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Alice
Adapted by Mary Hall Surface from a story by Charles Dodgson, who wrote as Lewis Carroll
Directed by Mary Hall Surface
Produced by Round House Theatre
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

What churl could not love a stage adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland? What sort of cretin would not melt like a caramel nougat left in the sun to see this clever and plucky child, struggling with a pack of cards come to life, and with a feline who is all grin and no cat, and with a crazy hatter, and with a croquet mallet made of flamingo, and with a dozen other things no child in her right mind would have ever conceived? (more…)

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

by Karen Zacarías 
based on the novel by Julia Alvarez
directed by Blake Robison
produced by Round House Theatre 
reviewed by Miranda Hall 

Lime-green suitcases. American flag underpants. Blow-out birthday parties. Welcome to the world of the Garcia family.

Playwright Karen Zacarias’s latest adaptation, from Julia Alvarez’s acclaimed novel, bursts with music, compassion, and vivacity. (more…)

• Nixon’s Nixon
• By Russell Lees
• Directed by Jerry Whiddon
• Produced by Round House Theatre
• Reviewed by Tim Treanor

There will come a time when we remember Nixon only in outline and when that time comes, it will be impossible to explain him to those who come after us. This towering figure who opened up China, secured détente with the Soviet Union, founded EPA, invented revenue-sharing, and laid the groundwork for his party to win seven of ten Presidential elections - he did what? To whom? (more…)

• Lord of the Flies
• Based on the novel by William Golding . Adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams
• Directed by Blake Robison
• Produced By Round House Theatre
• Reviewed by Steven McKnight

Directing a theatrical production of the classic novel “Lord of the Flies” is a task with a high degree of difficulty.   Balancing the degree of symbolism versus realism, deciding how to stage the action sequences, and handling a large ensemble of young men are just a few of the challenges.  Fortunately, Blake Robison nails every artistic choice in Round House Theatre’s gripping and memorable new production. (more…)

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• by Karen Zacarias
• Directed by Nick Olcott
• Produced by Round House Theater
• Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson

There really were book clubs before Oprah’s.  Really.  The ties that bind through reading and sharing run deep, and, as can be seen in the debuting Book Club Play currently playing at Round House Theatre,woe to the creature who upsets the delicate dynamics. (more…)

Produced by Round House Theatre

Reviewed by Tim Treanor

Kathryn Kelley and Wilbur Edwin Henry (Photo: Stan Barouh)

Imagine Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s comedy about a grade-Z theater company’s attempt to put on a farce (or read about Arena’s production of it here). Now, substitute theater icons Orson Welles (Wilbur Edwin Henry), Joan Plowright (Connan Morrissey) and Sir Lawrence Olivier (Anthony Newfield) for Frayn’s misbegotten company. Next, instead of the smarmy farce, substitute Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. Finally, instead of the trivial and banal considerations which drove the action in Frayn’s play, substitute core questions about duty, ego and the nature of the theater itself. You would have something very much like Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow, now playing at Round House Theatre. (more…)

The Little Prince

Produced by Round House Theatre

Reviewed by Rosalind LacyA plane with an open cockpit makes a crash landing during a thunder storm in the Sahara Desert, miles from help. As the Aviator fixes his plane, an extraterrestrial person, the Little Prince, pops out of the cockpit. He orders the Aviator to “Draw me a sheep.” Then he tells tales of his quest through the galaxy to find a more perfect world, free of narrow minded, selfish people. Through the wide-eyed, innocent eyes of a child, life on earth doesn’t make sense.Once we accept that Antoine De Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince is nonsensical, then we are in our inner child. We understand: The grown up world is contradictory and absurd. (more…)

DCTR Interviews Michael Baron, director of Signature’s The Sex Habits Of American Women

Hello Michael,

The Sex Habits Of American Women is such a visual production — tell us about the strong emotional currents that flow beneath the play’s stylish surface.

My goal with the designers was to recreate a 1950’s world and show what made it so appealing to many Americans. These new “modern” American homes were showplaces filled with bright colors and varied textures; the latest products made from newly manufactured materials, and helped define roles within the family unit. “Good, clean living!” Each room was designed with a clear purpose and held rules of behavior that were expected to be followed: the living room was for entertaining- with cocktails; the kitchen was the domain of the wife; the study/office was the domain of the husband; the twin-beds in master bedroom were meant for sleeping- not intimacy (except when the couple decided to share a twin bed for the time required to have sex); the foyer for greeting guests; etc.

(more…)