Alumnae Theatre’s current production of After Mrs. Rochesteris somewhat of a mess. Polly Teale’s uneven script tells the story of Jean Rhys, a novelist who grew up in the West Indies, which inspired her to write a prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre about the life of Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s troubled first wife who hailed […]
I’ve been to many productions in the Tarragon theatre but until recently I had never been to a Tarragon Theatre production. Turns out it’s a remarkably capable company with strong production values and solid actors. In the hands of director Richard Rose, Sarah Ruhl’s clever play on modern medicine, domestic power and female sexuality is […]
Without question, The Odd Couple is the first production at Soulpepper that I’ve truly loved. I liked The Kreutzer Sonata a lot, enjoyed The Glass Menagerie and was very impressed by the heft of White Biting Dog. But with The Odd Couple, Soulpepper has moved from a solid company I admire to one I will […]
It’s remarkable how many meanings that the word “fall” can take in our daily lives. We fall asleep, we fall down, we fall in love, we fall back on those we love. This fall, I was delighted to attend SpeakEasy Stage Company’s New England premiere of Next Fall by Arlington, MA-native Geoffrey Nauffts. This stunning piece […]
Ranking: #1 Of the 11 productions at The Shaw Festival this year, there wasn’t a single one I enjoyed more than the lightening-paced lunchtime one-act The President. The zippy script by Fenrenc Molnar moves so fast that director Blair Williams seems to have choreographed it more than staged it- the entrances and exits are so […]
His Greatness at the Factory Theatre is an interesting if not totally engrossing production. Writer Daniel MacIvor also plays “The Assistant” with an excellent blend of subtle heartbreak and perfect dry wit. His longstanding relationship with “The Playwright” (Richard Donat) is well established and his constantly moving, ever-tidying movements are wonderfully specific. Donat plays “The […]
Ranking: #3 I was dreading Topdog/Underdog. I had to read Suzan-Lori Parks’ Fucking A in school and could not have despised it more. I was anticipating an angry, expletive-ridden, crass 2 hours designed to provoke response through discomfort. It’s possible that the script could read that way, but Philip Akin’s production in the Shaw Festival […]
Ranking: #4 There are a few truly stunning productions at the Shaw Festival this year- the top 5 in my rankings all really impressed. One of the most creative, most interesting, most effectively executed productions I’ve seen in quite some time was When the Rain Stops Falling in the Studio Theatre. With a criminally short […]