George Bernard Shaw’s play is presented in rich tonalities of color, light, positioning, and sound. It is wide awake.
View More SAINT JOAN (Quintessence): The Maid’s new clothesTag: Quintessence Theatre Group
HANSEL AND GRETEL (Quintessence): Cool contemporary spin on Grimm
You don’t have to be ten years old to thoroughly enjoy this production, you just have to retrace the breadcrumbs and remember how to pretend again.
View More HANSEL AND GRETEL (Quintessence): Cool contemporary spin on GrimmTHE MANDRAKE (Quintessence): A Machiavellian sex satire
What could be so funny in a play written nearly 500 years ago? There is something for everyone to either laugh or balk at in this bawdy production of a play by Machiavelli.
View More THE MANDRAKE (Quintessence): A Machiavellian sex satireROMEO AND JULIET (Quintessence): What fray was here?
In the eyes of director Alexander Burns this doomed romance never stood a chance.
View More ROMEO AND JULIET (Quintessence): What fray was here?THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Quintessence): Swordplay and horseplay combine in a breezy adaptation
As always with an Alexander Burns production, imagery is rife, props are creative, and jokes come as much from sight gags as from dialogue.
View More THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Quintessence): Swordplay and horseplay combine in a breezy adaptationCome One Come All: Gathering of Northwest Philadelphia performing arts companies and artists on April 20
With Chestnut Hill’s Stagecrafters Theater, East Falls’ Old Academy Players, and Mount Airy’s Allens Lane Theater, there’s a surprising number of theaters in Northwest Philadelphia.…
View More Come One Come All: Gathering of Northwest Philadelphia performing arts companies and artists on April 20MACBETH (Arden): Rare emotion and rarer straightforwardness [critical mass review #5]
The elements which displease other writers are what makes this production a success, according to Michael Fisher in review five of the ongoing Critical Mass series.
View More MACBETH (Arden): Rare emotion and rarer straightforwardness [critical mass review #5]“I was born into Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare”: Alex Burns on directing MACBETH (Arden), part 1
I will never forget the first time I saw Hamlet. My sister and I were out playing on the street in Mount Airy, Philadelphia.
View More “I was born into Shakespeare, the American Shakespeare”: Alex Burns on directing MACBETH (Arden), part 1MACBETH (Arden): Numb from the neck down, well almost [critical mass review #3]
Jessica Foley gives this week’s critical mass take on MACBETH at the Arden, part of a new review series on Phindie.
View More MACBETH (Arden): Numb from the neck down, well almost [critical mass review #3]MACBETH (Arden): Fast but not furious [critical mass review #2]
Alexander Burns’ production of MACBETH at Arden Theatre Company is energetic and visually engaging, but it lacks ferocity and substance.
View More MACBETH (Arden): Fast but not furious [critical mass review #2]MACBETH (Arden): Bloody bold and resolute [critical mass review #1]
Burns maintains the energy and pacing of his best work for Quintessence and takes full advantage of the Arden’s high production values to create an exuberant and understandable version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.
View More MACBETH (Arden): Bloody bold and resolute [critical mass review #1]Meta-morphing Kafka’s Gregor: Interview with director Rebecca Wright in THE METAMORPHOSIS, (Quintessence Theatre Group)
Henrik Eger talks to director Rebecca Wright about her work and influences.
View More Meta-morphing Kafka’s Gregor: Interview with director Rebecca Wright in THE METAMORPHOSIS, (Quintessence Theatre Group)THE METAMORPHOSIS (Quintessence): Leave the bug spray at home
A sensational production of Franz Kafka’s story, utilizing sound, movement, color, and light to transport the audience into the eerie world of salesman-turned-cockroach Gregor Samsa .
View More THE METAMORPHOSIS (Quintessence): Leave the bug spray at homeCostume Changes and Metamorphoses: Katherine Fritz on costume design, Kafka, and blogging
Interview with award-winning costume designer and star blogger Katherine Fritz on tackling Kafka’s METAMORPHOSIS
View More Costume Changes and Metamorphoses: Katherine Fritz on costume design, Kafka, and bloggingALICE’s ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (Quintessence): Mystifying appearances and disappearances, levitations and mysterious goings-on at Mount Airy’s Sedgwick Theater
For the latest installment in their tradition of performing literary family classics for the holidays, Quintessence Theatre Group brings ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and its parade of beloved batty characters to Sedgwick Theater.
View More ALICE’s ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (Quintessence): Mystifying appearances and disappearances, levitations and mysterious goings-on at Mount Airy’s Sedgwick TheaterRichard II (Quintessence): Let us sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings
RICHARD II is a richly rewarding play, full of insightful and startling verse, but you might want to read a synopsis before seeing this production.
View More Richard II (Quintessence): Let us sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kingsAS YOU LIKE IT (Quintessence): Do you not know I am a woman?
Burns and his cast humanize Shakespeare’s characters and provide a smart, jolly time that is tinged with genuine sentiment.
View More AS YOU LIKE IT (Quintessence): Do you not know I am a woman?2013/14 Critics’ Awards: The best in Philadelphia theater
For the second year, Phindie asked local theater writers to vote on the best theatrical work produced in or near the city in the 2013/14 theater season.
View More 2013/14 Critics’ Awards: The best in Philadelphia theaterIs there money in theater? Where does it come from? Who gets it?
Phindie looks at tax returns for local theaters to see how much they brought in from what sources. We also look at who the best paid employee was for each “non-profit”.
View More Is there money in theater? Where does it come from? Who gets it?MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA (Quintessence): America’s Ghosts Return to Haunt
There are plenty of things to thrill over in Quintessence Theatre Group’s stirring, and impressively-performed, MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA. Director Alex Burns and his well-picked ensemble continue to impress.
View More MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA (Quintessence): America’s Ghosts Return to Haunt