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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.
Sensitive Guys InterAct review
Reviews Theater

SENSITIVE GUYS (InterAct): Satirizing the dialectic of sex

Toby Zinman January 25, 2018 5 Comments

What’s being satirized in this social satire? Good question, with several answers.

View More SENSITIVE GUYS (InterAct): Satirizing the dialectic of sex
Reviews Theater

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (EgoPo): High-spirited and delightfully messy

Toby Zinman November 10, 2017 No Comments

This musical theater version of Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona, launches EgoPo’s season as a cabaret/fundraiser.

View More TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (EgoPo): High-spirited and delightfully messy
Daniel Barland in BROKEN STONES at InterAct Theatre. Photo by Kathryn Raines
Reviews Theater

BROKEN STONES (InterAct): Searching through the meta rubble

Toby Zinman November 5, 2017 No Comments

What better theatrical vehicle for cynicism than “meta”: how many ways can the playwright fool an audience?

View More BROKEN STONES (InterAct): Searching through the meta rubble
Reviews Theater

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY (Walnut): A bell rings

Toby Zinman November 3, 2017 No Comments

If you’re in the mood for a misty-eyed, life-affirming moment, It’s a Wonderful Life is the show for you.

View More IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY (Walnut): A bell rings
Buyer & Cellar 1812 Productions
Reviews Theater

BUYER & CELLAR (1812 Productions): The way we are

Toby Zinman October 11, 2017 1 Comment

This is one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction moments. BUYER AND CELLAR is about Barbra Streisand’s basement.

View More BUYER & CELLAR (1812 Productions): The way we are
Reviews Theater

KINKY BOOTS (national tour at the Academy of Music): Everybody say yeah

Toby Zinman October 4, 2017 No Comments

Seeing KINKY BOOTS every couple of years turns out to be a semi-good idea

View More KINKY BOOTS (national tour at the Academy of Music): Everybody say yeah
The National Touring Company of WICKED. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Reviews Theater

WICKED (National Tour at Academy of Music): Something wizard this way comes

Toby Zinman July 28, 2017 No Comments

The sets are lavish, the stagecraft is spectacular, and WICKED satisfies every requirement for a Big Broadway Musical.

View More WICKED (National Tour at Academy of Music): Something wizard this way comes
Reviews Theater

FUN HOME (national tour at Forrest Theatre): Hiding who you are is likely to be tragic

Toby Zinman June 18, 2017 1 Comment

FUN HOME is both a musical and a family drama; it’s also an activist declaration

View More FUN HOME (national tour at Forrest Theatre): Hiding who you are is likely to be tragic
Reviews Theater

HOW TO USE A KNIFE (InterAct): A sharp new play

Toby Zinman June 1, 2017 No Comments

Scene one is hilarious; scene two wipes the smile right off your face.

View More HOW TO USE A KNIFE (InterAct): A sharp new play
Reviews Theater

PEACEABLE KINGDOM (Orbiter 3): Can we live in peace?

Toby Zinman May 12, 2017 No Comments

A remarkable play navigating the deep waters of philosophy and the shallow waters of adults wearing animal costumes.

View More PEACEABLE KINGDOM (Orbiter 3): Can we live in peace?
Reviews Theater

BUZZER (Theatre Exile): We wouldn’t come here if we didn’t live here

Toby Zinman May 11, 2017 No Comments

A provocative and dismaying story, conveyed through complex characters rather than through statistics and theories

View More BUZZER (Theatre Exile): We wouldn’t come here if we didn’t live here
Reviews Theater

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (Forrest Theater): She’s coming for you

Toby Zinman April 20, 2017 No Comments

They dusted off the rarely used Forrest Theater for this touring production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a twenty-year-old rock musical which was itself recently dusted off for a 2014 Broadway revival.

View More HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (Forrest Theater): She’s coming for you
Philadelphia Theatre Company Hand of God review
Reviews Theater

HAND TO GOD (PTC): The human comedy with sock puppets

Toby Zinman April 7, 2017 1 Comment

What a funny, nasty, smart show.

View More HAND TO GOD (PTC): The human comedy with sock puppets
Reviews Theater

CABARET (Roundabout Theatre): Tomorrow belongs to…

Toby Zinman April 5, 2017 No Comments

This brilliant Kander and Ebb show is about the decadence of Weimar Germany and the rise of Nazism

View More CABARET (Roundabout Theatre): Tomorrow belongs to…
Reviews Theater

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Walnut): A trivial comedy for serious people

Toby Zinman March 22, 2017 1 Comment

Walnut Street Theatre’s delectable production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST finds just the right tone and style.

View More THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Walnut): A trivial comedy for serious people
azuka shitheads akeem davis
Reviews Theater

SHITHEADS (Azuka): Nice ride

Toby Zinman February 27, 2017 No Comments

Azuka’s terrific production of SHITHEADS, a new play by Douglas Williams, details the New York bicycle subculture.

View More SHITHEADS (Azuka): Nice ride
Reviews Theater

LIZZIE (11th Hour): Lizzie Borden took an axe

Toby Zinman January 17, 2017 No Comments

This is what “stifled rage” sounds like. Not so stifled, but certainly enraged.

View More LIZZIE (11th Hour): Lizzie Borden took an axe
Reviews Theater

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (Broadway Philadelphia): Put on your dancing shoes, watch your spirits climb

Toby Zinman November 23, 2016 No Comments

If your dancing shoes aren’t quite up to the task, this show will do the trick.

View More AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (Broadway Philadelphia): Put on your dancing shoes, watch your spirits climb
Reviews Theater

GUARDS AT THE TAJ (Theatre Exile): Beauty and brutality join hands

Toby Zinman October 27, 2016 No Comments

The debate central to Rajiv Joseph’s absorbing new play isn’t just talk: when you lose this one, you really lose.

View More GUARDS AT THE TAJ (Theatre Exile): Beauty and brutality join hands
Reviews Theater

RADIANT VERMIN (Inis Nua): Devilishly good home redecoration

Toby Zinman October 23, 2016 No Comments

An entertaining cautionary tale about the wages of greed and consumerism

View More RADIANT VERMIN (Inis Nua): Devilishly good home redecoration

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