Author Archives: Kitty Drexel

Feb 20

Wham! Comic mischief in “Flora & Ulysses”

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Photo courtesy of Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by Wheelock Family Theatre
Adapted for the stage by John Glore
Based on the book by Kate DiCamillo
Directed by Joshua Rashon Streeter
Composed and Sound Designed by Mackenzie Adamick
Puppet Design by Amanda Gibson
Projection Design by Justin Lahue
Props Design by Saskia Martinez
Scenic Design by Danielle Delafuente
Costume Design by Nia Safarr Banks
Lighting Design by Lawrence A. Ware

Online playbill

February 15 – March 9, 2025
Wheelock Family Theatre
Boston University; Fenway Campus
200 The Riverway
Boston,  MA 02215

Critique by Helen Ganley

BOSTON — Common media often asserts that heroes come in all shapes and sizes, citing a range that stretches from DC’s Doll Man (thirteen inches tall, with an attitude) to Marvel’s Stature (fifty feet and fighting with the Young Avengers). But does this spectrum include a flying, super-strong, philosophy-spouting squirrel? Wheelock Family Theatre’s Flora & Ulysses expands the superhero multiverse beyond traditional humanity, following the story of a comic-obsessed 10-year-old girl and her unlikely superhero protégé as they navigate the trials of suburbia. Continue reading →

Feb 10

Crones Belong in “SPACE”

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Presented by Central Square Theater
The Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science Production
A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production
By L M Feldman
Directed by Larissa Lury
Created by L M Feldman and Larissa Lury

January 30 – February 23, 2025
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — There is no way Central Square Theater could have predicted the exact sequencing of events following the presidential inauguration on January 20, but, because its art is based in the sciences, it must have had an inkling that SPACE by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury would be topical. It’s Black History Month and the White House is stripping women and minorities of equity and inclusion opportunities to favor the most bleached, tantrum-fueled presidential idiocrasy oligarchy since Reagan allowed his hate and other mucuses to trickle down and stop up our national funding pipelines. But I digress. SPACE is a good show about badass astronauts who defied the odds to kick ass up and down U.S. history.   

SPACE is told in two parts and recognizes time as an a-linear construct. The story bounces through the years like a racquetball on a closed court. Part One integrates the stories of the U.S. aviation’s best and brightest pilots yesterday and today: Bessie Coleman & Irene Leverton (Valencia Proctor), Jerri Sloan & Christina Hernandez (Monica Risi), Hazel Ying Lee, Wally Funk & Ivy Rieker (Hui Ying Wen), Jackie Cochran & Gene Nora Stumbough, Jasmin Moghbeli & Jean Hixson (Mitra Sharif), Mae Jemison & Jane Hart (Kaili Y Turner), Sally Ride & Geraldyn Cobb (MK Tuomanen), and the male scientists and male politicians who stop them because they don’t believe vaginas belong in space (all played by Barlow Adamson who utilizes a grand JFK accent à la Abbott Vaughn Meader). We watch these heroic women go from the 1940s Women’s Airforce Service Pilots to lobbying Congress to allow women in the space race. We watch them undergo physical, mental and cultural tests to prove their space-worthiness. They do everything right and still can’t touch the cosmos because of military gatekeeping.

Click it. Sally Ride wasn’t sorry. You won’t be either.

Continue reading →

Jan 15

Survival, Sisterhood, and Small Triumphs: “Crumbs from the Table of Joy”

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Thomika Marie Bridwell, Madison Margaret Clark and Dominic Carter. Photo by Mark S. Howard.

Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Tasia A. Jones
Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco
Costume Design by Mikayla Reid
Lighting Design by Eduardo Ramirez
Sound Design by Aubrey Dube
Props Design by Lauren Corcuera
Stage Managed by Nerys Powell
Assistant Stage Managed by Ally MacLean
Voice & Dialect Coached by Allison Beauregard

January 10 – February 2, 2025
The Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Boston, MA 02116
Online playbill

Critique by Helen Ganley

BOSTON — The syncopated groove of Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “Everything is Everything” sweeps over the audience, settling like gossamer smoke over the sepia toned Victorian archway of a Brooklyn apartment. A young Black girl in a simple yellow dress and worn saddle shoes stands at the center of this accommodation, guiding us through the memories of her time there. In this way, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston’s production of Crumbs from the Table of Joy intertwines grief, divinity, expectations, and family, unfolding like a silver screen storyboard that leaves us feeling changed. Continue reading →

Dec 31

Really Good Oranges: “Every Brilliant Thing”

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Cristhian Mancinas-García as the Narrator. Photo by Apollinaire Theatre.

Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company
By Duncan Macmillan
With Jonny Donahoe
Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Scenic & Sound Design: Joseph Lark-Riley
Lighting Design: Danielle Fauteux Jacques
Stage Manager: Kaleb Perez
ASMs: Miguel Dominguez, Max Wanty

Dec. 27, 2024-Jan. 19, 2025
Performances Featuring Parker Jennings: Sat. 12/28, 1/4, 1/11, 1/18, Sun. 1/5, 1/19
Performances Featuring Cristhian Mancinas-García performing in English: Fri. Dec. 27, Sun. Dec. 29, Sun. Jan. 12, Sat. Jan 18 at 3:00
Featuring Cristhian Mancinas-García performing in Spanish: Fri. Jan 10, 17
Chelsea Theatre Works
189 Winnisimmet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CHELSEA, Mass. — Every Brilliant Thing is currently in production at Chelsea Theatre Works by Apollinaire Theatre. It was last produced in the Boston area by SpeakEasy Stage in March 2018.  Adrianne Krstansky played the Narrator to the delight of the theatregoing population. The New England Theatre Geek review of that production is here. 

 It’s been many years and an entire pandemic since Massachusetts audiences last saw this play. While it is a play one never forgets and SpeakEasy’s production with Krstansky in the lead was memorable for its touching interpretation, it was not a monolith. There is room for alternative interpretations of Every Brilliant Thing. Sometimes, the most tender productions are intimate with a smaller impression. Apollinaire is one such production. 

Apollinaire’s Every Brilliant Thing is nestled in the third-floor black box theatre in Chelsea Theatre Works. After collecting one’s ticket (and adult beverage, if that’s your thing) from the hosts at the bar, patrons enter the performance space under white house lights as Big Band jazz classics tickle the ear. Our hosts told us, “All seating in the theatre is audience seating.” This means the black plastic chairs on risers, the velvet cushioned dining chairs and the loudly-patterned couches with pillows are intended for audience butts, too. We weren’t late but weren’t early so the couches were taken by other patrons. Get there early if your heart is set on couch surfing.   Continue reading →

Dec 18

Celebration Through Sitcoms: “Holiday Feast”

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Presented by The Front Porch Arts Collective
Directed by Jackie Davis
Stage Directions by Kandyce Whittingham
The scene chewing “Holiday Feast” team is HERE.

​Dec. 12-14, 2024
Central Square Theater
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Porch’s “Holiday Feast” was an evening of staged readings from beloved Black sitcoms Amen, The Jeffersons, A Different World, and Family Matters. The Porch did what it does best; it brought its community together in a celebration of Black joy. 

It was silly: The cast sometimes diverged from the script to playfully mess with each other as good friends do; actors embraced the quirks of revered characters George Jefferson, Whitley Gilbert and Steve Urkel. It was serious: Christmas episodes teach important lessons while recognizing their characters’ shortcomings… But, the cast didn’t dwell in severity; they found joy and kept it lifted through the evening. When the moment called for it, we sang along with the cast. There were teary eyes and boisterous laughs; the very best ingredients for a great night of theater no matter who you are. 

Christmas can be a dark time for some folks. It is for me. Watching other people laugh and love is healing. And, the United States is about to go into a dark period of conservative politics armed and ready to hurt minority groups for daring to feel joy in their presence. Very soon, our joy will be weaponized against us (like when Harris danced at a party, and it became a reason not to vote for her). It behooves us now to claim our joy and our healing as rebellion. We will need it and each other in the New Year to get through the following four. 

So, I urge you to find your joy and to hold close friends, old and new, who will celebrate it with you. The New England Theatre Geeks wish you a merry Kwanzaanukkahdad and a mele New Year! I hope it’s a good one without any tears.  

Dec 18

Victorian Story, Modern Standards: Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

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Will Lyman and Bobbie Steinbach.

Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
Based on the story by Charles Dickens
Adaption by Steve Wargo 
Musical Arrangements by Dianne Adams McDowell
Directed By Steven Maler
Musical Direction By Dan Rodriguez
Choreography by John Lam
Dramaturgy by Natalie McKnight
Dialect and text coaching by Bryn Boice
Intimacy consultant: Lauren Cook

December 8 – 22, 2024
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Online playbill

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — I have beef with A Christmas Carol. It makes Tiny Tim Cratchit into inspiration porn, a term invented by activist Stella Young to describe the objectification of disabled folks like me to inspire unmotivated abled people. Alas, there’s a longstanding theatre tradition of producing any odd number of A Christmas Carol variations for the December holidays, so I’m reminded of my dislike for Dickens’ story every year. It’s too bad because the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ was otherwise solid: good acting despite wobbly accents, an ensemble that worked together and had fun, elegant singing despite some wooden moments, unique costumes with small flourishes of modernity that still borrowed from the Victorian period, clever set design that utilized a hidden trap door, and tasty intermission snacks.  Continue reading →

Dec 03

Lucky Number 7: “The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show”

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Photo credit: Jacob Ritts

The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show
Presented by Boch Center Wang Theatre
Created & Written by BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon
Director: BenDeLaCreme
Choreographer: Chloe Albin
Movement Direction by BenDeLaCreme
Original Compositions by Major Scales
Lyrics: BenDeLaCreme, Jinkx Monsoon, & Major Scales
Music Production: Markaholic & Keith Harrison
Starring: BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon
Featuring: Chloe Albin, Mr. Babygirl, Jace Gonzalez, Ruby Mimosa, Derrick Paris, Scott Spraags, and Gus Lanza as “Hunky the Elf”

Dec. 2, 2024
Wang Theatre at Boch Center
270 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON – December marks the start of a very special time for us in Boston. No, it’s not the Baby Jesus’ red and green capitalist wet dream known as Christmas. It’s the month when The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show visits Boston to spread cheer (and legs) across the land, sillies. Merry Kwanzanukkahdad and Mele New Year, the holiday season has begun!  Continue reading →

Nov 29

Food Is Not Enough: “Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?)”

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DID YOU EAT? (밥 먹었니?), Written and Performed by Zoë Kim*. Photo by Maggie Hall

Presented by Chuang Stage and Seoulful Productions
Written and Performed by Zoë Kim 
Directed by Chris Yejin
Dramaturgy by Amrita Ramanan
Choreography by Christopher Shin
Scenic and costume design by Szu Feng Chen
Sound design by Katie Kuan-Yu Chen
Lighting design by Ari Kim

Nov. 12 – 30, 2024
Boston Center for the Arts
Plaza Black Box Theatre 
539 Tremont St.
Boston, MA

Article by Kitty Drexel

Age Recommendation: Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?) is recommended for audiences aged 13 and older.

Content Advisory: Experiences of childhood trauma, self-harm, and suicidal ideation.

BOSTON —  In the playbill for Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?) after the Chuang Stage season info but before her polemic on the white entertainment industry, playwright and performer Zoë Kim writes a letter to the audience. She says, “I wish, For fathers to value their daughters. For mothers to believe their daughters.” As an emotionally neglected child who also grew into a strong, independent woman out of spite, I sincerely wish that, too. There are a lot of us out there. Kim’s story is her own, but unfortunately, her show’s themes are universal. 

Kim’s letter continues: she wishes “For you to ask a loved one how they would like to be loved.” 

We could not possibly understand the horrors and grief Kim experienced for decades at the hands of her verbally, physically and psychically abusive parents. Her autobiographical play about the family who spoke love but acted hate is Kim’s own; it shines a light on the traumatic experiences of young and adult women raised by parents who couldn’t, wouldn’t or refused to love them. Gather a group of trusting women together and they will share their stories of abuse. My mother had stories; I have stories; my sisters and aunts in faith (not blood) have them, too. We are not an anomaly, we are the victims of a pandemic of violence against women and girls. 

Kim wishes “For you to share how you would like to be loved.” 

These are the words I share with other survivors: Your abuse is not your fault. You deserve wondrous love. You deserved better then and you deserve better now. 

At a certain point in their adult development, an abused adult who perpetuates abuse onto others chooses their pain over healing. Your abuser chose to hurt you. No matter their cultural or personal excuses it was their choice and never your fault. It is possible to choose love while also choosing to hold your abuser accountable. An abuser earns forgiveness through atonement. Forgiveness is not the same as absolution.  

