Photo by Mark S. Howard. MacDonald with Shrub.
Presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston
By Margaret Engel & Allison Engel
Directed by Courtney O’Connor
Jan. 2 – 31, 2015
Boston, MA
Lyric on Facebook
Molly Ivins on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel
(Boston, MA) I’ve already purchased my ticket to see Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass wit of Molly Ivins again. This show is so good that writing a review isn’t enough*. I want the Lyric to have my money. Continue reading
Today is ArtsMatterDay!
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From the MassCreative website: “Happy Arts Matter Day! Celebrate with us by sharing why arts matter to you. Let’s create a huge buzz to show that arts matter in MA and matter in the November 4 election.”
Please see their site for more information, and ways to celebrate #ArtsMatterDay.
Photo found on the Flat Earth Facebook page.
Presented by Flat Earth Theatre
By Ariel Dorfman
Directed by Jake Scaltreto
June 13 – 21, 2014
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
Flat Earth on Facebook
Trigger Warning: Some light cursing, conservative politics, implied torture
Review by Kitty Drexel
(Watertown) If dystopian science fiction is any indication, our future is bleak. In the future, rich people are very rich and the poor are very poor. The politicians are corrupted, we have no global resources, and the ecosystem has gone to pot. The good news is that there is always an hero to save us… eventually. The future sounds a lot like the present.
Not unlike Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil, Dorfman’s Reader is a story within a story set in a future where all potentially unpleasant emotional elements of life have been stripped away. Violence and sexiness are routinely scrubbed from all media sources. The government occupies all spaces. There is no true freedom of expression. Daniel (the handsome Robin Gabrielli) is a suave yet dirty government censor who discovers that the most recent novel to cross his desk parallels his own life. In this novel, Daniel is Don Alfonso an unscrupulous censor working on film scripts. He is rightly paranoid and begins a short-lived journey towards redemption. Continue reading
Written and performed by David Mogolov
Directed by Steve Kleinedler
Music by Ryan Walsh and Evan Sicuranza
June 12th through June 20th, 2014
Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02114
Mogolov on Facebook
Review by Craig Idlebrook
(Somerville) In the midst of the blockbuster movie season, it’s quite refreshing to see the captivating power of good storytelling. With his one-person play, Eating My Garbage, David Mogolov owns the stage, despite an absence of blocking, props, and special effects, by letting us get a clear picture of how his unique synapses fire to draw quirky insight into the human condition. Continue reading
Presented by Bridge Repertory Theater
By Johnna Adams
Directed by Karen MacDonald
June 5 – 22, 2014
the Boston Center for the Arts
Stanford Calderwood Pavilion
Boston, MA
Bridge Rep on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel
Trigger Warnings: Graphic depiction of rape and violence, controversial and political arguments, full-body hugging
“Turn him to any cause of policy,
The Gordian Knot of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter”
(Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 1 Scene 1. 45–47)
(Boston) Alexander the Great is famous for marching through Asia and Africa in the name of Greece when he was 18 years old. He was a merciless conqueror and much of his work shaped the known BCE world. According to popular myth, in 333 BCE Alexander was shown a intricate knot in tying a chariot to a pole left by the sloppy founder of the city of Gordium. It was foretold that only the future ruler of Asia could untie the knot. Alexander, being the sensitive and thoughtful boy he wasn’t, instead hacked through the knot with his sword. Earlier versions of the myth imply Alexander first tries cunning to sort out the mess but eventually uses the pointy end of a sword to solve the riddle. These are the origins of the term “cutting the Gordian Knot.” It has come to mean using creative measures (cheating) in order to solve an convoluted problem. Continue reading
Photo care of Emerson Umbrella Facebook page.
Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson
Presented by The Umbrella Mainstage
Written by Alex Timbers
Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman
Directed by James Tallach
Music Directed by Maria Duaime Robinson
Choreography by Lara Finn
Fight Choreography by Micah Greene
March 21 – April 5
The Umbrella Community Arts Center
Concord, MA
The Umbrella on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel
Disclosure: I have worked with both directors James Tallach, Maria Duaime Robinson, and a cast member or two. This review is tempered to reflect this.
