photo by Marc J. Franklin

Presented by Bridge Repertory Theater of Boston
By Marisa Wegrzyn
Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary

May 15-June 5, 2016
Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Bridge Repertory Theater on Facebook

Review by Travis Manni

(Boston, MA) I tend to get bored easily when watching comedic plays. They need to be clever but relatable, funny but with strokes of brutal honesty. Most times, shows fail to live up to my expectations, but I continue to see them because when one does I have an amazingly good time. Thankfully, Marisa Wegrzyn’s Mud Blue Sky was a perfect example of the latter. Continue reading →

May 24

Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios”: Raising the Tent

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Photo by Gillian Daniels

Photo by Gillian Daniels

Exposé by Gillian Daniels

(East Boston, MA) The day I watch the tent raised in Boston, the sky is blue and cloudless. The tent itself is partially up but looks like a deflated balloon. Men and women in hard hats stand around the interior circumference, speaking French Canadian-accented and Boston-tinged English. Continue reading →

Jul 01

People Can Only Be Who They Are As Written: THE WAKEVILLE STORIES

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with Meg Di Maggio and Michael Kelly at Veterans' Memorial Cemetery. Photo credit: Matty Mae Theater Project

with Meg Di Maggio and Michael Kelly at Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery. Photo credit: Matty Mae Theater Project

The Wakeville Stories
Presented by Matty Mae Theater Project
Written by Laurence Carr
Directed by Kristin Carr

June 19-28, 2015
2 Venues:
1. Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St
Somerville, MA

2.Somerville Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery
1330 Broadway
Somerville, MA
Wakeville Stories on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Somerville, MA) The landscaping of the Somerville Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery with its high walls and leafy trees made a charming stage for The Wakefield Stories. The gardens of the cemetery were a vibrant contrast to the occasionally morbid script. The hum of bees accompanied actors’ dialogue on the effects of war on communities. The Matty Mae Theater Project performed this new work by Laurence Carr there and also in the Davis Square Theatre. I was not able to enjoy this production in the black box, but I can imagine that it was an entirely different experience.   Continue reading →

Jun 23

Full STE(A)M Ahead: “The Farnsworth Invention”

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Photo by Jake Scaltreto

Photo by Jake Scaltreto

Presented by Flat Earth Theatre
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Directed by Sarah Gazdowicz

June 12 – 27, 2015
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
Flat Earth on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Watertown, MA) It would be awesome for the good people at Epic Rap Battles of History to pit Philo Farnsworth against David Sarnoff. According to The Farnsworth Invention, these boys reached Telsa/Edison levels of rivalry. That would make for some great entertainment.

Sorkin’s play is an inaccurate account of the race to invent television. It is told via dual narration between David Sarnoff (Michael Fisher) and Philo Farnsworth (Chris Larson). As each man’s life is explained to the audience, we learn important historical facts about their discovery process as well as personal insights. Sarnoff is a stoic dick with classical tastes and standards. Philo Farnsworth is a happy-go-lucky genius with nervous tendencies. The cast’s ensemble play multiple characters, frequently in the same scene, who directly influence the grand discovery. This production is performed in the round, with minimal props and set pieces, and stark lighting.   Continue reading →

Jun 23

“Dying City” Brought to Life in Small Space

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Photo credit: Josephine Anes

Photo credit: Josephine Anes

Presented by Happy Medium Theatre Company
Part of the Home Grown Theater Project
Written by Christopher Shinn
Directed by Cameron Cronin

June 25 – July 11, 2015
Dates and seats are limited due to the nature of the production. More information can be found here.
Boston, MA
Happy Medium on Facebook

Review by Travis Manni

(Boston, MA) If less does is fact mean more, the Happy Medium Theatre’s production of Dying City has a lot of potential to surprise audiences.

Performed in the literal living room of actors Kiki Samko and Michael Underhill, a married couple, Dying City opens on Kelly, a widow in her late twenties living in New York City. As she packs up some of her belongings, her estranged brother-in-law, Peter, who also happens to be her deceased husband’s identical twin, arrives without warning, much to Kelly’s discomfort. Continue reading →

Jun 16

Sanitized Motown: DREAMGIRLS

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Photo©Paul Lyden

Photo©Paul Lyden

Presented by North Shore Music Theatre
Book & lyrics by Tom Eyen
Composed by Henry Krieger
Directed & choreographed by Nick Kenkel
Music direction by Jesse Vargas

June 2-14, 2015
North Shore Music Theatre
62 Dunham Road
Beverly, MA 01915
NSMT on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

Sometimes, a musical is cursed with potential. The action on stage may be enough to bring the crowd to its feet, but you can still walk away thinking it should have been something more. Continue reading →