The Barrymore Awards are on hiatus this year, returning in all their splendor for the 2013/14 season, but on November 4, 2013, Theatre Philadelphia gave out several awards recognizing local theaters and artists.
View More And the winners are….
Author: Christopher Munden
Your faithful correspondent and publisher Christopher Munden has written and edited for many publications, websites, and cultural institutions. He was an editor/publisher of the Philly Fiction book series, collections of short stories written by local writers and set in Philadelphia. He's also a soccer coach, a pretty good skier, and an erstwhile songwriter.
RFK (New City Stage): An American tragedy
Director Ginger Dayle and sound and video designer Ren Manley intersperse audio and visuals from the 1960s in New City Stage Company’s RFK, complementing Widdall’s powerful performance with a great soundtrack and contextualizing video clips. Following pre-show newsreels from JFK’s assassination, the play begins in 1964—eight months after the fateful day in Dallas.
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Screw the Barrymores, Get Some Clown Funk
The Barrymore Awards, Philadelphia’s bastard stepchild of the Oliviers or Tonys, took something of a hiatus for the 2012/13 season, as the downfall of the…
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Get Berserk this Halloween: The Berserker Residents return with THE JERSEY DEVIL
The Berserker Residents—that ludicrous comic trio of Justin Jain, David Johnson, and Bradley K. Wrenn—are a moved-loved highlight of the Philly Fringe. 2013’s The Talkback was a joyous…
View More Get Berserk this Halloween: The Berserker Residents return with THE JERSEY DEVIL
MACBETH (Hedgrow): An ambitious and effective take on the Scottish play
Director Dan Hodge does not mind imposing his vision upon a text. His bold decision to combine the Ariel and Miranda characters proved surprisingly effective.in…
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Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sister Trilogy: Philadelphia audiences get a great look at an acclaimed new playwright
Allen Radway, James Ijames, and Daniel Student discuss Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sister trilogy. All three plays in the series hit Philadelphia stages this fall.
View More Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sister Trilogy: Philadelphia audiences get a great look at an acclaimed new playwright
SLASHER (Figment): An improv horror
SLASHER is a one hour improv play in the vein of a B-movie horror. There’s an unnecessarily precautious “splash area” where the audience may be stained with stray stage blood. An audience member’s spin of a wheel dictates the setting and holiday (a school on Easter weekend, on opening night). If this sounds like a description of the kind of show you like to see, you’ll probably like SLASHER.
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THE CONVERT (Wilma/Woolly Mammoth): Shining a light on colonialism
Colonialism is Pygmalian writ large: one culture trying to civilize another. In Danai Gurira’s melodramatic THE CONVERT, a priggish preacher (Irungu Mutu) in 1895 Rhodesia (present-day…
View More THE CONVERT (Wilma/Woolly Mammoth): Shining a light on colonialism
HAMLET (Quintessence): Brevity is the soul of it
Hip, fast-paced, with a frat-boy-cool lead: these aren’t usually phrases to describe HAMLET. But Quintessence Theatre Group’s heavily edited version takes a bare bodkin to Shakespeare’s story of revenge and existential crisis in the state of Denmark.
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Daniel Student on Tarell Alvin McCraney: An interview with the Plays & Players director about the playwright and his works
Plays & Players Theatre is staging Marcus, Or the Secret of Sweet, the third part of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s acclaimed Brother/Sister series. Phindie spoke to P&P…
View More Daniel Student on Tarell Alvin McCraney: An interview with the Plays & Players director about the playwright and his works
A Philadelphia playwright you probably don’t know, but should
A hilarious and affecting world premiere by one of the best writers in Philadelphia is opening tomorrow, and you probably don’t know about it.
View More A Philadelphia playwright you probably don’t know, but should
THE BROTHERS SIZE (Simpatico): 60-second review
The stories of the orishas, a pantheon of spirit personalities, has a lasting influence on the descendants of enslaved Africans throughout the Americas (The great…
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NICE AND FRESH theater in Mount Airy
What a pleasant corner of Philadelphia is Mount Airy. A suburban urban neighborhood: trees and grass yards but also sidewalks and train lines; driveways and…
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The Best of the 2013 Philly Fringe Festival
Phindie‘s recent Critics’ Awards proved very popular. These awards used input from theater reviewers across town to compile a list of the best performers of…
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[71] STRIPPED OF COMMON SENSE (Joint Bender Productions): Fringe review
“Back to the grind. Literally.” So begins a shift for five young women, dancing for a living. Set in the dressing room of a strip…
View More [71] STRIPPED OF COMMON SENSE (Joint Bender Productions): Fringe review
[67] LUCINDA’S BED (Brainspunk Theater): Fringe review
Mia McCullough’s LUCINDA’s BED has a great premise: a monster hiding under a young girl’s bed continues to haunt her into adulthood. The monster (Brendan…
View More [67] LUCINDA’S BED (Brainspunk Theater): Fringe review
[44] DUTCH MASTERS (Azuka Theatre): Fringe review
1992. It’s sixteen years before Barack Obama is elected president, but New York City has its first (and still only) black mayor, David Dinkins, soon…
View More [44] DUTCH MASTERS (Azuka Theatre): Fringe review
[43] DIRTY JOKE (Jennifer Blaine/5,000 Women): Fringe review
Actor/comedian Jennifer Blaine was a feature of the Philly Fringe for its first decade. Returning for the first time since 2007, she brings back one…
View More [43] DIRTY JOKE (Jennifer Blaine/5,000 Women): Fringe review
Fringe interview: Sarah Robinson on LUCINDA’S BED, BrainSpunk Theater, and the monsters under her bed
Sarah Robinson produced and directed one of the highlights of the 2012 Fringe, Sarah Kane’s Crave. She’s also a regular feature on the boards in…
View More Fringe interview: Sarah Robinson on LUCINDA’S BED, BrainSpunk Theater, and the monsters under her bed
[33] PAPERBACK DREADFUL (Shannon House): Fringe review
Improv is the jam band genre of theater: it often seems more fun to do than fun to watch. Sure, it provides tools to young…
View More [33] PAPERBACK DREADFUL (Shannon House): Fringe review