The saying goes, all you need to become a punk rock band is three chords and the truth. Russian performance artists and feminist activists Pussy Riot couldn’t play three chords but their truth—spoken loud and proud in a Moscow church in 2012—incited the wrath of Putin and the Orthodox Church and turned them into a […]
Suffering for fashion in Sheila Callaghan’s ‘Everything You Touch’ at CATF
Fashion is pain, beauty is suffering and thin is in in the chic black comedy Everything You Touch, playwright Sheila Callaghan’s faboo-looking treatise on body shaming, art and finding your identity. Like other works by Callaghan—That Pretty Pretty; Or the Rape Play and Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) – this one is dreamlike and […]
2015 Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 10 – August 2, 2015 [ezcol_1third] WORLD BUILDERS by Johnna Adams Directed by Nicole A. Watson [/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end] Playwright Johnna Adams (Gideon’s Knot) makes a strong case for unfettered imagination in the quirky, intense World Builders, a world premiere rom-com at the 25th anniversary of the Contemporary American Theater Festival. Max (Chris Thorn) and Whitney […]
Marriage mined for warm comedy in Weller’s Full Catastrophe at CATF
Who better than a feckless linguist with commitment issues to be a live-in counselor for a nice couple from Missouri having marriage problems? That’s the situation in Michael Weller’s (Moonchildren) affable romantic comedy, The Full Catastrophe, a world premiere at the Contemporary American Theater Festival snappily directed by festival director Ed Herendeen.
Uncanny Valley: CATF
When we first meet Julian (Alex Podulke), he’s a talking head. The brainchild of techies and artificial intelligence scientist Claire (Barbara Kingsley), Julian is a robot learning to be life-like. Under the patient tutelage of Claire, Julian’s voice loses its robotic cadences, his smile relaxes into naturalness and his blinking seems reflexive.
North of the Boulevard: CATF
Jeez, all the palookas want in North of the Boulevard is an effing break. Is that too much to ask? They don’t want millions or to rule the world. They just want to pay some bills, maybe get ahead, buy some gifts for the kids, not pinch pennies until Abe cries like a girl. Most […]
Dead and Breathing: CATF
Dead & Breathing pairs the formidable Lizan Mitchell with the dazzling N.L. Graham in a battle of witticisms, piercing words and stratagems about life, living, end of life decisions, and the tumultuous journey between.
The Ashes Under Gait City: CATF
At last, a play about planning and project management. If it weren’t for the stage lights and stadium seating, you might think you were at work, trapped in a 100-minute meeting with Powerpoint slides.
One Night: CATF
Playwright Charles Fuller delves into another grim aspect of military life in One Night. His 1982 play A Soldier’s Story dealt with racism and black self-hatred at an Army base in Louisiana during World War II. This new play takes place in 2008 during the Iraqi War and examines rape in the armed forces.
H2O
This world premiere has a fascinating premise, that performing theater, in this case, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, can help save a wayward soul desperately in need of structure in his life. Partnering this Hamlet with just the Ophelia is the key.
Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah
In this strangely titled production that packs a wallop, writer and director Mark St. Germain sets up an imagined encounter between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The world premiere script is remarkably savvy, complete with beats that ebb and flow with a natural ease.
Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill Us and How We Learn to Love Them
Terrorism. Not typically the topic that makes you want to have a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants. However, terrorists are the subject of Jon Kern’s horribly funny play Extreme Terrorism, inappropriately enough, one of the bright spots in this year’s American Contemporary Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.