Prior to my review of the Folger’s production of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, I spoke with director Robert Richmond and set designer Tony Cisek about the dramatic transformation of the theatre space, and with Cleopatra herself, Shirine Babb, about what this intimate relationship with the audience means for her performance.
Antony and Cleopatra’s romance is the central focus at Folger (review)
Folger Theatre is transformed dramatically for their production of Antony and Cleopatra, and that dramatic transformation also applies to the play itself. Thus is one of Shakespeare’s denser, layered and difficult late plays largely reborn, stripped of most of the oratory, with the title characters’ self-destructive passion placed front and center. The love affair sizzles, […]
Olney’s Our Town is everyone’s town (review)
It took Olney Theatre, surprisingly, 80 seasons to get around to Thornton Wilder’s iconic Our Town, and with acclaimed director Aaron Posner at the helm, they tackle the challenge of what this admittedly overproduced and arguably misunderstood play has to say to a contemporary multi-cultural audience, and how best to reach them. Perhaps that challenge […]