Of all the crazed, destructive, female characters that the stage has given us, Susan Traherne may be among the least interesting, at least as performed by Rachel Weisz in the Public Theater revival of Plenty, David Hare’s 1978 play about a woman who served in World War II and never recovered from it.
Archives for October 2016
Spoiler – in Nu Sass’s 43 1/2, everyone dies. A lot. (review)
Lue Douthit, the director of literary development and dramaturgy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, famously confessed about Coriolanus “I’ll be really honest to say I can’t understand all of it all of the time.” Whether or not you understand the Complete Works of William Shakespeare from cover to cover, 43 ½: The Greatest Deaths of Shakespeare’s Tragedies […]
Fox’s glitzy Rocky Horror Picture Show, tame and dull
Let’s do the Time Warp again! Then again, let’s not. The much an-ti-cip-at-ed reboot of the 1975 cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, despite its abundant glitz and glitter, is rather dull.
The Cherry Orchard Review: Diane Lane in Updated Chekhov
When Diane Lane, returning to Broadway after nearly four decades, enters on stage in the Roundabout’s ambitiously reinterpreted production of The Cherry Orchard, her Lubyov seems an impossibly glamorous lady returning after five years abroad to her cherished estate. But Lubyov’s life, we soon learn, is actually a mess, her past tragic, her future doomed.
Jack Sbarbori gives rare interview on McPherson’s Night Alive
Bethesda, Md.-based Quotidian Theatre Company opens its 2016-2017 season with The Night Alive, the most recent, critically acclaimed drama from Conor McPherson, one of contemporary theater’s brightest lights. The 2013 play received positive reviews for its London and Off-Broadway runs and won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. The Night Alive, McPherson’s latest […]
A Kiss you’ll not forget at Woolly Mammoth (review)
American theater has been mucking about in the sandbox and, meanwhile, the playground, the school, and the entire world have been burning down around us. Those were my first thoughts after leaving Woolly Mammoth’s US premiere of Kiss – an enveloping feeling at once depressing and tantalizing.
The Year of Magical Thinking at Arena Stage (review)
Switching between mediums can be as difficult as telling someone about a dream. If the new version cannot deliver on everything the original does (next to impossible), it better bring some valuable contributions to the story rooted in the new medium’s strengths.
Witch, a potent brew, from Convergence Theatre (review)
As we approach Halloween, Convergence Theatre sets out to prove to audiences that the most shocking horror can derive not from our imaginations, but from our own cruel history.
Nu Sass indulges in fantasy fights: you vs Shakespeare’s best
Nu Sass’s fall show, a remount of our audience-acclaimed 43 ½: The Greatest Deaths of Shakespeare’s Tragedies opens next week at the Capital Fringe’s Logan Fringe Arts Space. To help properly convey the gravitas and solemnity of this celebration of one of the most esteemed poets and playwrights in the English language, in this the year of […]
An Unexpected Zombie Prom (review)
Zombie Prom, now playing at Unexpected Stage Company, has great provenance, with a book and lyrics by John Dempsey and music by Dana P. Rowe. Both went on to adapt The Fix and The Witches of Eastwick into musicals which were nominated for London’s prestigious Olivier Award.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane at Imagination Stage (review)
To think I almost passed on seeing The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane because I assumed it would be just another snuffle bunny production. I nearly missed out on one of the most touching journeys I ever could have imagined.
Volcanoes: Tales from El Salvador, a bilingual musical for children (review)
A trio of howling Cadejos, mythical doglike beings played by actors wearing jingling ankle and wrist bells, romp around GALA’s stage as lively piped-in Salvadoran music comes from overhead speakers. The beings perform cartwheels and somersaults and jump on a bed where Rosita, played by Melissa Strova Valencia, lies sleeping.