Tag Archives: MA

Feb 19

You Are Worth More Than Mere Survival: “The Manic Monologues”

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“The Manic Monologues” cast; Photography: Nikolai Alexander, FPoint Productions

Presented by Moonbox Productions
Part of the Turning the Tide Project
By Zachary Burton and Elisa Hofmeister
Directed by Brad Reinking
Turning the Tide Director: Kara Crumrine
Mental health production consultant: Sara Burd
Featuring: Ethan DePuy, Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia, Liza Giangrande, Katie Kendrick, Mal Malme, Cidalia Santos

February 16 – 25, 2024
Arrow St Arts
2 Arrow Street
Studio
Cambridge, MA 02138

Audio Described Performance:
Saturday, February 24 at 8:00 pm

ASL Interpreted Performances:
Friday, February 23 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, February 24 at 3:00 pm
Saturday, February 24 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, February 25 at 3:00 pm

Captioned Performances:
All Manic Monologues performances will feature open captioning.
Running Time: 110 minutes, no intermission, includes a community conversation

Review by Kitty Drexel

Please note: The Manic Monologues has themes of emotional violence and self-harm. The stories are true but not necessarily true for the actor performing the monologue. Attendees should consider their own needs and triggers when attending. 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —  The Manic Monologues is a play/community discussion in the tradition of The Vagina Monologues by V (formerly Eve Ensler). It is a series of monologues and one-sided dialogues about mental illness written and performed to disrupt the stigma and shame surrounding mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, autism, depression, anxiety disorders, and others.  Continue reading →

Feb 18

You Don’t Have to Apologize for Existing: “John Proctor is the Villain”

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Left to right: Brianna Martinez, Jules Talbot, Victoria Omoregie, Haley Wong in John Proctor is the Villain; directed by Margot Bordelon; photo by T. Charles Erickson

Presented by The Huntington
By Kimberly Belflower
Directed by Margot Bordelon
Dramaturgy by Lauren Halvorsen
Choreography by Victoria L Awkward 
Fight and Intimacy Direction by Jessica Scout Malone
Voice and dialect coaching by Christine Hamel

February 8 – March 10, 2024
The Huntington @ Calderwood/BCA
527 Tremont St. 
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — It’s simple: believe girls. Believe women. Believe femme non-binary persons. Believe gender-expansive people who don’t fit your idea of how a person should look. Believe our stories. We don’t want fame. We want due process.  

The Huntington’s John Proctor is the Villain running through March 10 at the BCA is an age-old story of victim blaming and abuser protection.  Four teen girls (Brianna Martinez, Victoria Omoregie, Jules Talbot, and Haley Wong) are coming of age in post-#MeToo Appalachia. The four best friends and their bro classmates (Maanav Aryan Goyal, Benjamin Izaak) are taught by the school’s coolest homeroom teacher, Mr. Smith (Japhet Balaban), and new counselor Ms. Gallagher (Olivia Hebert).  Continue reading →

Feb 12

Flipping a Tragedy on Its Head: “Duel Reality”

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Duel Reality – Mât Chinois, Credit: Arata Urawa

Presented by Arts Emerson
Originally produced and created with Virgin Voyages
Directed by Shana Carrol
Performed by The 7 Fingers
Based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Featuring Nicolas Jelmoni, Soen Geinaert, Danny Vrijsen, Einar Kling-Odencrants, Anni Küpper,
Andreas De Ryck, Aerial Emery ou Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard, Andrew Price, Kalani June,
Arata Urawa
Music by Colin Gagné
Lighting by Alexander Nichols
Acrobatic Coach: Francisco Cruz

February 7-19, 2024
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON, Mass. — In a presidential election year, can American audiences find joy in a Shakespeare-based tragedy about red-versus-blue factionalism?

Yes, thanks to the joyous movement-based storytelling that The 7 Fingers artistic collaborative brings to the stage. This troupe dazzles by combining snippets of dialogue and the heart of Romeo and Juliet with an hour-long air-defying spectacle of acrobatics that is likely to leave you smiling and at the edge of your seat. Continue reading →

Feb 10

A “Little Peasants” Reading at The Burren Backroom

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Presented by Food Tank 
Written by Bernard Pollack
Directed by Dori A. Robinson
Dramaturgy and Production by Elena Morris

Wed, Feb. 7 @ 7 PM
Wed, Feb. 21 @ 7 PM SOLD OUT
The Burren Backroom 
Somerville, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The Food Tank presents two readings of Little Peasants: A Peek Behind Closed Doors of a Food Workers’ Union Organizing Campaign. This article is based on the reading performed on Feb. 7 at 7 PM. Little Peasants is supported by the Somerville Arts Council through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Continue reading →

Feb 01

Come Cough: “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight”

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Jim Ortlieb; photo by Nile Hawver

Presented by The Huntington 
A new play by John Kolvenbach
Featuring Jim Ortlieb and Melisa Pereya

January 20 – March 23, 2024
Huntington Theatre
Maso Studio 
264 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA

Seating is general admission. Arrive early!

Article by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight, by John Kovenback, is running through March 23 at The Huntington and stars Jim Ortlieb as Man. It’s now playing in the Maso Studion at The Huntington’s 264 Huntington Ave space in Boston. Melisa Pereya plays a featured role.  

