Tag Archives: March

Feb 11

Characters Takes Center Stage in “Glass Menagerie”

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photo credit: Michael Lutch

photo credit:Michael Lutch

Presented by American Repertory Theater

By Tennessee Williams
Directed by John Tiffany
Choreography by Steven Hoggett

February 2, 2013 to March 17, 2013
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge) In Tennessee Williams’s tragicomedy, The Glass Menagerie, my sympathy has often been with the antagonist, Amanda, here played by Cherry Jones.  Raised as a spoiled Southern belle given no higher goal than to be a wealthy wife, Jones’ Amanda has a sadly stunted maturity about her.  She isn’t prepared to deal with life outside the Antebellum South.  She’s at a loss when her children’s needs deviate so sharply from the accepted norms. Continue reading →

Jan 31

The US premiere of “Metáfora”: Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía

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WORLD MUSIC/CRASHarts presents Flamenco Festival 2013 featuring

the Boston debut of

Photo credit: Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia

Photo credit: Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia

Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía
performing the US premiere of Metáfora

 BOSTON, MA — World Music/CRASHarts presents the Boston debut of Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía on Friday, March 1, 7:30pm, Saturday, March 2, 8pm and Sunday, March 3, 3pm at the Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College, 219 Tremont St., Boston.

Flamenco Festival 2013 returns for a 12th glorious season of world-class flamenco dance and music with the massively popular Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, coming to Boston for the first time, direct from Spain. This renowned company of 17 dancers, singers and musicians, directed by award-wining flamenco star Rubén Olmo, presents the US premiere of Metáfora, a dazzling kaleidoscope of castanets, fans, traditional flamenco bata de cola dresses, powerful footwork, demanding technique and jaw-dropping athleticism. It is a program that will inspire the audience with the emotion, drama and passion of Andalucía, the cradle of flamenco. Continue reading →

Jan 30

“Everything Can Happen; Everything is Possible and Likely”

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Heart & Dagger Productions

presents

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Heart & Dagger Productions plunge into their 3rd Season with A DREAM PLAY by August Strindberg.  The production opens February 22, 2013 at The Factory Theatre, Boston, MA.

Agnes, a daughter of the Vedic god Indra, descends to Earth to bear witness to problems of human beings. Following the logic of a dream in which characters merge, locations change in an instant and a locked door recurs obsessively-A DREAM PLAY is a potent mix of Freud plus Alice in Wonderland. “The characters split, double, multiply, evaporate, condense, dissolve and merge.”

Featuring:
Elizabeth Battey, Quentin James, Emily Kaye Lazzaro, Lauren Foster, Eric McGowan, Drew Linehan, Angel Veza, Michael Dix Thomas, Nicole Howard, Katie Drexel, Tony Dangerfield, Jenny Reagan, Erin Brehm, and Ryan Edlinger. Continue reading →

Apr 16

Luck of the Irish: Race Warfare in the 20th and 21st Centuries

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Nikkole Salter and McCaleb Burnett in Kirsten Greenidge’s THE LUCK OF THE IRISH. March 30 – April 29, 2012 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. huntingtontheatre.org. Photo: T. Charles Erickson.

The Luck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge, Huntington Theatre Company, Boston Center for the Arts Virginia Wimberly Theatre, 3/30/12-5/6/12, http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2011-2012/The-Luck-of-the-Irish/.

