Skip to content
Friday, October 24, 2025
phindie

phindie

An independent take on Philadelphia theater and arts

about . contact . advertising . support

phindie
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Interviews
  • Theater
  • Dance
  • Music
  • Film
  • Visual Arts
  • Podcasts

Author: Toby Zinman

Toby Zinman is a recently retired professor of English at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a Fulbright professor at Tel Aviv University and a visiting professor in China. She publishes widely and lectures internationally on American drama. Her fifth book, Replay: Classic Modern Drama Reimagined, was published by Methuen, and she published the essay, "Visions of Tragedy in Contemporary American Drama," in 2017. Zinman is also the chief theater critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer where she reviews New York and London as well as Philadelphia. She was named by American Theatre magazine as, “one of the 12 most influential critics in America.” Her travel writing has taken her all over the world, from dogsledding in the Yukon to hiking across England.
pumpgirl irish rep
Reviews Theater

[nyc] PUMPGIRL (Irish Repertory Theatre): Things are fine in Irish drama

Toby Zinman November 25, 2019 No Comments

Everywhere you turn, there’s another Irish play, and each seems better than the last.

View More [nyc] PUMPGIRL (Irish Repertory Theatre): Things are fine in Irish drama
Reviews Theater

SHREK THE MUSICAL (Walnut Street): 60-second review

Toby Zinman November 14, 2019 No Comments

A witty as well as funny musical that brought the happy house game.

View More SHREK THE MUSICAL (Walnut Street): 60-second review
Reviews Theater

SUNSET BABY (Azuka): A shining lead performance

Toby Zinman November 11, 2019 1 Comment

Victoria Aaliyah Goins shines in a new play by a hot young playwright

View More SUNSET BABY (Azuka): A shining lead performance
Reviews Theater

EUREKA DAY (InterAct): An infectious satire

Toby Zinman October 31, 2019 No Comments

No easy answers, no good guys/bad guys; it’s life as we cope with it, only funnier.

View More EUREKA DAY (InterAct): An infectious satire
Theater

BURIED CHILD (EgoPo): A powerful production of a difficult play

Toby Zinman October 28, 2019 2 Comments

It’s very satisfying to see this 1978 play revived; it still speaks to us and to the American condition

View More BURIED CHILD (EgoPo): A powerful production of a difficult play
Reviews Theater

WOMAN AND SCARECROW (Irish Heritage Theatre): When did this all end in tragedy?

Toby Zinman October 27, 2019 No Comments

An existential, feminist play of wildly mournful keening, filled with rich Ianguage, intense questions, and rueful comedy

View More WOMAN AND SCARECROW (Irish Heritage Theatre): When did this all end in tragedy?
Theater

COME FROM AWAY (national tour): Welcome to the Rock

Toby Zinman October 23, 2019 No Comments

Deeply stirring and mournful, a remarkable accomplishment

View More COME FROM AWAY (national tour): Welcome to the Rock
ltc_frankenstein_3_3526_artistic-associate-walter-briggs-and-keith-d.-gallagher.-photo-by-liz-lauren
Reviews Theater

MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN (McCarter): Overreaching ambition

Toby Zinman October 20, 2019 No Comments

Theatrically spectacular but without the marvelous profundity of the source novel

View More MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN (McCarter): Overreaching ambition
Theater

DONNA ORBITS THE MOON (Tiny Dynamite): A long and moving journey

Toby Zinman October 5, 2019 No Comments

At first it seems to be just another mad housewife story: a church-going, cookie-baking, carpet-vacuuming middle-aged empty nester whose husband works until 11 p.m. and…

View More DONNA ORBITS THE MOON (Tiny Dynamite): A long and moving journey
The Roommate
60-Second Review Reviews Theater

THE ROOMMATE (1812 Productions): 60-second review

Toby Zinman October 3, 2019 1 Comment

Where are Oscar and Felix when you really need them?

