Tag Archives: Eddie Shields

Mar 03

Convention is a Trap: “A Man of No Importance”

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Eddie Shields (center) and the company of “A Man of No Importance.” Photo by Nile Scott Studios.

Presented by SpeakEasy Stage
Book by Terrance McNally 
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Based on the film “A Man of No Importance”
Directed by Paul Daigneault
Music directed by Paul S Katz
Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins

Feb. 21 – March 22, 2025
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion
Boston Center for the Arts
539 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Content warning: Themes of homophobia and some strong language. Recommended for Ages 12+.

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON — Ahrens, Flaherty, and McNally’s A Man of No Importance is based on the film (1994, directed by Suri Krishnamma. Starring Albert Finney.) of the same name which is a play on words based on the Oscar Wilde comedy A Woman of No Importance. Both tackle social status, ethics, and to a lesser degree, gender roles. The musical, like the play, features a central character holding a deep, dark secret that sparks community shame when it is exposed. Fortunately, both the musical and the play have happy endings.

A Man of No Importance opens with lines from Oscar Wilde’s “The Harlot’s House.” The reader, Alfie Byrne (Eddie Shields), is an unmarried bus conductor who loves theatre and poetry on his bus in 1960s Dublin. While dodging his boss Carson (Joe LaRocca), Alfie tells his bus riders this year he will direct the St. Imelda Players community theatre production of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé. It’s a biblical story about St. John the Baptist, Alfie tells them. He conveniently leaves out the salacious parts because, he says, art can’t be salacious.  Continue reading →

Jun 05

“Les Liaisons Dangereuses”: When You Play the Game of Patriarchy, Everyone Loses

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Jaime Carrillo (Volanges), Greg Maraio (Merteuil), Dan Whelton (Valmont) & Stewart Evan Smith (Danceny). Photo: Jorden Photography.

Presented by The Nora Theatre Company
Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner
Adapted by Christopher Hampton
Novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

May 31st – July 1st, 2018
Central Square Theatre
450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
Central Square Theater on Facebook

Content Warning: (In the show’s own words.) Full nudity, sexual content, violence, and a damn good sword fight. Suggested age: 18 and over.

Review by Gillian Daniels

(Cambridge, MA) When dividing the population into a binary construct where one group is viewed as perpetually in danger of committing sexual indiscretions and possessing virtue that they may only give to certain people, and the other group is seen as committing indiscretions and betrayals because they can’t help themselves, yes, some awful dynamics are at play. In this production, the source material of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is not much altered, but the way it’s performed is. The players all appear to be male without makeup, dresses, or distinctive cosmetic traits, beyond the apparently random distribution of a few bits of jewelry, rosary beads, and gloves. To clarify, this is a faithful adaptation of a story where two manipulative, almost-lover aristocrats spend their time “ruining” innocence. The gender of the characters remains the same as it was in Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 novel. The gender of the actors just doesn’t always conform to those of their characters. In having an all-male cast, gender is shown as the flimsy construct it is, and adherence to stringent, narrow roles reproduce only an eventual misery in everyone. But just because the proud Vicomte de Valmont (Dan Whelton) and perceptive Marquise de Merteuil (Greg Maraio) seem to see the pieces of the social contraption in which they move doesn’t mean they can escape the trap. Continue reading →

Mar 18

What a marvel: “Edward II”

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(l to r) Edward II (Maurice Emmanuel Parent), Gaveston (Eddie Shields), and Lancaster (Nigel Gore) – Photo by Maggie Hall

Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project
By Christopher Marlowe
Directed by David R. Gammons

February 22 – March 19, 2017
Charlestown Working Theater
ASPBoston on Facebook

Review by Gillian Daniels

WARNING: Nudity, violence.

(I beg forgiveness from the cast and crew of Edward II! I was trapped on the west coast during the blizzard, and only returned last night. It was not possible to post Ms. Daniels’ review until then. My sincerest apologies, and best wishes for a closing weekend! – Kitty, the Queen Geek)

(Charlestown, MA)  This show is intense. I could feel my temples vibrate during intermission. The power and emotion has stayed with me for days. I cried during the show, afterward, and grew teary remembering it. I am not at all surprised the production has added more performances to its tight schedule. This is a melodrama realized with an expert, brutal hand. Continue reading →

Sep 29

Full of Cozenage: COMEDY OF ERRORS

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Photo courtesy Stratton McCrady Photography

Photo courtesy Stratton McCrady Photography

Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project
By William Shakespeare
Directed by David R. Gammons

September 24 – October 19, 2014
Brighton High School
26 Warren St. Brighton, MA
The Actors’ Shakespeare Project on Facebook

Review by Danielle Rosvally

(Brighton, MA) Life is a circus, my friends, and if that’s clear anywhere it’s clear in ASP’s Comedy of Errors. David R. Gammons gives us a Comedy within the frame of a has-been circus. As you walk into the theatre, you find the stage already teeming with life: a cast of rag-tag and second-rate clowns struggles to prepare for their show. I, for one, was curious as to why one of the only professional Shakespeare companies in Boston was performing in a High School auditorium. At least, until I walked into the high school auditorium. The space perfectly suits Gammons’ concept as it looks like the ruins of a once-grand theatre. Stripped to its studs, there is no veneer of illusion in Comedy; just bare-bones performance. Continue reading →