Reviewed by Gillian Daniels

(Boston, MA) When the upwardly mobile Lucy and Rex Taylor (Nikkole Salter and Victor Williams, respectively) are unable to buy a house in Boston because they’re black, they turn to Patty Ann and Joe Donovan (Marianna Bassham and McCaleb Burnett) to buy one for them during the 1950’s.  The complex relationship this creates between them bleeds over into the early 2000’s when the Harrisons’ grandchildren discover the elderly Donovans want the house back.  The drama that results is tight and enjoyable. Continue reading →

Apr 08

Community amidst Hostility: THE TEMPERMENTALS

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Steve Kidd, Will McGarrahan, Victor L. Shopov, & Shelley Bolman in The Temperamentals. Photo by Mark S. Howard

The Tempermentals by Jon Marans, Lyric Stage Company, 3/30/12-4/28/12, https://lyricstage.com/

main_stage/the_temperamentals/.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

The oppressed can’t name their condition without fear of reprisal.  They can’t gather together.  They can’t escape their condition in the traditional refuges of family, community, friendship and sex.  Imagine trying to create change swimming against such a tide.  Continue reading →

Apr 05

On Ego: A Bundle of Questions

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On Ego by Mick Gordon (playwright) and Paul Broks (neuroscientist), Science Fiction Theatre Company, Factory Theatre, 3/30/12-4/15/12, http://www.sciencefictiontheatrecompany.com/.

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

(Boston, MA) Quantum Leap and Star Trek have enticed us with the possibility of travelling through time and space through a transporter of some sort.  When I used to work an hour and a half away from my home, I longed for a teleportation device that would transport me home in the blink of an eye.

But while the fiction is intriguing, the science leaves a lot of mystery and questions before we take that leap. Continue reading →

Apr 01

A Pleasant Surprise: EXPECTING

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Danni, Mom, and Gabrielle at the mall — with Jo d'Angelo and Jenny Reagan., photo credit: Boston Actors' Theatre

Expecting by Noah Tobin, Boston Actors’ Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 3/30/12-4/7/12,    http://www.bostonactorstheater.com/.

Reviewed by Kate Lonberg-Lew

(Boston, MA) Have you ever found your cell phone lying on the back seat after ripping open the box of the replacement? Or perhaps you found your watch at the bottom of the hamper after strapping on your new Swatch? Somehow, we always manage to find what we’re looking for the moment we stop looking for it. This is what Expecting, currently at the Boston Actors Theater, is all about and the experience is wonderfully complex. Continue reading →

Apr 01

Grey Gardens: Lavish, Detailed Musical for a Small Stage

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photo credits go to Brigid Davis

Grey Gardens, book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie, Arlington Friends of Drama, 3/30/12-4/15/12, http://afdtheatre.org/greygardens.html.

Reviewed by Gillian Daniels

(Arlington, MA) With expert costuming and stage design, The Arlington Friends of the Drama succeed wildly in cramming the Broadway production of Grey Gardens onto its stage.

But Grey Gardens isn’t one musical Continue reading →

Apr 01

rogerandtom: Pardon My Fourth Wall

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Stephen Radochia and Anna Waldron, Photo by Diane Libby.

rogerandtom by Julien Schwab, Simple Machine Theatre, Davis Square Theatre, 3/30/12-4/7/12, http://www.simplemachinetheatre.com/productions.html. (one spoiler–marked)

Reviewed by Becca Kidwell

(Somerville, MA) Julien Schwab takes the idea of a play within a play to a new level.  Exploring drama and its tools, rogerandtom pulls, tears, twists, and turns its melodramatic plot cleverly until its end. Continue reading →

Mar 31

Uneven Edits: CUT

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Alyce Householter, Liz Rimar, Stewart Evan Smith Jr — photo credit: Apollinaire Theatre

Cut by Crystal Skillman, Apollinaire Theatre Company, Chelsea Theatre Works, 3/30/12-4/21/12, http://www.apollinairetheatre.com/ productions/productions.html, in repertory with Smudge by Rachel Axler.

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Chelsea, MA) Reality programming might be so attractive to TV. watchers because its slick production values and clean edits hold out the hope that we can make some sense out of life. As the central protagonists of our own dramas, we want the chance for playbacks and edits to gain some introspection, or at least to come off looking good. But as the characters of Chelsea Theatre Works’ Cut learn, God is a lousy editor, and life doesn’t wrap up neatly when the cameras stop rolling.

Continue reading →