There are many different types of laughter in a theater: Chuckles from slapstick, a knowledgeable laugh at word play… God of Carnage reaches into the audience, grabs hard, and drags out every last ounce of pained, awkward laughter as the cast wrecks each other in a living room demolition derby.
Archives for February 2017
Rehearsing Dead Man Walking: Week 3, focus on Sister Helen’s Journey
How will Director Francesca Zambello accompany her singer’s journey on the dark and lonely path of playing the nun who befriended a convicted killer and witnessed his execution? This is what I wondered while watching Kate Lindsey prepare her Washington National Opera debut in the lead role of Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking.
The Very Last Days of the First Colored Circus (review)
It’s a rare and unusual treat to dip into parts of history that have been cast aside, forgotten and ignored. There was a time when the circus coming to town was the most exciting thing around. The idea of black people actually taking the helm and being in charge of something so enthralling, calling the […]
Riot Grrrls’ Trojan Women: in defeat, transcendence (review)
History, they say, is written by the victors, which may be one reason why Euripides’s The Trojan Women is such a striking piece. By focusing on the women of Troy in the time between the fall of the city and their being taken away to a life of slavery on Greek ships, a different side […]
Shakespeare Theatre Company to present Pinter, Beckett, a Musical and a whole lotta Shakespeare next season
First to announce a look at their 2017-2018 season is Shakespeare Theatre Company which will open with two minimalist one-act plays by Harold Pinter and bookend them with the grand musical Camelot. In between: a visit from the Druid Theatre Company of Ireland and plenty of Shakespeare. (STC has not released specific dates and one production remains to […]
Pallas and Infinity theatre companies announce their 2017 seasons
Two announcements from companies who produce in a single calendar year, rather than on the traditional theatre schedule of fall to summer.
Wallace Shawn’s Evening at the Talk House Review: when an actor’s day job can be murder
“The theatre is gone, but there are new things now,” says Matthew Broderick in Wallace Shawn’s chilling comedy, which imagines a dystopian but familiar society where former theatre people have gone on to television, or to a day job, such as murderer. “My paycheck arrives with complete regularity,” says an ex wardrobe supervisor turned assassin.
Tracy Letts’ Man from Nebraska Review
There are three great reasons to see the New York stage debut of Man From Nebraska, without even knowing what it’s about: Its author Tracy Letts (August: Osage County), its director David Cromer (Our Town), a cast that features Reed Birney (The Humans.) These remain even when you learn it’s about a man’s mid-life crisis.
Robert Joy puts TV and film career on hold for role of a lifetime in King Charles III
“This role — and this play — lifts off the Earth. It flies in a certain way. It’s such a great role and a great play.” Robert Joy, who has had a remarkable career in theatre, film, and television, was talking to me about his title role in King Charles III.
Blues having its way with love. Blues in the Night at Creative Cauldron (review)
‘Tis the season to think about love, and whether you’ve got the “Dirty No-Gooder Blues,” are “Taking a Chance on Love” or you’re “Just a Lucky So-and-So” there’s a song that will speak to your heart in Creative Cauldron’s swinging production of Blues in Night.
Constellation’s Peter and the Starcatcher takes dazzling flight at Source (review)
Think of your favorite pop-up book as a kid: the bright colors, the interactive story, the giddy surprise of action leaping off the page. This feeling of childlike wonder drives Constellation Theatre Company’s ingenious production of Rick Elice’s Peter and the Starcatcher, a Peter Pan origin story bursting with full-throated song, high flying choreography, and […]
Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls at Maryland Ensemble Theatre (review)
Half of MET’s production of Top Girls is a nightmare staged like a dream; the other is a dream staged, if not so badly as a nightmare, then at least as a bit of a mess. The famous first portion, a dinner party involving historical and fictional women interacting with modern power-executive Marlene, ends up […]