David Hare has the uncanny knack of being able to talk out of both sides of his mouth.
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Tag: Joe Guzmán
An Irish Masterpiece Still Shocking: Considering Synge’s PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD
An extended consideration of the new Synge production from Mount Airy’s Quintessence Theatre.
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PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD (Quintessence): Dead dads, tall tales, Irish intrigue
When PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD premiered in Philadelphia in 1912, riots broke out. Quintessence’s skillful production features consistently strong performances that manage to surprise and delight.
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HUMAN RITES (InterAct): I say tomato, you say genital mutilation
HUMAN RITES succeeds as a vehicle to tackle such hot-topic themes as appropriation and intersectionality.
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BROKEN STONES (InterAct): Searching through the meta rubble
What better theatrical vehicle for cynicism than “meta”: how many ways can the playwright fool an audience?
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36 VIEWS (Lantern): Using artifice to reveal truths
Visually beautiful and compelling in its coherence, 36 VIEWS weaves these intellectual concepts on the uncertainty of art and life with a wholly original style.
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SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (People’s Light): An epic production of an Austen classic
A brilliant new stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s romantic comedy of manners captures the satiric wit and sociological insight of the 19th-century classic.
View More SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (People’s Light): An epic production of an Austen classicUpcoming Readings
What: How Green Was My Valley with music by Roger Ames and book and lyrics by Elizabeth Bassine; The Gig with music, book, and lyrics by Doug Cohen;…
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FOX ON THE FAIRWAY (Act II): Camaraderie of a club
No golf interest? No problem. This show has tongue-in-cheek humor, love, competition, and the danger of the unexpected.
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ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD (Wilma): A contemporary classic, in three parts
Tom Stoppard’s ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD is perhaps the most ubiquitous work of postmodern drama.
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HAMLET (Wilma): Blanka Zizka’s daring production amazes while keeping its distance
Not unlike the U.S. Constitution, HAMLET endures partly because its imperfections and spaces allow for different ways to read it.
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“The Experiment”, conclusion: ARCADIA (Lantern)
Michael Fisher concludes his multi-part review experiment of ARCADIA at the Lantern Theater Company. Was it a success?
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“The Experiment”, part 3: ARCADIA (Lantern)
Michael Fisher continues his multi-part critical consideration of the Lantern Theater Company’s ARCADIA.
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“The Experiment”, part 2: ARCADIA (Lantern)
Part 2 of Michael Fisher’s multi-part, multi-week consideration of ARCADIA at the Lantern.
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“The Experiment”, part 1: ARCADIA (Lantern)
Part One of Michael Fisher’s multi-part critical experiment, reviewing the Lantern Theater Company’s production of ARCADIA several times over its run.
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ARCADIA (Lantern): A great play is always timely
Stoppard’s genius is to permeate his play with deep philosophical contemplation while using the play to explore those same issues.
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Presidential Theater: New City Stage Company concludes its season with THE WEST WING FESTIVAL
New City Stage Company concludes its season-long look at at the American political summit with THE WEST WING FESTIVAL, a series of (FREE!) staged readings at the Adrienne Theater Skybox.
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JULIUS CAESAR (Lantern): Political persuasion in feudal Japan
If William Shakespeare was alive today he’d be a …. well, he’d probably be a poet and playwright, but he’d also make a damn good political speechwriter. The crux of his JULIUS CAESAR, now in an accessible production by Lantern Theater Company, comes in a speech following the title character’s assassination.
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On the Universality of Shakespeare: Roman History through a Shoji Screen in the Lantern’s THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR
Director Charles McMahon, founding artistic director of the Lantern Theater Company, asserts that all of Shakespeare’s plays, whenever or wherever they’re set, are in fact observations about contemporary England. By shifting the locales to places outside of his homeland.
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TRUE STORY (Passage): A Multi-Layered World-Premiere Whodunit
Though EM Lewis’s 80-minute thriller TRUE STORY pays homage to Raymond Chandler’s detective-story and film-noir tradition of the 1930s and ‘40s, the play offers a more current (cell-phone era) exploration of the genre. It combining the twists and turns of a gripping murder mystery with the profound human issues of coping with loss, assuming responsibility, the nature of truth, and the desire for justice. Passage Theatre Company’s world-premiere production, directed with wit and suspense by Damon Bonetti, succeeds in delivering all the surprises, humor, emotion, and psychology inherent in the script.
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