The Year of Magical Thinking
February 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Writer Joan Didion insists on having the last word. This insistence comes back to haunt her after she has one of those years—you know, the kind where catastrophes become the warp and woof of everyday life and the only thing you can do is hang onto routine until it almost takes on a mystical dimension. [Read more...]
Next season, STC includes controversial O’Neill play
February 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
SHAKESPEARE THEATRE’S 2011-2012 SEASON TO FEATURE CONTROVERSIAL O’NEILL PLAY; TWO VERSIONS OF TWO GENTLEMEN
Shakespeare Theatre Company today announced that it will be performing Eugene O’Neill’s controversial Strange Interlude and an adaptation by David Ives as well as four plays from the Bard during its 2011-2012 25th anniversary season. [Read more...]
The Whipping Man
February 11, 2011 By 1 Comment
Not a very appetizing title, this.
Matthew Lopez, the playwright, was unknown to me. “Men of a Certain Age” is the TNT hit TV series in which André Braugher co-stars, yet I didn’t know his work. The remainder of the cast, André Holland and Jay Wilkison, were new to me too. [Read more...]
Fuddy Meers
February 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Life is already chaotic and amusing enough when your life is somewhat normal. Add in a peculiar twist and your day can really take a left turn into the Twilight Zone. “Good morning. How are you? How would you like to get dressed. You really like this dress. Would you like to have some breakfast?” “Yes, thank you. Oh, what an awful dress. Do I really like this dress? By the way, who are you? And…who am I?” How would you like it if your day started this way? What if every day started this way? [Read more...]
Touch
February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Nothing’s cozy like the cosmos. One would think that such a never-ending freezing expanse would snuff out the flames of life, but more often than not it brings us closer together, huddled in our smallness. Surrounded by light-years of darkness and ice, we rely on the inches between us that touch. [Read more...]
The Cripple of Inishmaan
February 10, 2011 By 3 Comments
Morning, noon, and night, gigantic waves from the windswept Atlantic crash against the craggy cliffs of three forlorn rocky outcrops at the mouth of Galway Bay. These are Ireland’s legendary Aran Islands, the setting for Martin McDonagh’s Cripple of Inishmaan, now playing at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. A co-production of Galway’s renowned theater, Druid, and New York’s Atlantic Theater Company, it’s part of a five month tour of the U.S., and no fan of contemporary Irish drama will want to miss it. [Read more...]
Playwright Richard Nelson answers the Tynan critics
February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
By now we hope all fans of the work of Kenneth Tynan have made plans to catch Philip Goodwin’s solo performance in Tynan, about to close this weekend at Studio Theatre.
While most of the critics revealed themselves to be longtime admirers of Kenneth Tynan’s theatre criticism – hard not to be – and found the play to be exceptional, one common thread in most reviews was why the play gave such a preponderance of time to Mr. Tynan’s sexual proclivities. [Read more...]
On the Razzle
February 9, 2011 By 1 Comment
Before Tom Stoppard got all metaphysical and mathematical on us, he wrote fluff. The Stoppardian word gymnastics and clever silliness are very much evident in On the Razzle, but it has about as much substance as a Justin Bieber song. And like the Beatles-coiffed tween idol, you can simply enjoy Razzle for what it is—a passing fancy. [Read more...]
Charming Billy
February 9, 2011 By 4 Comments
This is a meditation on the romance of the tragic drunk; the Yeats-quoting dipsomaniac who so feels the world’s pain that it is necessary for him to polish off three-quarters of a bottle of Jameson each night. You may have one of them in your family, or know someone who does, particularly if you’re Irish. He’s sweet, and witty, and generous, and…and passed out near the back door, the smell of whiskey so strong upon him that you dare not light a match nearby. [Read more...]
Landless Mash Up Fest, Part 1
February 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I’ve got a confession to make.
I’m a virgin.
When it comes to going to going to Landless Theatre Company, I’ve never done it.
I don’t know what I was waiting for. [Read more...]
