Articles about William Shakespeare and reviews of Shakespeare productions in the Philadelphia area.
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”—Ben Jonson, preface to the First Folio, 1616
One of Shakespeare’s greatest hits, his first comedy, The Comedy of Errors, is playing at the Lantern Theater Company until June 16. Twins, shipwreck, mistaken…
View More THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Lantern): Twins, shipwreck, mistaken identity, romance gone awry
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Cool it with a baboon’s blood, then the charm is firm and good. Macbeth, the…
View More MACBETH (Quintessence): Onstage magic
There’s a lot of Twelfth Night going around in the Philadelphia area, all different. The Wilma conjures a fresh seaside setting. A dock moves forward.…
View More TWELFTH NIGHT (Wilma): Beach blanket Bard
“Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines every where.” Leaving Copernicus aside, the Fool’s wry remark is an apt description…
View More TWELFTH NIGHT (Wilma): Foolery shines everywhere
James Ijames won the Pulitzer Prize for Fat Ham, which is now running on Broadway; his even newer play, Abandon, has just opened at Theatre Exile.
View More FAT HAM + ABANDON: Considering James Ijames’s new and newer work
There’s magic and mystery as wonderfully costumed characters come alive to dance, sing, cavort, wrestle, draw swords, threaten violence, and show mercy
View More THE TEMPEST (Quintessence): Full of magic
It’s a tragedy that more audiences will not have a chance to enjoy the production.
View More ROMEO AND JULIET (OJ Productions): 2022 Fringe review
In this time of physical isolation, a writer should be able to reach out with language. Our prose should build bridges.
View More Words words words
In recent days of home-captivity my mind has wandered to Romeo & Juliet performances, new and old. But I’m more interested in Mercutio and Tybalt than the star-crossed lovers.
View More Remembering Mercutios and Tybalts
Cooped up inside, with no theater in sight, I’m remembering Hamlets I’ve known.
View More Remembering Hamlets
For those that were worried that Turn, a musical exploration of being a black woman in America through the lens of Shakespeare’s Othello, might be…
View More TURN (Kimmel Center) 60-second review
What about Shakespeare do we want kids to like?
View More ROMEO AND JULIET (Wilma): Wherefore do Romeo and Juliet?
There’s a lovely simplicity in Elise D’Avella’s staging of the tragic story.
View More LONG TROUBLE (Svaha Theatre Collective): 2018 Fringe review
Chuck Shultz sketches the al fresco production of TWELFTH NIGHT.
View More Theater in Sketch: TWELFTH NIGHT (Shakespeare in Clark Park)
Double dealing, doubling of characters, double entendre and double dating, of a sort, are doubly fun to watch.
View More A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Mechanical Theater): Spiriting Shakespeare at Laurel Hill
It was interesting to compare last week’s reading of Shakespeare’s THE RAPE OF LUCRECE at the Rosenbach to the original presentation at the Broad Street Ministry in 2016.
View More Theater in Sketch: THE RAPE OF LUCRECE (PAC at the Rosenbach)
Quintessence Theatre Group explores the Shakespearean death throes of the Roman Republic.
View More JULIUS CAESAR (Quintessence): Why must republics fall?
Lantern Theater’s production of THE TEMPEST, Shakespeare’s last play, is an enjoyable, modest show, full of comedy and romance and the gentle spirit of human forgiveness.
View More THE TEMPEST (Lantern): Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not
Quintessence Theatre Group of Mount Airy produces contemporary stagings of classic theatrical works.
View More 2018 Theater Preview: Quintessence Theatre Group
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