May 01

Life Lessons in a Lull: TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

Posted on May 1, 2012 by craigidlebrook

photo credit: Stratton McCrady

Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, The Modern Theatre, 4/25/12-5/20/12, http://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/events/troilus-and-cressida-0.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) There are two major ways to connect audiences to Shakespeare, despite the tricky language: you can glitz up the production so theatergoers don’t realize their brains are doing heavy-lifting (a la Baz Luhrmann’s seizure-inducing Romeo and Juliet) or make sure you serve up quality and let the script speak for itself. Tina Packer consistently has chosen the second option in her body of work. Continue reading →

Oct 22

Well-Behaved Women Rarely Reach Old Age: WOMEN OF WILL

Posted on October 22, 2011 by craigidlebrook

Nigel Gore and Tina Packer in Women of Will performing October 13 - November 6, 2011 at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA. Photo: A.R. Sinclair Photography.

Women of Will, by Tina Packer, The Nora Theatre Company, Central Square Theatre, 10/13/11- 11/6/11. http://www.centralsquaretheater.org/season/11-12/women-of-will.html

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Cambridge, MA) The female characters of Shakespeare’s plays are badly outnumbered by the males, sometimes fifteen to one, explains veteran thespian Tina Packer in Women of Will at the Central Square Theater. In the Bard’s works, women often operate as others and also-rans, virgins and whores, rarely receiving the main focus. But when they appear, their actions and emotions speak volumes, both about Shakespeare and society. Continue reading →