Category Archives: Comedy

Mar 27

An Umbrella of Representation: “Queer Voices Festival”

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The Queer Voices Festival
Presented by Boston Theater Company
The Balcony or The Last Night by Pascale Florestal, she/her/hers
Halftime v. Intermission by Michael J. Bobbitt, he/him
Left Overs by Roni Ragone, they/them
Limpia by Leonard P. Madrid, he/him
Oop, Can’t Say That by Tom Zhang, they/them
Seance by Dylan Horowitz, He/Him & She/Her
Zelda by Haz Cady, he/him

March 21 -23, 2025
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

2 Hrs 15 Minutes with 1 intermission

Review by Helen Ganley

BOSTON — This past weekend, the Boston Theater Company hosted its 2nd annual Queer Voices Festival at the Boston Center for the Arts. We are caught in an onslaught of voices, opinions, and legislation—the whipping wind of oppression slapping us in the face, the ice of hatred hardening on the sidewalk, daring us to fall. This event gathers a community under the umbrella of representation, shielding them—if only for an hour and a half—from the deluge outside.
Continue reading →

Mar 27

Chaos & Dark Secrets in “The Addams Family musical”

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Big League Productions, Inc. production presented at The Boch Centre Wang Theatre
Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
Music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Directed and choreographed by Antoinette Dipietropolo
Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

U.S. Tour Website

March 21 – 23, 2025
Boch Centre Wang Theatre
270 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116

2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission
Virtual Playbill

Review by Helen Ganley

BOSTON — Dr. Frankenstein huddles in his laboratory, taking pieces of a life once passed and intricately stitching them together. He huddles in the dark, throws the switch, and braces for the spark, birthing a new life out of what once passed. Some audiences might see a banner for The Addams Family and think it’s a musical adaption of the 2022 miniseries Wednesday. However, the creature Dr. Frankenstein is adapting isn’t from 2022 at all, but rather the iconic 1964 TV show that predated it. The Boch Center Wang Theatre’s national tour production of The Addams Family breathes life into the familiar classic with entrancing sets, a lively undead ensemble, and catchy songs you just can’t help but snap your fingers to. Continue reading →

Mar 27

Half-Baked Shakespeare: THE COMEDY OF HAMLET (A PREQUEL)

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Presented by Reduced Shakespeare Company
Written and Directed by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor
Backdrop Design: Tim Holstag
Costume Design: Freya Marcelius
Sound Design: Matthew Cowell and Zack Moore
Stage Manager: Elaine Randolph
Original Circus Music Composed by Peter Bufano; performed by Cirkestra
Starring Geoffrey Barnes, Doug Harvey, and Austin Tichenor

March 12 – 30, 2025
Merrimack Repertory Theatre
50 E Merrimack St
Lowell, MA 01852

Virtual playbill 

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

90 minutes with a 15-minute intermission

Some works on stage and film can grip you in the first moments and never let go. Shakespeare’s script for The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is one such play. It is gripping even though a lot of nothing happens throughout most of it because of the titular character’s indecision. It is largely a pensive mood study, and the characters often dither to Seinfeldian levels.

Other works of stage and film can provide wall-to-wall action and frenetic energy and never capture your attention. This is the case with the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s production of The Comedy of Hamlet (a Prequel) playing at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre. It tries to add too many crowd-pleasing comedic elements but ends up feeling like a smoothie you keep tinkering with until the final taste is indistinguishable. Continue reading →

Feb 23

Serenading Aliens and Lukewarm Coffee as the World Ends: “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals”

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Photo from https://www.facebook.com/yorickensemble

Presented by Yorick Ensemble 
Music and lyrics by Jeff Blim 
Book by Matt & Nick Lang
Directed by Kari Boutcher
Music direction by Elias Condakes 
Choreographer & Violence/Intimacy Director: Sydney T. Grant

