Tag Archives: Somerville

Oct 26

Some Restrictions May Apply: “Cirque of the Dead”

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Photo is not representative of this year’s “Cirque of the Dead.” Still cool, though. 

Presented by the Boston Circus Guild with Circus 617
Written by Tim Ellis
Directed by Eileen Little
Dance Choreography by Mandy Hackman, Ellen Waylonis
Featuring: Alex Jackson, Ellen Waylonis, Jenna Ciotta, Mandy Hackman, Nana Okada, Rachel Barringer, Rin Judith, Tim Ellis, Tori Markwalder
The online playbill

Oct 24 – Oct 31, 2024
Arts at the Armory
Somerville, MA

Doors open 30 minutes before showtime. Runtime is about 90 minutes with a short intermission.
This show is 18+ only, due to graphic/disturbing content.

Review by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — This year’s Cirque of the Dead chronicles the fictitious (or is it?) Cirque of the Dead Historical Society of the 1920s Somerville spiritualist movement. Watch as three psychic mediums materialize ectoplasm from their bodies and commune with the spirit realm to convince a team of Harvard professors (Go Crimson!) and one MIT adjunct (Go Tech!) of their gifts. Tim Ellis and Tori Markwalder emcee the event. How does this match up with the choreography of New Kids on the Block, N*Sync and the Backstreet Boys? Perhaps the boy bands are defenders against the dark arts? You’ll have to attend to find out! 

Supernatural phenomena abound as the occult battles rigid logic for truth equity amongst the masses. Patrons are welcome to dress up in their ookiest, spookiest costumes. The bar is open to distribute libations to 21+ living and nonliving attendees.   Continue reading →

Aug 27

“Let’s Misbehave:” A Gay Old Time

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Lydian Meloccaro (HE/THEY) & Adriana Alvarez (SHE/HER). Photo by Tobias Bond-Richardson.

Presented by Pansy Rampant Productions
Play by Lawrence Gullo
Co-facilitation by Liz Diamond and Jo Michael Rezes
Costume design by Sherman
Scenic design by Ellie Gillis
Lighting design by M Berry
Hair/makeup design by Em Salzman
Featuring: Mandy Jo Bemis, Sebastian Crane, Leanna Hieber, Lydian Meloccaro, Justin Peavey, Matti Steriti

August 23-25, 2024
The Foundry
101 Rogers Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
Information here

Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The not-so-roaring-2020s are a struggle-full time, particularly for queer folks who just want to exist in peace. Playwright Lawrence Gullo’s labor of love, Let’s Misbehave, transports us back in time almost a full century, not as a form of escapism, nor to prove that one era was crueler or kinder than the other, but to simply remind us that trans people have always existed – not only existed, but thrived. There’s profound hope in that simple sentiment, especially right now.

Gullo’s play has been simmering for over a decade, evolving from a TV pilot to a Zoom reading to this summer’s Boston stage premiere, and in that time, its characters have clearly had time to grow into their own. Fittingly, the play has something of a sitcom feel, featuring a merry band of friends who more or less just like hanging out together – except that these friends are queer social outcasts living in London in the 1930s. Continue reading →

Mar 19

The Ice Mastodon Cometh: “The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons”

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Maraj and Neal Photo by Johanna Bobrow.

Presented by Theatre@First
by Rachel Teagle
Directed by Jess Viator

March 15–23, 2024
Unity Somerville
6 William Street
Somerville, MA 02144

Please note: Unity Somerville is not wheelchair accessible. There are stairs leading down to the performance space.  

Digital Playbill

Content note: Please be advised this show contains implied explosions, described violence, allusions to domestic violence, discussions of terminal illness, and homophobic and racially insensitive microaggressions.

Review by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — Theatre@First’s plucky production of Rachel Teagle’s The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons is lots of fun! It runs at Unity Somerville church through March 23.  

