Tag Archives: MA

Jul 26

It’s Like A Jungle . . . Sometimes: HOW WE GOT ON

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© Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

Presented by Company One
by Idris Goodwin
Directed by Summer L. Williams

July 19-August 17
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Company One Facebook Page

Review by Noe Kamelamela

(Boston) Company One has spent over a decade in Boston bringing theater to bear on a list of problems, which is nearly as long as their list of awards.  Their latest is a vibrant production that lays down a phat beat for diversity.  The audience I sat in was the most visibly excited and diverse audience I’ve experienced all year, possibly due to one of its key topics:  hip-hop. Continue reading →

Jul 24

Ladies Pondering Lives, Fashion in “Love, Loss, and What I Wore”

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Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston
by Nora & Delia Ephron
based on the book by Ilene Beckerman
directed by Paula Plum

July 19 – August 3, 2013
The First Church in Boston
66 Marlborough Street
Boston, MA 02116
Hub Theatre Co of Boston Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) Until recently, I scorned “chick lit” and “chick flicks,” resenting the idea that light, fluffy fare was meant for women alone.  I’ve begun to wonder, however, if the label has been stuck on books and films having to do with women because of how the material is approached or because it’s about women, period.  It’s an insulting, dismissive label and it would be a little too easy to slap it on Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Continue reading →

Jul 19

Strung Together with Friends and Family: THE SHAKESPEAREAN JAZZ SHOW

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Photo Credit: Tripp Clemens

Presented by ArtsEmerson
“Conceiver”, Director – Alex Ates
Composer, Musical Director: Patrick Greeley
Puppeteers – Christina Kuchan, Orrin Whalen
Created by Alex Ates & Patrick Greeley

The Shakespearean Jazz Show is a Boston-born project created by young artists from Emerson College and Berklee College of Music.

July 18 & 19, 2013 at 8pm
Paramount Center Mainstage
Boston, MA
ArtsEmerson Facebook Page
Berklee College of Music Facebook Page
The Nine Worthies band Tumblr

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) There is so much potential for greatness in The Shakespearean Jazz Show that it’s truly tragic that it falls so far from its mark. Patrick Greeley writes some damn fine music; the Nine Worthies are a great band (I’m looking at you Jamila Dunham); the vocalists are quite sincere, the shadow puppets are very clever… But these separate elements do not make art on their own. They must be strung together. The talented members of Jazz Show did not make this happen. Continue reading →

Jul 15

The Theory of Everything Explained: “Supergravity and the Eleventh Dimension”

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Photo Credit: Paul Cantillon, LIDEC Photo

Presented by Vagabond Theatre Group
By Heather Houston
Directed by James Peter Sotis

July 11 – 20, 2013
The Factory Theatre
Boston, MA
Vagabond Theatre Group Facebook Page

Review by Kitty Drexel

(Boston) Einstein’s Law of Thermodynamics states that “energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.” This quote from a beloved theoretical physicist describes the natural state of constant flux in the world around us. This quote is often bastardized by Religion* to explain the existence of God, a Super-creator from whence all the energy of life flows. God must exist, they paraphrase, because the energy to create the universe must have come from somewhere… It must have come from God! Ladies and Gentlemen, God and Science can sit at the same table but this isn’t the room they sit in. Continue reading →

Jul 15

But still, like terrible comments on unmoderated blogs, I’ll rise: PAPER CITY PHOENIX

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Photo Credit: Boston Actors Theater

Presented by Boston Actors Theater
By Walt McGough
Directed by Melanie Garber

July 12-27
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Boston, MA
Boston Actors Theater Facebook Page

Review by Noe Kamelamela

(Boston) For the past nine years, Boston Actor’s Theater has made every effort to involve community in choosing and putting on performances that have distinct flavor.  Their latest production of local playwright Walt McGough’s salute to The Connected Era is an homage to the Internet and how we, as users, understand and relate to it. Continue reading →

Jul 11

Theatre@First Presents “Picasso at the Lapin Agile”

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Bare Bones 11: Picasso at the Lupin Agile

Presented by Theatre@First

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Thursday, July 25th at 8pm
Picasso at the Lapin Agile will be presented at Unity Somerville, 6 William Street, Somerville, MA 02144
Suggested Donation $5 – General Admission – No reservations required

About the Play:
Written by Steve Martin and directed by Santiago Rivas

What if the greatest scientific mind of the 20th century met the greatest artist at a bar in Paris before they became famous? Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a comic drama about a meeting of the minds as this hypothetical question is answered. In a Parisian bar in 1904, Albert Einstein is introduced to Pablo Picasso. They, along with the local patrons, discuss the creativity process in their respective roles in science and art. With brushstrokes and equations, a bond between the icons is forged as they approached the new century.

