★★★★☆ Othello, William Shakespeare’s quintessential tale of race-baiting political treachery, has more connections to contemporary society than one might care to admit (or write down). As observed in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production, now in performance at the American Repertory Theater, the story of a virtuous black leader brought down by the vindictive […]
THE END OF TV, LIVE AND IN COLOR
★★★★☆ The demise of television, it appears, happened before the medium even began. The End of TV, a multimedia theater piece mounted by the Manual Cinema troupe, filters shadow puppets, cardboard cutouts, and good old-fashioned pantomime through live cameras to depict the alienating effects of a consumer culture gone terribly wrong. The […]
HAROLD WHO? JENNIFER ELLIS SHINES IN THE MUSIC MAN
★★★☆☆ Reagle Music Theatre occupies a vital place in the cultural ecosystem of the Greater Boston Area: It’s the only place you’re likely to see a classic musical with a full orchestra and a cast of more than 50. I love the way that Reagle evokes the summer stock tradition and presents golden […]
JUST A LITTLE TOUCH OF STAR QUALITY: JARED REINFELDT SHINES IN GEORGIA MCBRIDE
★★★★☆ If the idea of a play filled with snarky references to Gypsy, the Von Trapp family, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof sounds like something right up your alley, then there’s a hell of a good time waiting for you at Stoneham’s Greater Boston Stage Company. But if the name Frances […]
A GRIPPING GUARDS AT THE TAJ AT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER
★★★★☆ Rajiv Joseph’s alluringly original 2015 play Guards at the Taj is being given a stellar production at Central Square Theater, courtesy of Underground Railway Theater and director Gabriel Vega Weissman. It seems that Joseph, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his 2010 Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, has drawn some inspiration […]
MIDDLE CLASS DREAD: THE HUMANS AT THE SHUBERT
★★★★★ Before there’s any spoken dialogue in The Humans, Stephen Karam’s 2015 Tony Award-winning Best Play, there are those eerie sounds. Those ominous, startling sounds will persist long after the dialogue stops, too. But what’s clear from the start is that this will be a story about anxieties, the kind that regularly […]
A BEAUTIFULLY ACTED LONELY PLANET AT NEW REP
★★★★☆ New Repertory Theatre continues its compelling Statements of Survival series with a 25th anniversary production of Steven Dietz’s 1993 AIDS drama Lonely Planet, which will run through March 4 in New Rep’s intimate black box theater. Co-produced by the Boston Center for American Performance and beautifully directed by New Rep artistic […]
A PARTIALLY ILLUMINATED RAINBOW AT PRAXIS STAGE
★★★☆☆ The young Praxis Stage was formed just over a year ago in the days following the 2016 election as a form of theatrical resistance, aiming to present Boston audiences with stories and ideas that act as statements of opposition. Praxis thus far has selected a wide variety of titles that have […]
PIECE OF HER HEART: A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN ON TOUR
★★★☆☆ Something tells me that the hordes of baby boomers piling in to A Night with Janis Joplin aren’t there for the writing. Nor is it very likely that, on the drive home that night, they’re going to be discussing the merits of the piece as a theatrical work of art. If […]
