★★★★☆ It’s likely that when you hear the name Frankenstein a very specific image comes to mind, one that probably involves green skin, stitches, and a pair of bolts. The first thing to know about this production of Frankenstein, which is the 2011 version written by Nick Dear, is that it definitely […]
GIRLHOOD, INTERRUPTED: THE TRAGIC ECSTASY OF GIRLHOOD AT BOSTON PLAYWRIGHTS’ THEATRE
★★★☆☆ Four young girls who have all come to live in a state-run home under different circumstances grapple with the death of Amber, their friend and housemate whose suicide rocks their already unstable lives. Written by Kira Rockwell, The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood is a mixed bag of acutely drawn characters full […]
MAROULIS AND DEGARMO KEEP JEKYLL & HYDE AFLOAT
★★★☆☆ The musical theater elite turned their noses up at Jekyll & Hyde when it premiered on Broadway in 1997 and, well, we’re still doing it now two decades later, even if Frank Wildhorn’s poperatic score has become something of a guilty pleasure. Wildhorn, whose personal motto might be “If at first […]
A MODERN VERSE MACBETH THIS WAY COMES
★★★☆☆ This new season at Actors’ Shakespeare Project—the first under artistic director Christopher V. Edwards, who took over from Allyn Burrows last year—is a welcome change of pace for the troupe that has of late been presenting, well, mostly Shakespeare. Edwards seems intent on looking forward, though, and his breath of […]
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S REVOLUTION IS A REVELATION: HAMILTON FINALLY ARRIVES IN BOSTON
★★★★★ It’s unlikely that you’re reading this in order to find out if Hamilton is any good or not, but rather how good. So let’s get this out of the way: Yes, it’s every bit as good as its hype and impossible-to-get tickets suggest. Lin-Manuel Miranda set out to achieve the […]
A BOY IN LIMBO, LOOKING FOR SHAKESPEARE: HAMNET AT ARTSEMERSON
★★★☆☆ Given the choice of to be or not to be, Hamnet Shakespeare can’t fathom why anyone would ever choose not to be. And being that he’s had over 400 years to think about it, I guess you could say the boy’s given the matter some thought. Hamnet, only son of William, has […]
A PROVOCATIVE BUT PATCHY STRAIGHT WHITE MEN AT NEW REP
★★★☆☆ New Repertory Theatre has kicked off its new season with a play that is a welcome but surprising choice for the sleepy Watertown theater company. Straight White Men, a provocative new work by experimental downtown darling Young Jean Lee, is both newer and more electric than what we’ve come to expect from […]
GROSS INDECENCY: BEING EARNEST AT GREATER BOSTON STAGE COMPANY
★★☆☆☆ Of all of theater’s enduring comedies, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest has stood the test of time remarkably well; Wilde’s wit all these hundred-plus years later is still legitimately funny and razor sharp. But it’s a mystery why Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska, co-writers of Being Earnest, a newish […]
OH, WHAT A MANGLED WEB: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN AT THE LYRIC STAGE
★★☆☆☆ It’s no wonder that Kiss of the Spider Woman, Kander and Ebb’s ambitious but faulty 1992 musical, is so rarely revived. It isn’t only that the score is second rate or that the script (by Terrence McNally) is unremarkable and problematic, but that its success is dependent upon a production that can […]
SIX PACKS AND DISCO BALLS: MAMMA MIA! AT NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE
★★☆☆☆ “Have the time of your life!” say the posters for North Shore Music Theatre’s production of Mamma Mia! It seems like a lofty promise, but there are instances where I can imagine that that might be true. Take someone who is marooned on a deserted island with only insects as company, […]
