One last standing ovation for these performers whose work quite simply blew us away this year. Ian Merill Peakes, Amadeus, Folger Theatre In Amadeus, Ian Merill Peakes brought Peter Shaffer’s Salieri to brilliant, anguished life. He was a childishly sweet-scarfing confidant explaining to future generations the way his young court-rival genius, Mozart, curdled Salieri’s heart and activated […]
Review: A Misanthrope, a witty, somewhat crass update of Moliere comedy
With A Misanthrope, Manhattan-based playwright Matt Minnicino has fashioned a “Molière for millenials” with this very witty and sometimes crass twist on the 17th century playwright’s The Misanthrope. Minnicino unfurls his cynical tale in Molière’s rhyming verse style, adding a meta layer to the play, moments when the characters comment directly to the audience on […]
Avant Bard director Megan Behm: A Misanthrope is a millennial’s Molière
The Misanthrope is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière, and first performed in 1666. More than 350 years later, this literary classic has been reimagined by Manhattan-based playwright Matt Minnicino, with his version, A Misanthrope, currently being staged by Avant Bard Theatre through June 30 at the Gunston Arts Center. “If […]
Review: Topdog/Underdog, entertaining and unsettling.
Topdog/Underdog from WSC Avant Bard is an emotionally charged wonder that leaves no stone unturned or scab safely covered. The trailblazing story by Suzan-Lori Parks rips off the social bandage taped over societal ills and dares you to peer at the murky muck that’s left raw and exposed. Two brothers, abandoned in their teenage years, […]
Review: Illyria, or What You Will, a wildly imaginative Twelfth Night
The challenge of finding a fresh take on any play by The Bard has foiled many an artist, but Avant Bard joyfully clears that hurdle with Illyria, or What You Will, a clever reimagining of Twelfth Night. The play offers a winning vehicle for exploring gender identity and love in all forms in ways that […]
What’s Twelfth Night doing in a NY ’80’s queer club? Avant Bard adaptors explain.
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will has been probably adapted into more styles, settings than any of the Bard’s plays. Whether it’s Play On, a Broadway jukebox musical featuring the music of Duke Ellington set in the jazz world of 1940s Harlem; 12th Night, Theater Grottesco modern take on the romcom, told from the point […]
This season, WSC Avant Bard puts the “Avant” in the Bard and beyond.
Love the classics, but think they’re old hat? WSC Avant Bard has something for you this year: two brand-new reimagined classics (one by the Bard), plus one classic from our own time.
The Tempest is a Bad Play. WSC Avant Bard has made it better.
In The Tempest, the lordly Prospero, formerly known as the Duke of Milan, is marooned on a miserable island with his daughter as his only human company. He also has Caliban, a growling subhuman whose function it is, apparently, to gather firewood, and the sprite Ariel, who he inherited from the island’s former occupant — […]
Review: Avant Bard’s The Tempest, theatrical magic
Shakespeare’s brave new world – a desolate island miles aways from Europe – is the fantastical setting where The Tempest offers up a blend of danger, romance, intrigue, family strife and, ultimately, joy. All these qualities are handled with panache and delicious theatrical magic by WSC Avant Bard for their closing production of their 28th […]
Christopher Henley, Prospero in The Tempest, talks of WSC Avant Bard’s dramatic history with Shakespeare’s comedy
As William Shakespeare’s only comedy set in the new world, The Tempest deals with a major act of betrayal, ill treatment, the development of magic arts and a revenge plot that other playwrights would spin into tragedies. It’s a popular play and one that WSC Avant Bard will take on for the third time, 25 […]
The Gospel at Colonus gets a glorious revival from Avant Bard (review)
The ancient Greeks took to the stage with joyous dancing and choral singing thousands of years ago, even before they created the timeless tragedies of Euripides and Sophocles. So why not a black gospel choir and spirited liturgical dance from the African-American tradition?
Gospel recording artist featured in Avant Bard’s revival of The Gospel at Colonus
After Avant Bard’s successful Helen Hayes Award-nominated production of The Gospel at Colonus last season (the original cast was nominated for “Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical – Helen” category), the company has staged a remount, now running through March 25. Sandra L. Holloway, who served as choreographer last time around, has directed the show, based […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.