Tag Archives: William Shakespeare

Sep 10

Parents Just Don’t Understand: “Romeo and Juliet”

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Rudy Pankow (Romeo) and Emilia Suárez (Juliet), credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

Presented by American Repertory Theater
Play by William Shakespeare
Direction by Diane Paulus
Movement direction and choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Scenic design by Amy Rubin
Costume design by Emilio Sosa
Lighting design by Jen Schriever
Sound design by Daniel Lundberg
Original music by Alexandre Dai Castaing
Featuring: Terence Archie, Sharon Catherine Brown, Brandon Dial, Terrance Mann, Rudy Pankow, Clay Singer, Emilia Suárez, Nicole Villamil

August 31 – October 6
Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle Street
Cambridge MA 02138
Tickets here

Article by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Shakespeare’s most ubiquitous tragic romance hinges on the duality between love and hate. In Director Diane Paulus’ program note, she expresses a desire to tip the scale toward love, but this A.R.T. production is most successful in its exploration of another duality: that of tradition and rebellion; the tension between one generation and the next. Continue reading →

Jul 26

We Need No Grave to Bury Honesty: “The Winter’s Tale”

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The Cast of The Winter’s Tale. PC: Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Bryn Boice
Original Music by Mackenzie Adamick
Choreography by Victoria Lynn Awkward
Fight/Intimacy Consultant: Jess Meyer
Scenic Design: James J. Fenton
Costume Designer: Rachel Padula-Shufelt
Lighting Designer: Maximo Grano De Oro
Sound Designer: David Remedios
Properties Designer: Lauren Corcuera

July 16 – August 4, 2024
The Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common
Boston, MA

Accessibility Info
All performances of The Winter’s Tale are open-captioned.

Fancy interactive digital Playbill

Content Advisory from the CSC website: jealousy, betrayal, a child and mother dying, child abandonment, false imprisonment, pick-pocketing–and being pursued by a bear (while exiting). A copy editor needs to check the website’s grammar. For example, periods go outside of parentheses when ending a sentence.  

The Winter’s Tale runs approximately two hours and twenty minutes plus a 15-minute intermission.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Some people love Shakespeare; I don’t prefer him; it’s not my thing. I appreciate Shakespeare: the poetry in his language and the traditions surrounding his works, but I don’t seek him out. Shakespeare on the Common is for an audience who loves an outdoor performance (no thanks), who wants to see Shakespeare’s works reconsidered (nope), and who loves the summer ritual of Shakespeare in the Park (alas, nay). 

Reader, I had an enjoyable time at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s The Winter’s Tale on Boston Common. CSC and its cast and crew created a delightful experience. This may be one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” that alienates audiences with its complications and, while this production has its problems, it is entertaining and will please more people than it disappoints. Continue reading →

Feb 12

Flipping a Tragedy on Its Head: “Duel Reality”

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Duel Reality – Mât Chinois, Credit: Arata Urawa

Presented by Arts Emerson
Originally produced and created with Virgin Voyages
Directed by Shana Carrol
Performed by The 7 Fingers
Based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Featuring Nicolas Jelmoni, Soen Geinaert, Danny Vrijsen, Einar Kling-Odencrants, Anni Küpper,
Andreas De Ryck, Aerial Emery ou Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard, Andrew Price, Kalani June,
Arata Urawa
Music by Colin Gagné
Lighting by Alexander Nichols
Acrobatic Coach: Francisco Cruz

February 7-19, 2024
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON, Mass. — In a presidential election year, can American audiences find joy in a Shakespeare-based tragedy about red-versus-blue factionalism?

Yes, thanks to the joyous movement-based storytelling that The 7 Fingers artistic collaborative brings to the stage. This troupe dazzles by combining snippets of dialogue and the heart of Romeo and Juliet with an hour-long air-defying spectacle of acrobatics that is likely to leave you smiling and at the edge of your seat. Continue reading →

Aug 13

Hip Hooray for Shakespeare: BLO’s “Romeo & Juliet”

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L-R VANESSA BECERRA AND RICARDO GARCIA AS THE TITLE CHARACTERS IN BLO’S PRODUCTION OF ROMEO & JULIET.
Photo by Nile Scott.