(Concord) History favors old, White dudes. Heck, old, White dudes are favored now. If Green Day had collaborated on an historical punk musical with Bill Clinton, Lindsay Lohan and George Michael, chances are they would have written Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson (let us all say a silent prayer for Clinton’s potential saxophone career). And it would be a huge hit. Fans of American Idiot the musical will appreciate the music of BBAJ. They will also appreciate the snarky treatment of a politician who purported to be the People’s President but, after all is said and done, was only in it for himself. History has repeated itself and punk happens to be the medium for this particular telling. Continue reading
scene from The Shatterer of Worlds; photo credit: Mark Dannenhauer
Presented by Bread and Puppet Theatre
Directed by Peter Schumann
January 23 – February 2, 2014
Cyclorama
Boston Center for the Arts
529 Tremont St
Boston, MA
Bread and Puppet on Facebook
Review by Danielle Rosvally
(Boston) There aren’t many opportunities in your modern New England life to actually be a part of something that has deep, continuous, traditional roots. I don’t count Civil War Reenacting.[1] Experiencing Bread and Puppet is an honest-to-goodness moment of oneness with theatre history, even if you don’t quite understand what’s going on in the performance. Continue reading
Photo credit: Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures
Presented by New Repertory Theatre
Books and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Lowe
Original production directed and staged by Moss Heart
Based on “The Once and Future King” by TH White
Directed and choreographed by Russell Garrett
Musical direction by David McGrory
Dance Captain – Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Fight Captain – Michael J Borges
Nov. 23 – Dec. 22, 2013
Charles Mosesian Theater
Arsenal Center for the Arts
Watertown, MA
New Rep on Facebook
(Watertown) The Director’s Notes by Russell Garrett are excellent. An audience member desiring nostalgic information correlating Camelot to the anniversary of JFK’s assassination will be well pleased. For this purpose, I will not dwell on the JFK’s Camelot as Mr. Garrett has already done an excellent job of doing so in the programme. If you’d like to know more, see the show.
Considering the weight that the Kennedy Family carries in the US, one might expect Camelot to be a more serious show. Lerner and Lowe’s fluffy hit does examine some heavy issues but the majority of the script and lyrics are intended to entertain rather than educate. The sugary sweet production by New Rep does not fail in its mission to cheer Baby Boomers and to indoctrinate younger generations in classic musical theatre. Continue reading
Presented by F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Joey DeMita
Original Music by Steven Bergman
November 22 – 30th, 2013
Arsenal Center for the Arts
F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company on Facebook
Review by Danielle Rosvally
(Watertown) Some projects require a special touch. There are, for instance, people who implicitly understand Musicals. The musical form requires things that other theatre does not: an eye for choreography, an ear for music, an interest in balancing ham and legitimate acting…
Directing Shakespeare is a very specific task that requires a very specific skillset: an ear for rhetoric, an understanding of verse, a knowledge of history, an eye for embedded stage directions… F.U.D.G.E.’s Joey DeMita has none of these skills. Continue reading
Photo by Richard Hall/Silverline Images
Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company
By Larry Kramer
Directed by David J. Miller
November 1 – 30, 2013
Plaza Black Box
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA
Zeitgeist on Facebook
Review by Kitty Drexel
Trigger Warnings: Rape, Proud Homosexuality, Truth
(Boston) Britney Spears thinks that gay people are “adorable and hilarious.” Her quote is terrifying because it is indicative of the thoughts and feelings of the majority of US citizens. For most of the world, only straight people are real™ people. Gay people are fun and quirky but we aren’t real™ people deserving of equal rights and a voice, says society. The LGBTQ get to be characters, sidekicks, and sassy friends who are defined solely by the people with whom we rub nethers (and other fun parts). Spears and people like her are stereotyping an entire community of human beings because it hasn’t occurred to them that we’re also human. Our history, culture and politics are just as rich as the hetero-normative precedent. Continue reading
