The Red Priest (Eight Ways to Say Goodbye): intelligent and moving
The Red Priest (Eight Ways to Say Goodbye) is a smart script and, in this United Players production, it’s being performed by smart actors. Playwright Mieko Ouchi’s text is about a fictional relationship between Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi and the wife of one of...
The Amaryllis takes a long time to bloom
Michele Riml’s script is a screwball comedy. But director Mindy Parfitt’s production is lacking a screwball: Amy Rutherford is miscast. The Amaryllis is about the sometimes comically fucked up relationship between adult siblings Lucy and Jeremy. Lucy is...
Buffoon: Read this review and watch the show (not necessarily in that order)
It’s story time. And you could hardly ask for better storytellers than playwright Anosh Irani and actor Andrew McNee. (McNee and Kayvon Khoshkam are alternating in this solo show.) “Look, I don’t know why you’re here,” is one of the first things that the guy we’ll...
Little Volcano: plate tectonics
All alone in my living room, I applauded. These are lonely times and getting to watch the livestream of Veda Hille’s Little Volcano for 90 minutes is like having the most fascinating person over for the most intimate of conversations. Hille is a singer/songwriter and...
I Walked the Line: Solidarity, sisters and brothers!
Allan Morgan is a big ol’ homo. That’s a big part of why his solo show I Walked the Line is such a glorious celebration of resilience, compassion, and belonging. In September of 2014, the lights went down for the last time on Morgan’s triumphant portrayal of Prospero...
Hey Viola! Get a better title!
Representation matters. Viola Desmond’s legacy matters. And I’m a white guy who doesn’t think that this telling of Desmond’s story works very well — which is my way of acknowledging that perspective also matters. Please take it into account. Desmond’s is the Black...
A War of the Worlds: real life is more chilling
Trump is scarier. Climate change is scarier. Covid is scarier. Theatre in the Dark’s production of A War of the Worlds — Mack Gordon and Corey Bradberry adapted the novel by H.G. Wells — has a handful of things going for it. The novel unfolds in and around Victorian...
The Doll’s House Project: theatrical space isn’t digital space
The Doll’s House Project has huge things going for it, including playwright Henrik Ibsen’s shifting moral perspectives and a gallery of fine performances from a bumper crop of student actors. But Laara Sadiq has directed the piece for the stage even though it’s being...
No Child… : Yes, child!
Are you looking for a really good reason to go back to the theatre? Here you go: the Arts Club’s production of Nilaja Sun’s No Child… will remind you what it’s all about. In the story, an actor/teacher named Miss Sun arrives at the impoverished Malcolm X High School...
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