Presented by Boston Lyric Opera
In partnership with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
Music by Charles Gounod
Libretto by Jules Barbier & Michel Carré, after William Shakespeare
English text by Edmund Tracy 
Performance edition by David Angus, Steven Maler and John Conklin
Conducted by David Angus
Directed by Steven Maler
Dramaturgy by John Conklin
Choreography by Victoria L. Awkward
Fight direction by Nile Hawver
The Playbill 

For Accessibility Information and Questions, BLO Audience Services can be reached at 617.542.6772 or boxoffice@blo.org.

FREE  on the Boston Common
Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 8PM
Saturday, August 13, 2022 at 8PM
Performed on the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company stage
139 Tremont Street 
Boston, MA 02111

Total run time, including one intermission, is two hours.
Sung in English with English supertitles.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — BLO’s Romeo & Juliet remixes the French opera by Gounod and Barbier & Carré with the original Shakespeare play of the same name. The BLO production is successful as an opera for the masses and as fan art of the original. Diehard opera fans may find fault in this original production, but the open-minded will find a lot to love.

Dwellers who live ‘neath the rocks can find the Rome & Juliet synopsis here: https://blo.org/romeo-juliet/. To sum up, Romeo and Juliet are two crazy kids who fall in love at a party. Then, because they snog instead of talking, they die. Love is hard.  

Boston Lyric Opera reduces the five-act opera to a merciful two. Score editors David Angus, Steven Maler, and John Conklin added two speaking actors (Ed Hoopman and Cheryl D. Singleton who were fantastic.) to the usual vocalists and supernumeraries to Gounod’s opera who read expositional text from Shakespeare’s play. The result is an opera/play hybrid that works: we still hear famous music from the opera that showcases the vocalists’ talents; the play hits all the important plot points (and deaths) and avoids a extra-lengthy visit to the Common. Continue reading →

Sep 21

Don’t Hate the Players, Hate the Stage: Shit-Faced Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

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One of the SGS: AMSND casts; Photo credit- Nile Scott Studio.

Presented by Shit-faced Shakespeare®
The Saturday night cast:
Compere (the host)- Tyler Rosati
Hermia- Elizabeth Hartford
Demetrius- Evan Turissini
Lysander- Sam Fidler
Helena- Grace Graham
Puck- Brett Milanowski
Lights and sound- Sarah Morin

Sept. 16 – Dec. 4 at 7PM
The Rockwell Theater
Davis Square
Somerville, MA
SFS social media: shitfacedshake; Sfacedshakespeare.us

Review by Kitty Drexel

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…”

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The premise of Shit-Faced Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is simple: there’s a cast of five actors performing an abridged version of Shakespeare’s play. One of them is very drunk. The drunk actor changes every performance, as does the cast. A mediator, the Compere (Tyler Rosati), opens the show and keeps the drunk person on task. 

Before the show, the Compere gives the audience three tools to make the performance more interesting. A gong and cowbell, when played, mandate that the drunkard must imbibe another drink. A bucket is employed when the drunkard has had too much. It assumed that the gong and bell are used once each but the trove of onstage beverages kept for this purpose held many more than two. A bucket-holder, bless them, will know if the bucket is needed more than once from the muffled sounds of discomfort echoing from the drunkard.  Continue reading →

Jul 30

Ariel, the Human World, It’s A Mess: “The Tempest”

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The cast of “The Tempest.” Gods, it’s good to see theatre again. Photo by: Evgenia Eliseeva

FREE Shakespeare on the Common
Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Steven Maler
Choreographer/ Movement coaching by Levi Philip Marsman
Sound design and compositions by David Reiffel
COVID Safety Manager by Brian Robillard

July 21-August 8, 2021
Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
Boston, MA
CommShakes on social media: @commshakes

The Accessibility program dates:
Open Captioning: July 31
Audio description and ASL interpreted performances: August 1 and August 6
Rain Date for all Access services: August 8

Running time is about 110 minutes; there is no intermission.

Register for tickets HERE
COVID-19 restrictions are HERE.

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON, Mass. — Theatre is my favorite thing. To me, there is no greater experience than the communion of theatre. It’s been 17 months, and I have missed live-performance every day. Seeing the cast of The Tempest walk onstage to face our crowd of masked-until-seated strangers brought me to tears. It felt like coming home. 

