The “terrifying broadcast that panicked a nation!” the night before Halloween more than 70 years ago and sent thousands heading for the hills can now be not only heard, but seen. Scena Theatre has taken the Orson Welles Mercury Theater’s (almost literally) groundbreaking “The War of the Worlds,” based on the eponymous 1898 book by […]
Sink the Belgrano!
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A leader in need of a political win authorizes a massive military campaign, dreamt up by scheming advisors, in a far flung territory under the pretense of national defense. SCENA Theatre’s production of Sink the Belgrano! stakes its claim to this fertile theatrical landscape with biting satire […]
The Importance of Being Earnest
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility!” So says Algernon Moncrief, chief idler and ne’er-do-well in Oscar Wilde’s classic drawing room comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest, now running at the H St. Playhouse in a new production […]
Public Enemy
Richard Branagh’s Public Enemy, as presented by Scena Theatre, is an interesting mash of psychological drama, shoot ‘em up gangster story, and affectionate film tribute.
Dublin Carol
Notwithstanding playwright Conor McPherson’s claim to have written a play about the effect of Ireland’s recent prosperity on the lives of its people, Dublin Carol is a story of how a drunken idjit
Mother Courage and Her Children
In Scena Theatre’s riveting production of the 1941 Brechtian classic, an almost palpable air of death and defeat hovers over the dun-colored, dirt-covered cement-floor set, making the occasional flashes of brilliant color
The Plague
The Plague By Albert Camus . Adapted for the stage by Otho Eskin Directed by Robert McNamara and Ellen Wilhite Produced by Scena Theatre Reviewed by Steven McKnight Dramatizing a novel is difficult, even more so when that novel, The Plague by Albert Camus, serves primarily as a platform for discussing philosophical responses to the absurdity […]
The Chairs
The Chairs By Eugene Ionesco Directed by Robert McNamara Produced by Scena Theatre Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy Blinding light floods the stage and the walls of the castle tower. An illustrious fanfare accompanies the opening of the upstage double doors. Surprise: nothing is there because an imaginary emperor is standing there. After what seems like […]
The Maids
The Maids By Jean Genet. translation by Bernard Fetchman Produced by Scena Theatre Reviewed by Janice Cane Have you ever seen that “Friends” episode where the gang watches the premiere of struggling actor Joey’s new TV show, “Mac and Cheese”? The show is so lacking in the quality department that the friends argue over who […]
No Exit
No Exit By Jean-Paul Sartre Translated by Paul Bowles Directed by Robert McNamara Produced by Scena Theatre Reviewed by Tim Treanor The remarkable thing, considering how celebrated Jean-Paul Sartre is as a chronicler of the human condition’s hopelessness, is how conventional No Exit really is. It is not an existential treatise, it is a morality […]
The Balcony
By Jean Genet Produced by Scena Theatre Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff Pardoned career criminal Jean Genet’s controversial gem The Balcony was first staged in 1957 in a private London club. Genet was banned from the club during the run due to his charge that the production was too tame. Three years later in New York, […]
New World Order
By: Ronnie Ruff The New World Order and Other Plays — Scena Theatre Pinter’s The New World Order and Other Plays currently mounted at Warehouse Theatre by Scena Theatre is a cluster of angry one act plays that speak to the oppressive governments that abuse the citizenry of the third world. Mainly aimed at the west, the three one […]