In a culture that places heavier value on test scores than on the individual capacity for critical thought, you’re taught to associate. It doesn’t much…
View More SKIN AND BONE (Azuka Theatre): SoGoth Reinvented
Author: Michael Fisher
Michael Fisher is an actor, playwright, and musician. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Rosemont College. He lives in New Jersey. Follow his tweets at @m_roy_fisher.
THE LADY FROM THE SEA (Egopo): Bare production showcases Ibsen’s mental gymnastics
Henrik Ibsen’s name is so thoroughly canonized in theater history that it’s easy to forget just how progressive the man was as a playwright. Works…
View More THE LADY FROM THE SEA (Egopo): Bare production showcases Ibsen’s mental gymnastics
The Five Stages of THE PILLOWMAN (Luna Theater)
Thank God for Taylor Swift. After seeing Luna Theater‘s mindcrushing production of Martin McDonagh’s THE PILLOWMAN last night, I found myself a broken man. I was shellshocked.…
View More The Five Stages of THE PILLOWMAN (Luna Theater)
THE DISAPPEARING QUARTERBACK (Plays and Players) tackles football’s deadly foible
Yesterday morning, I received an email from the National Football League. I get these every day, more or less—updates from NFL.com on what’s happening around…
View More THE DISAPPEARING QUARTERBACK (Plays and Players) tackles football’s deadly foible
GENDER COMEDY: A LESS STUPID TWELFTH NIGHT GAY FANTASIA (Curio): A loving parody brings infectious glee
Harry Slack has cut the gaping holes in Shakespeare’s logic into microscope slides, and the result is a hilarious and self-aware send-up of the rarely-discussed flaws in the work of our most beloved playwright.
View More GENDER COMEDY: A LESS STUPID TWELFTH NIGHT GAY FANTASIA (Curio): A loving parody brings infectious glee
4000 MILES (PTC): What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been
As someone born in the mid-1980s, I’ve rolled my eyes at the sight of the word “Millennial” more times than I can count. What’s great about Amy Herzog’s 4000 MILES is that she refuses to imprison the characters in any social or political context.
View More 4000 MILES (PTC): What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been
BLINK (Inis Nua): The Manufacturing of Affection
Phil Porter’s BLINK—making its American premiere with Inis Nua Theatre—is a touching pastiche of romance, high drama and farce. It’s both heavy and light, comic…
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EMMA (Lantern): Philly falls for Austenmania
Over the past few years, there’s been a surprising and unlikely spark of interest in Jane Austen. Austen’s novels—Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, et al—have…
View More EMMA (Lantern): Philly falls for Austenmania
[56.1] THE TALKBACK (Berserker Residents): Fringe review
Every now and then we need to take a step back and look at the art of theater from a distance—through a microscope, in a…
View More [56.1] THE TALKBACK (Berserker Residents): Fringe review
[47] THE TOOLS OF IGNORANCE PRESENT: HIGH CHEESE (Tools of Ignorance): Fringe review
It’s a shame theater and sports don’t intersect more often. The goings-on of the four major professional sports—especially in Philadelphia—never fail to provide fans with…
View More [47] THE TOOLS OF IGNORANCE PRESENT: HIGH CHEESE (Tools of Ignorance): Fringe review
[38] MORE SEX-ED BURLESQUE (Chlamydia dell’Arte): Fringe review
The delightful and hilarious ladies of Chlamydia dell’Arte—Gigi Naglak and Meghann Williams—would like to educate you. They would like to sing you a song about…
View More [38] MORE SEX-ED BURLESQUE (Chlamydia dell’Arte): Fringe review
[28.2] THIS IS NOT A THEATER (Navin Rawanchaikul, Navin Production): Fringe review
You know those commercials at the movies that play for fifteen minutes before the trailers? You don’t want them, you don’t care about them, but…
View More [28.2] THIS IS NOT A THEATER (Navin Rawanchaikul, Navin Production): Fringe review
[30] THE LIVING NEWSPAPER (Liz Magic Laser): Fringe review
Given that you have to sit suffering through the disgraceful This is Not a Theater, it’s almost irrelevant to review THE LIVING NEWSPAPER, but NEWSPAPER is…
View More [30] THE LIVING NEWSPAPER (Liz Magic Laser): Fringe review
[7.2] THE SOCIETY (Jo Strømgren Kompani): Fringe review
Let’s be real: Most theater we see these days is at least a little bit pretentious. The very nature of theater is based in pretense.…
View More [7.2] THE SOCIETY (Jo Strømgren Kompani): Fringe review
[17] TOUGH COOKIES (Together We Act): Fringe review
First, the elephant in the room: Together We Act is a non-profit theater company for people who stutter. Now, it doesn’t take a cynical theater…
View More [17] TOUGH COOKIES (Together We Act): Fringe review
[15] GO LONG BIG SOFTIE (Groundswell Players): Fringe review
As I watch TV and lament the opportunities missed by my fantasy football team (Why didn’t I start Jimmy Graham? I’m an idiot, that’s why.)…
View More [15] GO LONG BIG SOFTIE (Groundswell Players): Fringe review
[10] PARTS: A SPEED-THROUGH (Drexel Players): Fringe review
PARTS: A SPEED-THROUGH is an ambitious, outside-the-box piece devised and performed by the Drexel Players. Anyone who has ever been involved in theater knows the…
View More [10] PARTS: A SPEED-THROUGH (Drexel Players): Fringe review
[5.1] THIS IS THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM (Found Theater Company): Fringe review
“You can see–but you cannot change–the choices you have made.” That’s one character’s assessment of the afterworld in Found Theater Company’s THIS IS THE TWILIGHT…
View More [5.1] THIS IS THE TWILIGHT KINGDOM (Found Theater Company): Fringe review
[1.1] BATHTUB MOBY-DICK (The Renegade Company): 2013 Fringe review
We are all searching for something in this life, and oftentimes it’s something that can’t be got. That’s Captain Ahab’s story, but it’s probably yours…
View More [1.1] BATHTUB MOBY-DICK (The Renegade Company): 2013 Fringe review
BARCELONA (People’s Light): Transatlantic tension, transatlantic truth
She’s an American tourist on a girls’ holiday, seeking out a romantic, exotic fantasy of Spain. He’s a dashing, seductive Spaniard who takes her to…
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