In recent days of home-captivity my mind has wandered to Romeo & Juliet performances, new and old. But I’m more interested in Mercutio and Tybalt than the star-crossed lovers.
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Author: Kathryn Osenlund
Kathryn Osenlund, theater and film junkie, is a former National Critics Institute fellow, NEA fellow in Arts Journalism, and member of the American Theater Critics Assn Steinberg and Osborn playwriting awards committee. A Barrymore Award nominator and professor emeritus in communications and theater, Kathryn also writes for NY-based CurtainUp.com. On twitter @theatrendorphin.
Remembering Hamlets
Cooped up inside, with no theater in sight, I’m remembering Hamlets I’ve known.
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DESCRIBE THE NIGHT (Wilma): Put on your thinking caps
Put on your thinking cap if you’re thinking of going to see DESCRIBE THE NIGHT
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A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (Walnut Street): Dropping a stream of bon mots from the sofa
How wonderful that we have Oscar Wilde’s works and can go and see his plays
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THE SNOW QUEEN (Arden Children’s Theatre): Not a sugar-coated fairy tale
“In the realm of the unknown, kids and adults have pretty much the same needs: courage, resilience, protection.”
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MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN (Lookingglass Theatre Company at McCarter): Second review
There’s ethereal magic to be found in this stripped and reconstituted Victorian Gothic piece
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THE MURDER AND BOOZE CABARET (Love Drunk Life) 2019 Fringe review
Recreates the breezy cynicism of a 1920s speakeasy
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COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA (IRC): 2019 Fringe review
IRC widens the scope of what absurdism means in our absurd world
View More COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA (IRC): 2019 Fringe review
RED LODGE, MONTANA (The Antidote): 2019 Fringe review
A bizarro fusion of indolence, violence, nudity, sex, and dance
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A MANAYUNK MYSTERY TOUR (Manayunk Theatre Company): 2019 Fringe review
Shadowy figures lurk on the dark towpath under the Green Lane Bridge. That would be us.
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CONSTELLATIONS (Quantum Theater Group/Wings of Paper): 60-second review
This is a fine production and it’s exciting to have a new Northeast Philly theater company.
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Irving Berlin’s HOLIDAY INN (Surflight Theatre): 60-second review
This HOLIDAY INN is very, very impressive for a regional seashore show, in fact it would be impressive anywhere,
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THE GODS OF COMEDY (McCarter Theatre): 60-second review
A charming comedy buried under an avalanche of frenetic activity
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GEM OF THE OCEAN (Arden): A thing of beauty
GEM OF THE OCEAN is about a lot of things, including race, mysticism, and murder.
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BOB: A LIFE IN FIVE ACTS (Azuka Theatre): Great things are done by a series of small things brought together
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together —Vincent Van Gogh When Bob is born and immediately deserted in a White…
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Revisiting Pinter’s BETRAYAL: A commentary
An attempt to detangle this nine-scene play that’s designed to move backwards
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BONNIE AND CLYDE (11th Hour Theatre Company): Crime spree sung right off the page!
A new musical reintroduces the famous crime duo.
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COMPLETENESS (Theatre Exile): Algorithms and geek romance
Seduction by examples of computational intractability
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KING KONG (Broadway Theatre): Going ape on Broadway
We like our fantasies to be readily identifiable as such and to be realistic in their details.
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LONG TROUBLE (Svaha Theatre Collective): 2018 Fringe review
There’s a lovely simplicity in Elise D’Avella’s staging of the tragic story.
View More LONG TROUBLE (Svaha Theatre Collective): 2018 Fringe review