Cast

Michael DeFillippi playing Freddy
Jason Merrill playing Gaston/Sagot/Charles Dabernow Schmendiman/Visitor
Kitty Drexel playing Germaine
Daniel Gonzalez playing Albert Einstein
Andrea Aptecker playing Suzanne/Countess/Admirer
Carlos Nogueras playing Pablo Picasso

Bare Bones: Staged Readings at Theatre@First offers directors, casts and audiences the chance to explore a wide variety of plays in a spare, intense setting.

Jul 09

You Only Live Twice!

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Photo care of Vaquero Playground

You Only Live Twice!

Summer heat too much for you?  Cool your heels with us in #DENMARK – back for ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Wednesday, July 17th 9pm
Boston Common Spiegeltent
FREE

Vaquero Playground is pleased to bring you a One-Nite-Only reprise of DENMARK as part of the Outside The Box Festival, a fab arts fest happening on and around the Boston Common.

And you know what?  It’s all FREE.

Check out the kick ass trailer, re-vamped for summer.

And don’t forget to check out the full schedule of events at the festival such as:
Danny Bryck’s No Room for Wishing
Puppet Showplace Theatre
Liars & Believers’ ICARUS
Awesome poets and performers of ARTiculation
Mary Bichner (who’s Much Ado About Skyfall featured on our compilation CD for DENMARK!)

The fest runs July 13 – 21 and there’s a whole lot of great stuff, all of it FREE.  Be sure to check it out!

You can still purchase the FDWL ALBUM or DenmART on the V.P. website – all created by local artists and all proceeds go right back to them!

Jul 08

“Nicky Park Memorial Park”: Lonely Girl Seeks Ghost Companion

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Presented by The Circuit Theatre Company
A rock musical by Ned Riseley and Deepali Gupta
Directed by Abby Colella

July 5-7, 2013
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Boston, MA
The Circuit Theatre Co Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston) Referred to only as “Girl” in the cast list, it feels as if Ellie Shepley’s character in Nicky Park Memorial Park is meant to embody some sort of universal narrative of being a young woman. Instead, Deepali Gupta’s play distills what it means to be thoughtful and introspective.  The result is a drama about figurative and literal ghosts of the past, a love letter to nostalgia that never quite crystallizes into a story. Continue reading →

Jun 30

When a Cigar is Everything: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

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presented by Wax Wings Productions
by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Vicki Schairer

@ the Factory Theatre
Boston, MA
June 27th – July 7th, 2013
Wax Wings Facebook Page

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston) Over time, A Streetcar Named Desire has become like that favorite album you skip over in shuffle to keep special. Oft quoted but performed less and less, it sits on the shelf of American theatre and gathers dust and pious weight until some community theatre takes it down and puts on an ill-advised, chest-beating version down in a church basement. That’s partly because it can seem such a dated portrait of overt sexual politics, something that would fit Michelle Bachman’s view of marriage and gay cures, perhaps, but with little relevance in a blue state. Continue reading →

Jun 26

Nickel Mines Strong: THE AMISH PROJECT

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With Emma Johnson, Mackenzie Dreese, Karin Nilo and Becky Bass at Cambridge YMCA Theater. Photo Credit: Circuit Theatre Co

Presented by Circuit Theatre Company
The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey
Directed by Alexandra Keegan

June 21-27
Cambridge YMCA Theater
Cambridge, MA
Circuit Theatre Co Facebook Page

Review by Noelani Kamelamela

(Cambridge) In its third year, the Circuit Theatre Company has already established itself as a small theatre company willing to take risks.  Their recent IRNE nominations and current production attest to their boldness and artistic integrity.  Circuit Theatre’s The Amish Project is the kind of show which can be interpreted in multiple ways. Continue reading →