Attendees, please note: Maso Studio is reached by walking past the front doors of The Hunting, walking down a back alley, and through a backdoor of the building. The alley may have a car in it. The pavement is rough. If you need accessible access, please contact The Huntington staff for more information. Continue reading →

Jan 31

To Believe Things Still Make Sense: “A Case for the Existence of God”

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Hinson and Grant. Nile Scott Studios photo.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company
Written by Samuel D Hunter
Directed by Melinda Lopez
Intimacy choreography by Ted Hewlett
Featuring De’Lon Grant as Keith and Jesse Hinson as Ryan

Jan 26 – Feb 17, 2024
Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA 02116

Approx. 90 minutes with no intermission

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — A Case for the Existence of God is the story of two lonely men in small-town Idaho finding friendship in a mortgage brokerage. Keith (De’Lon Grant) and Ryan (Jesse Hinson) meet at their daughters’ daycare. Keith is a Black, culturally astute broker. Ryan is a white, blue-collar factory worker with a heart of gold and coffers of dust who needs a mortgage. 

They bond over the struggles of single fatherhood. Keith is fostering Willa and hopes to adopt her. Ryan wants to buy a plot of land on what used to be his great-grandad’s original plot so he can leave it to baby daughter Crista. What begins as a grueling process of jumping through bank hoops becomes a true friendship between men who have more in common than they don’t.  Continue reading →

Jan 30

Maybe the real cryptids were the trauma bonds we made along the way: “The Interrobangers”

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(L-R) Jenine Florence Jacinto, Anderson Stinson III, Jay Connolly, Schanaya Barrows (Photo by Erin Crowley)

Presented by Company One Theatre in partnership with the Boston Public Library and The Theater Offensive
Written by M. Sloth Levine
Directed by Josh Glenn-Kayden
Dramaturgy by Regine Vital

January 26 – February 24, 2024
Rabb Hall
Boston Public Library, Central Branch
Boston, MA 02116

FREE with Pay-What-You-Want tickets

Content Warning: substance use, swearing, references to child abuse, abduction, and trauma. 

Production has sequences with flashing lights.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

“An interrobang [in-TER-eh-bang] is a nonstandard double punctuation mark that combines the functions and glyphs of an exclamation mark (!) and a question mark (?) into one form: ‽. It indicates a sentence that is both a question and an exclamation, expressing surprise or disbelief.”

“What Is an Interrobang?! Definition and Examples” by Kelly Konya:  https://www.grammarly.com/. Last updated on January 3, 2024. 

BOSTON, Mass. — The Interrobangers is a queer play for the queer community. It does not adhere to the traditional European, three-act play format. Traditional narratives don’t include us, so they don’t apply to us. 

Welcome, allies. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night. Continue reading →

Jan 18

Standing Up as Her Best Self: “Trouble in Mind”

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Patrice Jean-Baptiste, James Turner, Kadahj Bennett, Allison Beauregard, MaConnia Chesser, Bill Mootos, and Davron S. Monroe in Trouble in Mind. Photo by Nile Hawver Nile Scott Shots.

Presented by Lyric Stage Boston
By Alice Childress
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
Featuring Barlow Adamson, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Allison Beauregard, Kadahj Bennett, McConnia Chesser, Davron Monroe, Bill Mootos, James Turner, and Robert Walsh

January 12 – February 4, 2024
Lyric Stage Company theatre
140 Clarendon Street
2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02116

Running Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.  

Masks are strongly recommended in the theater. 

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Content warning: Overt racism, sexism, identity, class, micro and macro-aggressions, implied casting couch situation, mansplaining

“Psalm 23”
23 – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
The King James Bible

BOSTON, Mass. — Trouble in Mind at the Lyric Stage in Boston is about the making of a play within a play. It is a well-constructed production. Exceedingly well acted. Beautifully curated. It hurt my heart to watch. 

Theatre has the unfortunate job of telling stories that must be told so we remember the ongoing pain of others. Trouble in Mind reminds us that it isn’t enough to be nice and to mean well. To make the world a better place for everyone, we must be diligent against the forces that would oppress us. We don’t get to pat ourselves on the back for watching this one. 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 →

Dec 01

Times When Even the Rain Smells Confusing: “The Heart Sellers”

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Jenna Agbayani and Judy Song; photo T Charles Erickson.

Presented by The Huntington
By Lloyd Suh
Directed by May Adrales
Sound Design and Original Music by Fabian Obispo
Dramaturgy by Christine Mok
Dialect coaching by Joy Lanceta Coronel
Starring Jenna Agbayani and Judy Song
Featuring Matt Goldstein as the Radio DJ voiceover

Tuesday, November 21 – Saturday, December 23, 2023
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA 
527 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — The Huntington presents The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA now through December 23. It is directed by May Adrales with original music by Fabian Obispo. It stars Jenna Agbayani and Judy Song and features Matt Goldstein as the Radio DJ. 

It is Thanksgiving 1973. Pres. Richard Nixon told the Associated Press that he wasn’t a crook. Henry Kissinger started his term as Secretary of State. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving premiered on CBS. Millions of families celebrate the holiday with loved ones over turkey and congested driving conditions. 

We meet new friends Luna (Jenna Agbayani) and Jane (Judy Song) as they sit together for the first time. Their husbands are working during the holiday at the same hospital in different departments. Luna saw Jane in the grocery store, recognized a kindred spirit, and invited her over to cook Luna’s first turkey.  Continue reading →