DID YOU EAT? (밥 먹었니?), Written and Performed by Zoë Kim*. Photo by Maggie Hall

Kim wishes “For you to practice radical love for yourself and for others.” 

Apropos of nothing and because this is a constructive criticism site, I would be remiss in my duties if I did not mention that the pacing of the first 20 minutes lags. The transition from the show’s bright, children’s theatre beginning into Kim’s life story could use smoothing. Otherwise, the story is seamless from start to finish. From its design elements to the acting, Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?) is impactful storytelling. 

For the folks who attended Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?) and felt a kinship with its story, whether big or small, I hope you find the healing and wondrous love you need. 

These are resources available to Boston-area and Boston Chinatown victims and survivors of domestic violence:

  • The Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence: Hotline at 617-338-2355, https://www.atask.org/
  • SafeLink is Massachusetts’ statewide 24/7 toll-free domestic violence hotline and a resource for anyone affected by domestic or dating violence. 1-877-785-2020
    If you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (D/HH), please dial 711 – MassRelay Service.
    Advocates are bilingual in English and Spanish and have access to a service that can provide translation in more than 130 languages.
  • The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers assistance and safety planning 24/7.
    1-800-799-SAFE (7233), TTY 1-800-787-3224
    If you’re unable to speak safely, you can chat online at thehotline.org
  • Massachusetts Domestic Violence (Safe Link), 1-877-785-2020, https://casamyrna.org/get-support/safelink/
    If you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (D/HH), please dial 711 MassRelay Service
  • Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA), 617-586-1340, https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-office-for-victim-assistance
  • Mass.gov list of Domestic Violence Services:
    https://www.mass.gov/domestic-violence-services

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

It may require persistence to get help, but help is out there. Keep seeking it and it will one day find you. 

Nov 27

Plucky Repertory at BPT: “How to Not Save the World with Mr. Bezos” & “Soft Star”

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Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre 
Produced in collaboration with the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre.
BPT’s Fall Rep Festival

How to Not Save the World with Mr. Bezos by Maggie Kearnan
Directed by Taylor Stark
Intimacy and violence choreography by Jess Scout Malone
Special effects by Lynn Wilcott
Featuring: Becca A. Lewis, Mark W. Soucy, Robbie Rodriguez

Soft Star by Tina Esper
Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary
Intimacy & Violence Choreographer: Jess Scout Malone
Featuring: Annika Bolton, Mairéad O’Neill, Jesse Kodama, Kamran Bina

November 7-24, 2024 
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (now with a water fountain!) 
Kate Snodgrass Stage
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presents two plays as part of its Fall Rep Festival: How to Not Save the World with Mr. Bezos by Maggie Kearnan, a fictional interview with the nonfictional journalist, and Soft Star, a play about secrets between best friends, by Tina Esper. 

While they are running in repertory with each other, these plays will not be critiqued by the same standards. The scripts are at different levels of development: Bezos is nearly if not fully completed; Soft Star requires some tweaking and that’s okay; that’s why BPT exists.   

This critique discusses both plays in the order I viewed them. Both plays ran through Nov. 24 on different days on the Kate Snodgrass Stage at BPT. Their runs have ended but their legacy will live on.   Continue reading →

Nov 26

Ample Breast, Moist Leg: “The Thanksgiving Play”

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The cast; Photo by Sharman Altshuler

Presented by Moonbox Productions
by Larissa FastHorse
Directed by Tara Moses
Dramaturgy by Kailey Bennett

Featuring: Jasmine Goodspeed, Johnny Gordon, Ohad Ashkenazi, Marisa Diamond
Partnered with the North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB)

Nov. 21 – Dec. 15, 2024
Arrow Street Arts
2 Arrow St.
Cambridge, MA 02138 

Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Age Guidelines: Recommended for ages 13+

Content Warning: This production contains adult language, mature themes, racism, redface, violence, and unsettling truths of both Massachusetts’ and America’s history.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Moonbox’s The Thanksgiving Play interprets the white American history of Thanksgiving that MAGA and its ilk want us to forget. Florida’s laws, for example, would keep copies of Larissa Fasthorse’s play out of school libraries just in case a white person might feel sad by its contents. Friends, the purpose of knowing our white, colonialist history isn’t to feel sad; it’s to recognize the white supremacist systems that enabled these atrocities so we can dismantle them. We aren’t responsible for our ancestors’ actions but we are responsible for repairing the damage they caused.   Continue reading →