Jess’s (Angele Maraj) life is chugging along – could be better, could be worse – when, one day, the world’s population wakes to discover their childhood dreams have come true! Jess awakes as a mastodon (never to be confused with a mammoth), tusks, and all because Buster (Juan Jose Boschetti) wished everyone’s wishes would come true.  Continue reading →

Feb 10

A “Little Peasants” Reading at The Burren Backroom

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Presented by Food Tank 
Written by Bernard Pollack
Directed by Dori A. Robinson
Dramaturgy and Production by Elena Morris

Wed, Feb. 7 @ 7 PM
Wed, Feb. 21 @ 7 PM SOLD OUT
The Burren Backroom 
Somerville, MA

Critique by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The Food Tank presents two readings of Little Peasants: A Peek Behind Closed Doors of a Food Workers’ Union Organizing Campaign. This article is based on the reading performed on Feb. 7 at 7 PM. Little Peasants is supported by the Somerville Arts Council through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Continue reading →

Oct 30

Frights for Our Times: “Cirque of the Dead”

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Presented by Boston Circus Guild
Directed by Eileen Little
Creative Production and Costume Design by Ellen Waylonis
Script by Tim Ellis
Stage management by Zahra Garrett and Micaela Slotin
Lighting design by Brittany Trymbulak
Featuring Alex Jackson, Alex Oliva, Caroline Wright, Ellen Waylonis, Judith Ngari, Morgan Oldham, Rachel Barringer, Roger May, Tim Ellis

October 27 – October 31
Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Ave
Somerville MA, 02143

Review by Maegon Bergeron-Clearwood

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — There’s something about this show, I thought to myself, partway through the first act of Cirque of the Dead, that feels distinctly millennial. It wasn’t just the jokes about podcasting and politics – beneath every clever quip and gravity-defying flip, there was a vague existential dread lingering beneath the surface.

Sure enough, the true villain of Boston Circus Guild’s Halloween saga is not a demon that needs to be ritualistically trapped inside the vessel of a Barbie doll, but instead the crushing feeling of powerlessness that defines being a young-ish adult in 2023. And our greatest strength in this time of despair, it turns out, is teamwork (and, of course, Taylor Swift). Continue reading →

Aug 29

A Deadly Serious Delight: “Forgive Us, Gustavito!”

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Presented by Otherland Theatre Ensemble
Devised and performed by Rebecca Finney, Tushar Mathew, and Lucius Robinson

August 24 and 25, 2023
The Rockwell
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA
Review by Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — I have seen lots of theater over the past few years, but I still find myself encountering the occasional post-lockdown firsts. In this case, Forgive Us, Gustavito! marked the first production I’ve seen since 2020 that succeeded in being consistently, unabashedly funny – from snorts and chuckles to full-blown guffaws, the three-person ensemble elicited a spectrum of laughs from its audience, myself joyously included, marks itself as the darkest production I’ve seen since 2020.

The devised piece was inspired by a 2017 Washington Post article about the grisly death of hippopotamus, the most famous resident of the now-defunct National Zoo of El Salvador. Speculations as to the cause of Gustavito’s death ran rampant: the original theory, that he had been beaten and stabbed in an act of possible gang-related violence, was replaced by the more mundane (and in some ways more tragic) theory of poor health coupled with inadequate care. Continue reading →

May 20

Hail Mcduff, You Little Bitch: Shit-Faced Shakespeare’s® “Macbeth”

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Presented by Shit-FacedShakespeare®
Producing Direction by Brett Milanowski 
Directed by Rev. Lewis Ironside
Featuring: Olivia Dumaine, Turner Frankosky, Elizabeth Hartford, Alex Leondedis, Brett Milanowski, Sarah Morin, Tyler Rosati

April 27 – June 24
The Rockwell
Davis Square
Somerville, MA
Run Time: 70 with no intermission 

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Somerville, Mass. — Attend the tale of Mary the Evil! Mary, an incognito patron of Shit-Faced Shakespeare’s Macbeth who volunteered her spontaneous assassin services, bravely took to the stage on Thursday night at The Rockwell to competently stab with a foam sword and ninja-crawl her way across the stage and into our hearts. Mary may not have been the most formidable of hit-persons, but she was the most affable. 

