Dancing at Lughnasa

Dancing at Lughnasa is a study in the fruitless struggle against the collapse of everything. Sweet and melancholy, it is the story of the doomed Mundy sisters, told from the decades-later perspective of the youngest daughter’s son, [Read more...]

James Konicek reads the winning Shakespeare speech

In his review of Henry V, Tim Treanor stated that the St. Crispian Day speech was the greatest of all of Shakespeare’s speeches.  True? We posed the question to some of our favorite Shakespeare scholars around town, then turned it over to our readers in a poll. [Read more...]

Golden Age

Top Pick! — Terrence McNally’s Golden Age is a backstage story about opera singers and their all-too-human egocentric jealousies. It’s also about creating truth and beauty in art. Altogether, McNally pulls off a not-to-be-missed richly-layered masterpiece-in-the-making [Read more...]

Clybourne Park

1959. In their idyllic suburban house on the outskirts of Chicago, Beverly is seen busily packing her family’s goods for the upcoming move. Her austere husband Russ lounges in his recliner, feet propped on a cardboard box as he digs into a container of ice cream. [Read more...]

Hairspray

Hairspray is the ultimate feel-good musical because it celebrates what life would be like if we were as wonderful as we could be, instead of being our present self-involved and ungenerous selves. And how would it be, according to the vigorous and joyous production now being staged at Toby’s Columbia? [Read more...]