View More THE ROOMMATE (1812 Productions): 60-second review
Fringe Festival Fringe reviews Music Reviews

LET ME DIE (Joseph Keckler): 2019 Fringe review

Toby Zinman September 26, 2019 No Comments

Spoilers puts it mildly: She dies. He dies. They die.

View More LET ME DIE (Joseph Keckler): 2019 Fringe review
Walnut Street Theatre Meteor Shower review image
Reviews Theater

METEOR SHOWER (Walnut Street): The sparks don’t fly

Toby Zinman September 22, 2019 1 Comment

Steve Martin was once funny and smart.

View More METEOR SHOWER (Walnut Street): The sparks don’t fly
Fringe Festival Fringe reviews Reviews Theater

IS THIS A ROOM (Tina Satter/Half Straddle): 2019 Fringe review

Toby Zinman September 15, 2019 No Comments

A brilliant production by Half Straddle based on an FBI transcription

View More IS THIS A ROOM (Tina Satter/Half Straddle): 2019 Fringe review
Fringe Festival Fringe reviews Reviews Theater

THERE (Wilma): 2019 Fringe review

Toby Zinman September 15, 2019 No Comments

Visually arresting and aurally haunting, THERE makes rarefied language solid and visceral

View More THERE (Wilma): 2019 Fringe review
Fringe Festival Fringe reviews Reviews Theater

THE B-SIDE (The Wooster Group): 2019 Fringe review

Toby Zinman September 9, 2019 No Comments

Toby Zinman reviews THE B-SIDE: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons,” A Record Album Interpretation from The Wooster Group

View More THE B-SIDE (The Wooster Group): 2019 Fringe review
Dance Fringe Festival Reviews Theater

Letter from Edinburgh: A dilettante at large reviews

Toby Zinman August 11, 2019 6 Comments

Toby Zinman reviews shows from the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe

View More Letter from Edinburgh: A dilettante at large reviews
Music

CANDIDE (Philadelphia Orchestra): A dilettante at large review

Toby Zinman June 23, 2019 No Comments

A dilettante at large Toby Zinman reviews Candide by Leonard Bernstein.

View More CANDIDE (Philadelphia Orchestra): A dilettante at large review
Music Reviews

A dilettante at large reviews RIDERS TO THE SEA/ EMPTY THE HOUSE (Curtis Opera)

Toby Zinman May 5, 2019 No Comments

Theater critic extraordinaire Toby Zinman continues her forays into other art forms with a visit to Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theatre to see two one-act operas presented by the Curtis Opera Theatre

View More A dilettante at large reviews RIDERS TO THE SEA/ EMPTY THE HOUSE (Curtis Opera)
Reviews Theater

LASHED BUT NOT LEASHED (Martha Graham Cracker): A dilettante at large sees the new revue

Toby Zinman March 15, 2019 No Comments

Martha Graham Cracker (aka Dito von Reigersberg) is back in Philly for only three shows

View More LASHED BUT NOT LEASHED (Martha Graham Cracker): A dilettante at large sees the new revue
Music Reviews

KODO: A dilettante at large enjoys the Japanese drum troup

Toby Zinman March 14, 2019 No Comments

Toby Zinman feels the Japanese rhythms of KODO drum troupe.

View More KODO: A dilettante at large enjoys the Japanese drum troup

Posts navigation

Previous page Page 1 … Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 … Page 8 Next page

Support Phindie operations
Donate Button with Credit Cards

Subscribe

* indicates required
/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

Intuit Mailchimp

Now Trending…

  • VI DEGREES (GoKash): Comrades in erotic arms by Alex Boucher
  • OPERATION: WAWA ROAD TRIP (Tribe of Fools): 2019 Fringe review by Lisa Panzer
  • From Mormon Boy to Rent Boy: Interview with solo performer Steven Fales by Henrik Eger
  • How Big Is That Theater? Seating capacities of Philadelphia theaters by Christopher Munden
  • The 26th Philadelphia Film Festival skates off with Tonya Harding and closes with Martin McDonagh by Christopher Munden
phindie | Designed by: Theme Freesia | WordPress | © Copyright All right reserved