I last intimately encountered Shakespeare was in high school and now only recall sporadic lines of his poetry, but, as I watch the opening scenes of Mme. Macbeth–a gender-bending interpretation of an, otherwise, traditional telling of Macbeth–Hamlet (surprisingly) knocks from the furthest mile of my memory: “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounce it to you, […]
Double Freakquency
Volitional experiences are popular with audiences today, particularly shows that maximize opportunities for you the theatergoer to decide what to watch, where to go, and who to listen to. Recent productions like Sleep No More by Punchdrunk and Then She Fell by Third Rail Projects have proven that this idea can be enormously successful, exciting, […]
Arlington National Cemetery: My Forever Home
“Ceremony and ritual sweeten sadness and touch it with awe.” This is one of several personal and poignant observations in Ellouise Schoettler’s Arlington National Cemetery: My Forever Home. A one-person show written and performed by Schoettler, the performance reveals the chain of events that led to her 3-year old daughter and husband of almost 57 years […]
Apples and Oranges
Karl Marx said that history was a story told first as tragedy and then again as farce. Apples and Oranges is a tale told twice, too – both times as sit-coms.
Tell-Tale
Though its source material—Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous short story, and one of its core conventions, the idea that two people may become linked via organ donation or blood transfusion—are familiar, Grain of Sand Theatre’s Tell-Tale manages to present something all together new. And, perhaps more importantly, encourages the audience to view reality and experience […]