There’s magic and mystery as wonderfully costumed characters come alive to dance, sing, cavort, wrestle, draw swords, threaten violence, and show mercy
View More THE TEMPEST (Quintessence): Full of magic
Author: Kathryn Osenlund
Kathryn Osenlund, Theater aficionado. Reviewer for Phindie.com. ATCA member (American Theater Critics Assn.) Professor Emeritus Communications and Theater, Holy Family University. Instructor Philadelphia Police Academy: Police role plays and public speaking. Visiting Lecturer Oxford University. Instructor in Warsaw, Poland. NEA Fellow: Arts Journalism. Barrymore Award Nominator. National Critics Institute, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Education: Villanova, PhD in Media; Temple University, MA in Theater; UArts, BFA in Film.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (Walnut Street Theatre): A thinking play
Introducing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as “a thinking play,” Tennessee Williams wrote to his audiences: “I want to go on talking to you…
View More CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (Walnut Street Theatre): A thinking play
Waiting For Lefty (Quintessence): On the side of angels but not art
This show has history. Odets, a voice for his disinherited generation was born in Philadelphia.
View More Waiting For Lefty (Quintessence): On the side of angels but not art
Every Brilliant Thing (Arden Theatre Company): 60-second review
Scott Greer has the audience suffering with him, then happy for him. It seems this story could have been his personal history. He owns it that much.
View More Every Brilliant Thing (Arden Theatre Company): 60-second review
The Tattooed Lady (Philadelphia Theatre Company): Tattoo as metaphor, tattoo as tattoo
Boisterous, joyful, defiant, and a little bawdy, the show may have a sketchy contraption of a plot, but you don’t go to a musical expecting Hamlet.
View More The Tattooed Lady (Philadelphia Theatre Company): Tattoo as metaphor, tattoo as tattoo
DEATH OF A DRIVER (InterAct): 60-second review
Faced with bureaucratic nonsense or official missteps, who hasn’t said ‘fuck the government’ or a more genteel equivalent? The multi-ethnic East African Kenya Colony gained independence in…
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THE GLASS MENAGERIE (Arden): Revisiting the famed memory play
Tennessee Williams had been writing since he was a teenager, and by the time he was 30 years old he was getting nowhere. His early…
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THE CHAIRS (Quintessence): 60-second review
Due to the pandemic, it had been many months since I’d visited the Sedgwick Theater in Germantown. October 1 was opening night for The Chairs…
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ROMEO AND JULIET (OJ Productions): 2022 Fringe review
It’s a tragedy that more audiences will not have a chance to enjoy the production.
View More ROMEO AND JULIET (OJ Productions): 2022 Fringe review
LATE NIGHT SNACKS FAMILY SHOW (Bearded Ladies): 2022 Fringe review
Okay: A drag queen show for children.
View More LATE NIGHT SNACKS FAMILY SHOW (Bearded Ladies): 2022 Fringe review
Watching THE TWO-CHARACTER PLAY (OUT-CRY) by Tennessee Williams
This play-within-a-play about a play takes place on the Bluver Theatre’s tiny stage, brightly lit, although called dim by the characters. The audience, up close…
View More Watching THE TWO-CHARACTER PLAY (OUT-CRY) by Tennessee Williams
Romeo & Juliet in a Bar (Shakespeare on Tap): 2022 Fringe review
A little bit naughty at times, semi-Shakespearean lingo is mixed with a good deal of TomFoolery.
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FOOD (Geoff Sobelle): 2022 Fringe review
Unless you know Geoff Sobelle’s other works, you’ve never seen anything like this.
View More FOOD (Geoff Sobelle): 2022 Fringe review
NOT RIGHT NOW (James Christy): 2022 Fringe review
There are many, many moments that become stories.
View More NOT RIGHT NOW (James Christy): 2022 Fringe review
Looking Back: An early Pig Iron production
ames Joyce is Dead And So Is Paris was presented at Christ Church Annex in Old City in 2003. It was something else!
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Looking Back: Two works by Thaddeus Phillips
In today’s edition of my look back on theater from years past, I remember two Thaddeus Phillips works from 2015 and 2017: Alias Ellis Mackenzie and A Billion Nights on Earth.
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Looking Back: I Am My Own Wife at the Wilma and Theatre Horizon
Kathryn Osenlund remembers two productions of I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright.
View More Looking Back: I Am My Own Wife at the Wilma and Theatre Horizon
Looking Back: Chekhov Lizardbrain & Red Eye to Havre de Grace
Kathryn Osenlund remembers two productions from Fringe Festivals past
View More Looking Back: Chekhov Lizardbrain & Red Eye to Havre de Grace
Looking Back at the Theater: Remembering two outstanding performances at Bristol Riverside Theater (BRT)
In a new series, Phindie takes a walk down memory lane to briefly revisit memorable theater performances in Philadelphia and environs.
View More Looking Back at the Theater: Remembering two outstanding performances at Bristol Riverside Theater (BRT)
Remembering Mercutios and Tybalts
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.
View More Remembering Mercutios and Tybalts