This is literally the only badly executed play at the entire Shaw Festival this year. Do you know how impressive that is? Most ten-play seasons have a hit or two and maybe a handful more that are merely pleasant, then at least a few duds. But Light Up the Sky, that’s it this year for […]
There are two issues to address here. 1) The Shaw Festival’s production of Sweet Charity is pretty good. 2) Sweet Charity is a piece of illogical, misogynistic nonsense and, though it has a fun song or two, no smart and interesting company should be programming it over the hundreds of wonderful (both lesser-known and far-more-popular) […]
A very well executed production of a unique and interesting new play, See What I Wanna See brings together three stories, with no clear ending to any of them, in an effort to show the importance of perception. While this doesn’t seem very clear, it is difficult to put this musical into words. Based […]
New Repertory Theatre seems to be the only company in the Greater Boston area that is acknowledging the centennial of Arthur Miller’s birth. They have wisely decided to veer away from Miller’s traditional masterpieces (All My Sons, The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, and A View from the Bridge) in favor of a later work […]
Simon Stephens often writes plays that are difficult to perform. He will display a character through a pinhole rather than a window. It is therefore very much up to audience to find meaning in what he writes, albeit with assistance from a shrewd director and cast. One Minute is the story of an investigation into […]
It’s difficult with a play like this to separate the effectiveness of a production from one’s emotional reaction to the story being told. It’s Anne Frank- dark and devastating, punctuated by heartbreaking moments of lightness, romance and even joy. Anne’s words, structured by playwrights Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (adapted by Wendy Kesselman), are so […]
Gord Rand is new to Stratford; he did one studio production back in 2002 but Oedipus really feels like a brand new introduction. Like with Maev Beaty last season, this is a strange reality that gets people talking about a well-established and highly respected performer as if they are just now being discovered. In the […]
I’m drawing the line. The Toronto theatre community is big and getting bigger and the My Theatre staff is small (also getting bigger, but still small). It’s impossible to cover everything so, if we’ve given a particular company bad review after bad review, the only thing I can think to do is scratch them off […]