Audience participation is a regular component of any Shit-Faced Shakespeare. Select attendees are charged with ringing a cowbell or banging a gong to signal that the evening’s drunk actor should imbibe another alcoholic beverage. On Thursday, there were even rhythmic shouts of “Chug!” and, my new favorite, “Twerk!”  Continue reading →

Sep 21

Don’t Hate the Players, Hate the Stage: Shit-Faced Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

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One of the SGS: AMSND casts; Photo credit- Nile Scott Studio.

Presented by Shit-faced Shakespeare®
The Saturday night cast:
Compere (the host)- Tyler Rosati
Hermia- Elizabeth Hartford
Demetrius- Evan Turissini
Lysander- Sam Fidler
Helena- Grace Graham
Puck- Brett Milanowski
Lights and sound- Sarah Morin

Sept. 16 – Dec. 4 at 7PM
The Rockwell Theater
Davis Square
Somerville, MA
SFS social media: shitfacedshake; Sfacedshakespeare.us

Review by Kitty Drexel

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…”

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The premise of Shit-Faced Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream is simple: there’s a cast of five actors performing an abridged version of Shakespeare’s play. One of them is very drunk. The drunk actor changes every performance, as does the cast. A mediator, the Compere (Tyler Rosati), opens the show and keeps the drunk person on task. 

Before the show, the Compere gives the audience three tools to make the performance more interesting. A gong and cowbell, when played, mandate that the drunkard must imbibe another drink. A bucket is employed when the drunkard has had too much. It assumed that the gong and bell are used once each but the trove of onstage beverages kept for this purpose held many more than two. A bucket-holder, bless them, will know if the bucket is needed more than once from the muffled sounds of discomfort echoing from the drunkard.  Continue reading →

May 09

Shenanigans & Monkeyshines: “Planet of the Grapes Live”

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Presented by Toy Theatre and co-produced with Project Y Theatre Company 
Written, performed and created by Peter Michael Marino 
Directed by Michole Biancosino
Music by Michael Harren
Screen management by Genny Yosco 

Remaining dates: May 8 – 16, 2021
Streamed over YouTube
NYC
Toy Theatre on Facebook

Review by Kitty Drexel

YOUTUBE — We heard about the Zoom science fiction parody play The Planet of the Grapes Live from this American Theatre article written by creator Marino. His article is a deep dive manifesto into his inspiration for the Grapes parody of Planet of the Apes. The movie is famously parodied by cherished agents of pop culture such as The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, Spaceballs, etc. 

Science fiction parodies make for great entertainment. I needed a good chuckle so I purchased a ticket.  Continue reading →

May 20

You’re Very Cute When You Say ‘Snacks’: A Virtual Presentation of “Eyes Shut. Door Open.”

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A virtual presentation over Zoom 
May 18, 2020, 7:30PM
A fundraiser and awareness campaign for The Phoenix Sober Community
Please donate to the campaign HERE

Written by Cassie M. Seinuk
Directed by Christopher Randolph
Sound design by Patrick Greene
Turner played by Michael Underhill
Johanna played by Melissa deJesus
Palmer played by Eliott Purcell
Stage Directions by Alex Leondedis

Critique by Kitty Drexel

ZOOM — I reviewed Eyes Shut. Door Open. four years ago at Warehouse XI in Somerville, MA. This response to the May 18 reading does not supersede the 2016 critique. It exists in addition to it. It is critical to examine theatre’s adaptation to online performance.

One of the new rules of Zooming is to make your bed. If you insist on streaming from your bedroom, make your bed. Anyone watching you is already judging you on your household aesthetics (or lack thereof). Inviting viewers into your bedroom means sharing an intimate part of you. They will imagine you in that naughtily unmade bed. They will see your unwashed sheets and rumpled comforter and judge your hygiene. Better to make your bed than to feed the trolls. Never feed the trolls.

Speaking of rules. Necessity is forcing actors to develop new techniques for online streaming. Monday’s performance of Eyes Shut. Door Open revealed some mighty useful technical skills in its performers and sound technician. There was a lot to learn from this reading. Continue reading →