There's almost NOTHING to see at the movies these days except techno-driven retreads of assorted superheroes, smurfs, or humans acting like imbeciles. Unless you've put your brain on ice this summer, your resources are BEST spent on live theater. Here's my take on three onstage right now beginning with THE EFFECT a New England Premiere [...]
I applaud the statement issued by Boston's Praxis Stage who are about to mount a production of JULIUS CAESAR in Cambridge this summer. In fact, I laughed myself silly--though this is truly no laughing matter. Praxis called it, and I'm happy to amplify their response to the ongoing attempts to suppress freedom of expression and the crucial conversations theater provokes, especially in times of [...]
DON'T MISS the Huntington Theatre Company's "RIPCORD" which just opened at the Calderwood Pavilion and has already been extended through July 2! David Lindsay-Abaire's comedy is set in that most hilarious and freewheeling of all environments--an assisted living complex. Hang on, it involves two elderly women who find themselves roommates, but one of them can't stand the other. The sour-pussed Abby (Nancy E. Carroll) [...]
Joyce Kulhawik, Cherry Jones, Diane Paulus & Boston Theater Critics Association/Photo: Mikki Ansin If you are a theater lover/goer and were not at the HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY's BU Theater on Monday May 15, 2017, you missed the event of the local theatrical season: The 35th Anniversary Elliot Norton Awards with Guest of Honor [...]
HURRY! WIN complimentary passes to Fathom Events: THE MET: LIVE IN HD 2016-17 SERIES – DER ROSENKAVALIER To enter-to-win please click on the link below and fill out the required information. http://tinyurl.com/hrfdgfk Winners will receive their passes via email. Passes will be valid at the specified locations and guarantee you a seat up until 10 [...]
WEEKEND ADVENTURE!! FIRST--Head to the Central Square Theater in Central Square Cambridge this weekend and get closer to the Middle East. SECOND--Buy a ticket to PARADISE --and you will find it. This two-act play by Laura Maria Censabella and presented by Underground Railway Theater is about a young muslim-American teenager from the Bronx with a gift [...]
Most of the productions I'll review over the next few days will end this weekend MAY 7--See them before they close! Beginning with: BECKETT IN BRIEF: A stunning troika of Beckett plays brought to luminous life by an equally stunning trinity of actors led by the incandescent Will Lyman who appears in each. Lyman's extraordinary elegance, timing, [...]
In marathon season, after a marathon of coverage including the fictionalized film "Patriots Day" and the documentary play "Finish Line," the latest entry in the reportage of Boston's beloved race comes in first with the last word. My review here reprinted from The ARTery. "Boston" is the first feature length documentary film on [...]
Diane Paulus 2017 Elliot Norton Prize Winner THIS JUST IN! The Boston Theater Critics Association has announced the 35th Anniversary Elliot Norton Awards nominations for outstanding work by Boston area actors, directors, designers, writers! Leading the pack are the Huntington Theatre Company and SpeakEasy Stage Company with 9 nominations each in a field of [...]
I recently took part in Women Writer's week at RogerEbert.com and revisited BABY BOOM starring Diane Keaton--30 years later. I was thrilled to join all of the site's women reviewers highlighted that week, and once again became acutely aware of how few women's critical voices are heard in the world. The field of movie and theater criticism remains, like so many fields, [...]
