Sep 23

An Earnest Mess: TWINS

Photo Credit: Boston Actors Theatre Facebook page

Presented by Boston Actors Theater
By Julian Olf
Directed by Anna Trachtman

September 6th – September 21st, 2013
Boston Playwrights Theater
Boston, MA
Boston Actors Theatre on Facebook

Review by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston) In his memoir It Would be So Nice if You Weren’t Here, the actor Charles Grodin gleefully revels in his few dismal failures as an actor, including a critique of a scene study given by a famed acting coach where she cut down most of his work on stage.  There was one moment, however, where Grodin and his fellow actor got confused about who was supposed to take a folder, and that moment, she said, was pure acting.  (Think of the frustration one must feel upon hearing such an utterance.) Continue reading

Aug 13

The Pillowman Offers Dark, Bitter Comedy and Meditation on Art

Flat Earth Theatre Presents The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

Photo Credit: Flat Earth Theatre

The Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA

August 10, 11 2012 @ 8PM
Sunday, August 12, 2012 @ 2PM
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8PM – Pay-What-You-Can
Friday, August 17, 18 2012 @ 8PM
Flat Earth Theatre Company               The Pillowman Facebook Page

Review by Gillian Daniels

Under a totalitarian government, writer Katurian (Cameron Beaty Gosselin) and his brother, Michal (Chris Chiampa) are unfortunate enough to be arrested by the corrupt police force of their unnamed country. Exactly why they have been taken into the custody of Detective Tuoplski (Juliet Bowler) and the violent Officer Ariel (James Bocock) is teased out minute by painful minute. In this bitter tragicomedy, playwright Martin McDonagh asks tough questions about the responsibility of art and crime. Continue reading

Nov 05

An Incomplete Canvas: And Neither Have I Wings to Fly

And Neither Have I Wings To Fly by Ann Noble, Bad Habit Productions, Deane Hall at Boston Center for the Arts, 11/4/11-11/20/11, http://www.badhabitproductions.org/index.html.

Reviewed by Craig Idlebrook

(Boston, MA) A cast of actors must take on the nearly-impossible task of becoming a family in the space of mere weeks.  They must create the timing and intricacies of a brood that normally would develop over decades.  It requires trust, big heart and the ability to listen on stage.  It’s when a troupe, full of jitters from opening night, doesn’t quite succeed that you understand just how difficult that task can be. Continue reading