WHAT TO SEE NOW!
NASSIM presented by The Huntington at the BCA CALDERWOOD through 10/27!
The show is never the same twice, literally. Each night a different performer takes the stage and that performer has never before seen the script! It’s a leap of faith for all involved, performer and audience. Nassim has been performed almost 500 times, all around the world. The first performer to take the leap in Boston was GBH’s Arts Editor and host of THE CULTURE SHOW Jared Bowen who threw caution to the winds and took us all with him! Bravo for your bravery and improvisatory skills, Jared! It was a very touching evening!
10/09/2024 – Boston, Mass. – Opening of Nassim Soleimanpour’s play Nassim as performed by Jared Bowen in the Wimberly Theatre at the Calderwood Pavillion on the Wednesday, October 9th, 2024. (© Mike Ritter)
Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour has done something similar before in an earlier play of his called WHITE RABBIT, RED RABBIT which I saw last season at The Umbrella Arts Center, and was a much more tense experience. Here, the playwright has constructed a piece of theater which is bound to move you, make you laugh, peak your curiosity, keep you on your toes –because none of us, including the playwright, know what’s coming next. And what’s coming next is a heartwarming experience that gets to the heart of theater, connecting everyone present, on stage and off, far beyond the boundaries of geography and politics, at a time when universal human connections are more essential than ever before. SEE THIS through 10/27!
NETWORK: Presented by The Umbrella Stage Company in Concord on the Mainstage through November 3 and it’s a Boston Theater Critics Association “Critics Pick” !
Remember when you were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? I know. Now we’re exhausted– but it wasn’t always like this. NETWORK reminds us of a prophecy fulfilled: outrageousness as the norm of modern life with its fake news, corporatization of everything, the blurring of lines between news and entertainment, fact and fiction. Almost 50 years ago, Paddy Chayevsky won an Oscar for his satiric and prescient Oscar-winning screenplay for NETWORK the Oscar-winning Best Film of the Year (1976) about an anchorman trying to buck the system and threatening suicide on air.
Lee Hall’s stage adaptation carries a different kind of sting– it’s old news, almost quaint in light of the current surreal media landscape. But it’s a stinging reminder of how it was before, when we were all still shockable, and thus how far adrift we are from reality. This production stars Bill Mootos in a standout performance as Howard Beale whose mental breakdown is exploited for ratings. If anything, the play at 90 minutes, no intermission, could have been longer and better paced to develop some of the characters. I wanted more from the relationship between the network President (Barlow Adamson) and his Producer (Blythe de Oliveira Foster). Steven Barkhimer is perfectly smarmy as network VP Frank Hackett. The production is slickly-staged with TV screens front and center and lands its message — perfect for right now as we try to keep our bearings in a wilderness of screens, con men, and digital spin out. SEE THIS Through 11/3!