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company celebrates 25 years of free Shakespeare on Boston Common with their production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It stars John Douglas Thompson as Prospero, a role that fits him like a glove. A cadre of beloved local talent plays major and minor roles. Continue reading →

Aug 04

“Macbeth” Gets Bloody Good: Part II

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Presented by Liars & Believers
Directed by Jason Slavick
Original Music and Sound Design by Jay Mobley
Additional Video by Sam Powell

June 18, 2020 – Present (Weekly)
View – https://www.liarsandbelievers.com/show/pandemicplay/
LAB on Facebook, Twitter

Review by Gillian Daniels

ZOOM – When we last left our antiheroes, Macbeth (Jesse Garlick) found his ambitions for the throne awoken by three, soothsayer witches (all played by Rebecca Lehrhoff in different registers and Instagram filters) and Lady Macbeth (Rachel Wiese) decided to do whatever was in her power to climb the hegemonic ladder and stomp on every person who got in their way as bloodily as possible. Betrayal has yet to visit ruin and mental anguish on their lives. Continue reading →

Aug 20

Who will believe you?: “Measure for Measure”

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Photo via the BBT Facebook page.

Presented by Brown Box Theatre 
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Kyler Taustin
Intimacy & Fight Choreography by Margaret Clark

Performances dates 8/21 – 8/25, 2019
Performance location (s): Various outdoor locations:
8/21: Sampus Pavilion, 160 Pawtucket Blvd, Lowell, MA
8/22: Borderland State Park, 250 Massapoaq Ave., Easton, MA
8/23: – Herter Park Ampitheater, 1175 Soldiers Field Road, Allston, MA
8/24: Hopkinton Ctr for the Arts, 98 Hayde Rowe Street, Hopkinton, MA
8/25: Atlantic Wharf/Waterfront Plaza, 290 Congress Street, Boston, MA
Brown Box on Facebook 

Review by Chloé Cunha

(Boston, Mass.) Without even mentioning context, the above refrain strikes a familiar chord, the scene paints itself: a woman abused, her abuser, threatening the full extent of his power against her. Who will believe you?  Chilling and pressing, Brown Box Theatre’s production reminds us why Shakespeare remains relevant today. Continue reading →

Jul 15

Blame it on the Unquiet Ducks: “Hamlet”

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Photo via Praxis Stage on Facebook: Elena Toppo, Eric McGowan, Joan Raube-Wilson; not dead yet.

Presented by Praxis Stage 
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Kim Carrel
Dramaturgy by Michael Anderson
Fight choreography by Kim Carrell

Jul 6 – Jul 14, 2019
Danehy Park
99 Sherman St.
Cambridge, MA 02140

Jul 18 – Jul 28, 2019
Longfellow Park 
Cambridge, MA 02138
Praxis Stage on Facebook
Critique by Kitty Drexel

Murther [ mur-th er ] – noun, verb (used with or without object) Obsolete:

  1. Murder. 

 – From Dictionary.com

(Cambridge, MA) I don’t prefer productions performed out of doors. The novelty has never appealed to me. I’ve only acted in one Shakespeare in the Park production and, while grateful for the experience, I wouldn’t do it agin. Actors must complete with offstage noise, there’s the weather, and, at dusk, there are the MOSQUITOS. Nature in all its splendor cannot compare to the creature comforts offered by the great indoors. That being said, Praxis Stage’s Hamlet is fun.

A summary of Hamlet is provided by Encyclopedia Britanica (contains spoilers). Unlike many, many Hamlets before, Praxis’ interpretation doesn’t paint Hamlet (Eric McGowan) the man as a wounded emo-hero torn apart by his circumstances. Praxis takes a more feminist approach by establishing Hamlet as a man-child culpable for his abusive actions: he’s rash and impulsive; a murderer and a misogynist.  Continue reading →

Dec 04

“Twelfth Night” Thrums with Life

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L to R: Sarah Gazdowicz (OIivia), Charlotte Kinder (Viola); Photo Credit: Sharman Altshuler

Presented by Moonbox Productions
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Allison Olivia Choat

Nov 25 – Dec 29, 2018
Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre
539 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116
Moonbox Productions on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Boston, MA) There are productions of Shakespeare that are focused on reciting the text rather than acting it out. I understand the temptation. Maybe it’s the rhythm, maybe it’s the Bard’s reputation as, well, THE BARD, but sometimes theater groups seem to engage with Shakespeare’s comedy as a text to worship rather than a story to tell, even with a comedy like Twelfth Night. I’m happy to say Moonbox Production not only engages with the high emotions, cartoonish confusion, and whacky consequences of the comical cross-dressing romance but celebrates the story and its jokes with delight. Continue reading →