HOPE AND GRAVITY (1812 Productions): “Even the lightest things come crashing back down to earth.”
There are many good comedies out there, but not many where the weight of tragedy crests and wanes beneath the laughter.
Sean Close
THIS IS THE WEEK THAT IS (1812 Productions):
Thom Nickels asks why the same people always get satirized.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Arden): Take pains, be perfect
Shakespeare made simple, and simply fun.
THIS IS THE WEEK THAT IS: THE ELECTION SPECIAL (1812 Productions): Yuugely funny
Ho boy, it’s been quite the election cycle. Thankfully, Philadelphia has 1812 Productions to ease the pain with its annual satirical show.
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Del Shakes): 60-second review
The emphasis is on the physical comedy in David Stradley’s production
DOCTOR FAUSTUS (Quintessence): If you want to know everything, go to hell
A remarkably original and gloriously entertaining version of the Marlowe play.
SAINT JOAN (Quintessence): The Maid’s new clothes
George Bernard Shaw’s play is presented in rich tonalities of color, light, positioning, and sound. It is wide awake.
THIS IS THE WEEK THAT IS (1812): The tenth anniversary of an annual favorite
This year’s installment of the annual politically-incorrect political comedy skewers the presidential candidates and brings some welcome laughs to a troubled week
THE MANDRAKE (Quintessence): A Machiavellian sex satire
What could be so funny in a play written nearly 500 years ago? There is something for everyone to either laugh or balk at in this bawdy production of a play by Machiavelli.
ROMEO AND JULIET (Quintessence): What fray was here?
In the eyes of director Alexander Burns this doomed romance never stood a chance.
Renegade’s STORIES AND SPIRITS settles down with a drink and a good book
Novels and cocktails are two of the best things in life. STORIES AND SPIRITS combines them in a one-off evening of drinks and performances.
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Quintessence): Swordplay and horseplay combine in a breezy adaptation
As always with an Alexander Burns production, imagery is rife, props are creative, and jokes come as much from sight gags as from dialogue.
ALICE’s ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (Quintessence): Mystifying appearances and disappearances, levitations and mysterious goings-on at Mount Airy’s Sedgwick Theater
For the latest installment in their tradition of performing literary family classics for the holidays, Quintessence Theatre Group brings ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and its parade of beloved batty characters to Sedgwick Theater.
Richard II (Quintessence): Let us sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings
RICHARD II is a richly rewarding play, full of insightful and startling verse, but you might want to read a synopsis before seeing this production.
AS YOU LIKE IT (Quintessence): Do you not know I am a woman?
Burns and his cast humanize Shakespeare’s characters and provide a smart, jolly time that is tinged with genuine sentiment.
MACBETH (Commonwealth): 60-second review
MACBETH is a violent play, a feature emphasized by the contemporary military garb and extended fight choreography in the worthwhile production by Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company. But the central question which…
THE MISANTHROPE (Quintessence): What’s not to like?
I hope one day to see (and understand) a Moliere play in the original French, though as I’m not doing anything about that desire except letting my scant French knowledge…
Paradise Park (Idiopathic Ridiculopathy): Men in Dresses
If your favorite part of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was the creepy boat ride or if you even remember that scene with a tingle of cinematic delight right down in…