February 13–22
Boston Center For the Arts
Boston, MA

Review by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — It’s been a weird month of politics muddling the waking life of everyday citizens. Yesterday was a weird day of weird happenings which continued with a weird mishap at the Boston Center for the Arts. My ticket confirmation email for Thursday’s performance told me Yorick Ensemble’s The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals performance started at 7:30 PM that night. My ticket from the box office said this, too, so I thought I had an extra 40 minutes at 6:53 PM yesterday to mosey over to the theatre. But, the BCA website said The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals started at 7 PM. Not knowing which source to trust, I moseyed faster to Tremont St. Scooting through the BCA’s front doors, I overheard a young man on a headset describe us entering and holding for the house. Was I late? It sounded like I was. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only confused attendee; several others entered the Plaza Theatre after me. The show eventually started around 7:15 PM without a clear answer.  Continue reading →

Jan 28

Stuck and Bored at the End of the Line: C1’s “Haunted”

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Presented by Company One Theatre produced in partnership with the Boston Public Library with support from the National New Play Network and the Rolling World Premiere Program
Written, directed and choreographed by Tara Moses
Dramaturgy by Quita Sullivan
Fight choreography by Marisa Diamond
Community Advisor: Maria Hendricks

Jan. 24 – Feb. 15, 2025
Rabb Hall at the Boston Public Library, Central Branch
700 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Noelani Kamelamela

BOSTON — Comparisons between Tara Moses’ “Haunted”, Antoinette Nwandu’s “Pass Over” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” are inevitable. So, yes, there are two main characters waiting for something in this play and amusing each other while they pass the time. I admit it. Fine. That’s it, that’s all I’m saying about those connections. 

Below the surface, “Haunted” brings to life two young indigenous ghosts, Ash (Bradley Lewis) and Aaron (Chingwe Padraig Sullivan), who are rooted in one place while it changes around them. They constantly opine and long for freedom. One of their comforts and constants, the well-known hits of the early 2000s, provides emotional escape, but also constant reminders of how stuck and bored they have become. 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 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 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

“Funny, Antiquated Slapstick: Noises Off”

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The cast. Photo by Mark S Howard.

Presented by Lyric Stage Boston
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Ilyse Robbins
Sound Design – Andrew Duncan Will
​Scenic Design – Erik D. Diaz
Costume Design –  Seth Bodie
Lighting Design – SeifAllah Salotto-Cristobal
Props Artisan – Emily Allinson
Voice & Dialect Coach  – Allison Beauregard
Fight Consultant – Ted Hewlett
Featuring:  Amy Barker, Grace Experience, Dan Garcia, Eliza Fichter, Michael Jennings Mahoney, Joseph Marrella, Chip Phillips, Samantha Richert, Lewis D. Wheeler

Nov. 15 – December 22, 2024
Lyric Stage Boston
140 Clarendon St.
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Craig Idlebrook

Two hours and thirty minutes, with two intermissions

Content Advisory: “The shenanigans of Noises Off include a bit of salty language, some sexual situations, and slapstick humor.” – Lyric Stage

BOSTON — Sometimes, reviewers best serve the audience by declaring their biases up front. Usually, those biases are about something we hate, but not always.

In this case, I should warn you that I love Noises Off as a play, and I fully realize I probably love it more than its inherent cultural worth warrants. Like with a close family member, I am inclined to defend it from accusations of its shortcomings more than I should. There is something about the play within a play about the ridiculous backstage antics of a middling theater cast that resonates with me as a high school drama nerd. Continue reading →

Nov 20

Inside and Outside of Time: Hub’s “Tartuffe”

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Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston
By Moliere
Translated by Richard Wilbur 
Director – Bryn Boice
Sound Design – Mackenzie Adamick
​Set Design – Justin Lahue
Costume Design –  Marissa Wolf
Lighting Design/ME – Nars Kelliher
Props Designer – Julia Wonkka

Featuring: Steve Auger, Lily Ayotte, Jeremy Beazlie, Patrick Vincent Curran, Lauren Elias, June Kfoury, Brendan O’Neill, Brooks Reeves, Laura Rocklyn, Kayla Sessoms, Robert Thorpe

Nov. 9 – Nov. 24, 2024
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Two hours with one intermission
Appropriate for ages 13+

BOSTON — Hub Theatre Company’s Tartuffe is fun. It’s one of the better adaptations of Moliere’s play you’ll see in the next four years. No doubt, we will see quite a few performances of Tartuffe and other satires in the next four+ years. It’s better seeing satiric buffoonery on the stage now rather than the unfunny buffoonery we’ll see play out on the political stage coming this January.  Continue reading →