Tag Archives: MA

Nov 14

Freedom is Not an Inconvenience: HOW SOFT THE LINING

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Photo credit: Paul Cantillon, Lidecphoto.com.

Photo credit: Paul Cantillon, Lidecphoto.com. Borders and Hayes sharing a tender moment. Remember folks: intersectional feminism or nothing at all. 

Presented by Bad Habit Productions
Written by Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara
Dialect coaching by Steven E. Emanuelson
Dramaturgy by Phaedra Scott
Fight choreography by Margaret Clark
Nov. 5 – 20, 2016

Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Bad Habit on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) How Soft the Lining is nearly a performance ready script. It isn’t there yet. There was a lot of good. There was some not so good too. It has a beautiful story that history nearly forgot thanks to history’s disregard for women’s stories. Thanks to Greenidge, we won’t forget. Continue reading →

Nov 11

Scarily Relevant Once More: WEST SIDE STORY

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Presented by North Shore Music Theatre
Beverly, MA
November 1- 20, 2016
NSMT on Facebook

BOOK BY: Arthur Laurents
MUSIC BY: Leonard Bernstein
LYRICS BY: Stephen Sondheim
Director: Bob Richard
Music Director: Milton Granger
Choreographer: Diane Laurenson
Based on Conception of Jerome Robbins
Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Beverly, MA) How quaint – working class whites and Hispanics fighting for control of a few city blocks. West Side Story is a fun period piece hearkening back to a time when institutionalized racism was the norm and …
Continue reading →

Nov 11

The Church is the Thing: HAMLET

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Photo by Nile Scott Shots; Marianna Bassham and Ross MacDonald.

Photo by Nile Scott Shots; Marianna Bassham and Ross MacDonald.

Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Doug Lockwood

October 5 – November 6, 2016
Church of the Covenant
Boston, MA
ASP on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) Hamlet is often seen as a humanist play, one where the lead character, instead of taking much of any action, spends much of his time pondering the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Continue reading →

Nov 03

Happiness is the Only Life Plan: TIGER STYLE!

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Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company
Written by Mike Lew
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel

Oct. 14 – Nov. 20, 2016 Extended!
South End
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
Boston, MA
Huntington on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston, MA) After a certain point, it’s your own fault if your “messed up” childhood is still ruining your adult life. If you live in your own space, have a real job(s), pay taxes or equivalent, date people your parents haven’t vetted, etc., then you’re old enough to work out some of the trauma they caused you with a therapist or dominatrix. You can’t blame your parents for how you choose to live after you’ve moved out. Adulthood means you get to choose what that means. What that means is get your stuff constructively sorted. Continue reading →

Nov 02

Shakespeare…with Zombies: “Twelfth Night of the Living Dead”

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Photo courtesy of Anthem's Facebook page

Photo courtesy of Anthem’s Facebook page

Presented by Anthem Theatre Company
Based on the work by William Shakespeare
Script by Brian MacInnis Smallwood
Directed by Bryn Boice

October 27 – November 5, 2016
Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Anthem on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) I’m going to make a case for why Twelfth Night of the Living Dead, a mashup of Shakespeare and zombie movies, rises above its original source material. And I’m making this case post-Halloween, so I’m not gripped with Salem festival-like fever. Continue reading →

Nov 02

“Thirsty” Not Worth the Right Swipe

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Photo by Haris Lefteri

Photo by Haris Lefteri; pictured: Adjovi A. Koene

Presented by Ya Bird? Productions
By Greg Hovanesian
Directed by Haris Lefteri

October 30, 2016
The Rockwell
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA
Ya Bird? Productions on Facebook

Review by Travis Manni

(Somerville, MA) I love a show with a holiday theme to get me in the right kind of festive mood. And what better way to let the Halloween spirit possess me than going to see Thirsty, a show about online dating and vampires. Continue reading →

Oct 27

Beautiful and Painful: “The Scottsboro Boys”

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Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots; The ensemble getting down.

Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots; The ensemble getting down.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company
Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb
Book by David Thompson
Original Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Musical Direction by Matthew Stern
Choreography by Ilyse Robbins

October 21 – November 26
Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts
527 Tremont Street
Speakeasy on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Boston, MA) It’s difficult to know what to say about The Scottsboro Boys.  The piece is uncomfortable to watch not because of its incredible talent or flawless direction and design, but rather because it’s meant to be uncomfortable to watch.  The show is a remixed account of the historical case of The Scottsboro Boys, nine young black men who in 1931 were accused of raping two white women on a train, told through the lens of American Minstrelsy.  Performed with gusto and amazing energy, SpeakEasy’s production is a triumph that should be mandatory viewing for any American (particularly in an election year as fraught with the urge to “just give up” as this one has been). Continue reading →

Oct 26

The Opposite of Hell Freezing Over: “When January Feels Like Summer”

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Photo courtesy of CST Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of CST Facebook page.

Presented by Underground Railway Theater
Written by Cori Thomas
Directed by Benny Sato Ambush

Oct. 20 – Nov. 13, 2016
Central Square Theater
Cambridge, MA
CST on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Cambridge, MA) Spoiler alert: No one dies in When January Feels Like Summer. No one even gets beaten up. In fact, everyone gets a happy ending. Thomas’ play is extraordinary because sweet but nosy Indira gets to be happy. Thomas’ POC characters get to live their lives without some white person causing unnecessary trouble. It shouldn’t be unusual that a play about POCs or a trans woman isn’t about the violence inflected on them, but it is. It shouldn’t be revolutionary for a person to go about their business. Yet, here we are.       Continue reading →

Oct 26

“White Like Me”: Privilege and Politics (or Lack Thereof)

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Puppet Showplace Theater

Photo credit: Puppet Showplace Theater; childhood relics.

Presented by Puppet Showplace Theater
Written, Directed & Performed by Paul Zaloom

October 21 & 22, 2016
32 Station Street
Brookline, MA
Puppet Showplace Theater on Facebook
Puppets at Night

Review by Travis Manni

(Boston, MA) As a young, gay, white male, I try to be aware of my privileges. I experience them a great deal on a daily basis, and what I wanted White Like Me to do was remind me of this in a way that was both poignant and humorous. And while I did have a good time at this show, I was surprised that only the latter turned out to be true. Continue reading →

Oct 24

Naughty Nighttime Jaunts: “The Wrathskellar Tales”

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14237673_1197699330251209_1253917380444914164_n-1Produced by Boston BeauTease

October 20 – October 31, 2016
The Wrathskellar
288A Green Street (Lower Level)
Cambridge, MA
Boston BeauTease on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Cambridge, MA) Immersive, site-specific theatre is notoriously difficult to execute.  It is complicated to envision, a nightmare to rehearse, precarious to time, and overwhelming to build.  Audiences familiar with Punchdrunk’s Sleep no More will understand just how many details go into the completion of a successful immersive theatre project.  The Wrathskellar Tales is surprisingly thorough and impressively complete in its scope. Continue reading →