Tag Archives: Nicholas Papayoanou

Oct 22

Joyfully Exploding Fixed Categories: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors

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Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography.

Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project 
By Gordon Greenberg & Steve Rosen
Directed by Christopher V. Edwards
Featuring: Thalia Gerloff, Doug Lockwood, Paul Melendy, Nicholas Papayoanou, Bobbie Steinbach

October 9 to November 1, 2026
The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Run time: 100 minutes, no intermission

Critique by Diana Lu

WATERTOWN, Mass. — The 1995 Mel Brooks film Dracula: Dead and Loving It was a childhood favorite of mine, so Greenberg and Rosen had big shoes to fill. I’m happy to report that Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors exceeded even my most petulant-nostalgic expectations. It is witty and fresh. It is feminist and gay. Watching it gave me a sense of safety, clarity, and expansion, and I wondered how much more theatre could challenge us to, as the playbill put it, “be dangerous and alive.”

A sharp and hilarious sendup of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale, Dracula ACOT begins with fussy and faint hearted (i.e. stereotypically Victorian) real estate broker, Jonathan Harker (Paul Melendy),  traveling to Transylvania to close a lucrative deal and enhance his career prospects before wedding his childhood sweetheart—who is waaaaaay out of his league. In Dracula’s castle, Harker’s photo of fiancée Lucy Westfeldt (Thalia Gerloff), a feminist firebrand with an extremely attractive neck, immediately becomes the vampire’s obsession. This leads our orientalist trope villain to infiltrate England to seek her out, leaving a trail of death, disease, madness, and queerness in his quest to sate his lust, bloodlust, and dopamine receptors. Continue reading →

Mar 15

The World Is Too Big Not to Be a Little Magical: “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!”

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Michael Tow, Anjie Parker – Photo by Annielly Camargo

Presented by Company One
Produced in partnership with Boston Public Library
A new play by Keiko Green
Directed by Shawn LaCount
Dramaturgy by Jessie Baxter

Mar 6 – Mar 28, 2026
Boston Public Library
Central Library in Copley Square
700 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
Digital Playbill

All tickets are Pay-What-You-Want ($0 minimum)

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Before the show opens, a Company One lobby posterboard asks audience members of You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World what song they’d like to hear at the end of the world. I’d hear my spouse playing David Bowie karaoke on the ukulele while my loved ones welcome me home. That’d be nice. At the end, I hope there’s enough magic left for everyone to hear their heart’s desire. 

It’s the end of the world as he knows it, and it hurts like Hell. Greg (Michael Tow) receives a terminal cancer diagnosis (and weird dream visitations from Greta Thunberg (Anjie Parker)), he finally understands his true purpose and races to save Mother Earth as our climate catastrophe looms. Meanwhile, his wife, Viv (Jade Guerra), tries to hold it all together, but really just wants to stop time and hide under the covers with her husband. And through it all, our emcee and their child, M (Kai Clifton, who dazzles in another leading role), charts their own path while Dad is dying, life is a drag, and the world keeps spinning. Ensemble members Parker, Alex Alexander and Nicholas Papayoanou play multiple supporting characters Continue reading →