IN Series is presenting its 2020-2021 season completely online and free through its platform, INvision, though paid access has additional perks. Their production of Orphée et Eurydice (which became available November 1) embraces the unique qualities of film with no regrets for the absence of stage production. Presenting Opera (a uniquely non-realistic medium) as film […]
Review: Roaring, Best Medicine’s 20’s comedy, a fun diversion
Roaring is a peek at the tumultuous 1920’s as seen through the eyes of a plucky go-getter, Mabel Daniels (Kara Burri). In this fun-filled digital original by Best Medicine Rep’s John Morogiello, we witness history unfold as Mabel romps through the decade finding her own way while history unfolds under her feet. Determined to call […]
Review: Capturing the conscience of Studio’s Kings
There are not many towns which could be riveted by a tale which revolves around the tax treatment that carried interest gets, but, by God, Washington is one of them. Of course, the carried interest argument is just the lever by which playwright Sarah Burgess gets to larger moral issues, including the power and use […]
Review: Midnight Dreary series continues with Poe’s creepiest tales
All stories are about the loss of power – or, more correctly, loss of the illusion of power, and the more fundamental the loss, the more heart-wrenching the story. Here we are, in the prime of life, conquerors of the Peloton, with a swell job in the Department of Commerce and two kids in a […]
First look at Psalmayene 24’s Dear Mapel from Mosaic Theater
Dear Mapel, written and performed by Psalmayene 24, is a theatrical exploration of his relationship with his deceased father currently in workshop development at Mosaic Theater. Structured as intimate letters to his father, he presents a collage of memories, feelings, and queries to communicate with his estranged father as he ponders – how do you […]
Review: Fannie Lou Hamer: Speak on It! A soul-stirring message on the power of the vote
Lyndon Johnson is said to have called her an “ignorant niggra.” In Fannie Lou Hamer: Speak on It!, E. Faye Butler brings this so-called “ignorant niggra” – Fannie Lou Hamer – to vibrant, embarrassing and encouraging life. The performance is riveting and subtle. The purported purpose of this production (as mouthed by Fannie Lou Hamer […]
Review: Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy. Funny and freaking frightening
“I think what we do is evil but I still want to do a good job at it,” says Nikolai, one of the Russian trolls trying to sway the American Presidential election in Sarah Gancher’s funny and frightening new play. “Speak for yourself,” his colleague Steve bellows. “I think we’re saving the f—ing world.” The […]
Review: What the Constitution Means to Me, streaming on Amazon Prime “exuberant, angry, proud and patriotic”
You know things are dire during Corona Times when you find yourself sobbing over a piece of parchment—aka The Constitution of the United States. What’s next? Rending my garments over the Bill of Rights? That’s the effect Heidi Schreck’s exuberant, angry, proud and patriotic play, What the Constitution Means to Me, has on a person. […]
Review: Vato Tsikurishvili’s mysterious Joy! at Synetic
One would think that a show about joy would have little to do with theater- or much else, for that matter- these days. Yet Synetic Theater, that chameleon of invention, brings us little glimmers of joys past and joys to come. Their current online offering, Joy!, is really two separate one-person offerings. This reviewer was […]
Review: Synetic’s Joy! Maria Simpkins balances defiance with cheeky humor
I click on the link and settle in for the new show, Joy!, delivered into my living room by Synetic Theater. A special surprise “Joy” box at my side ready to be opened. Check. Glass of prosecco poured and ready to be partaken (they said “Joy” didn’t they?) Check. Zoom video camera on. Check. Audio […]
Review. Poe’s Dreary Midnight: A Doom for Our Times
Halloween has a special resonance this year, as the horrors are close at hand, funerals are more numerous than weddings, and at times the whole world seems to be a sepulcher. In this context, horror from such specialists as Lovecraft and Poe serve, strangely, to comfort rather than to horrify (or to provoke graveyard laughter), […]
Review: David Byrne’s American Utopia on HBO has Spike Lee’s unmistakable touch
Spike Lee filmed David Byrne’s American Utopia on the stage of Broadway’s Hudson Theater earlier this year; it is arriving on HBO on Saturday, October 17, in a completely different era. Taking evident advantage of the publicity surrounding the HBO film, the producers have just announced the rescheduling of a four-month return engagement of the […]