The title alone--THE BLUEST EYE--suggests the shards of an iris, a lens on a deep dark sea of meaning. Now, the depth and richness of the Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's language and vision is profoundly illuminated by Lydia R. Diamond's sleek 2005 adaptation of Morrison's first novel and The Huntington's graceful and penetrating production-- [...]
She had me at "I have returned and it begins!" The opening salvo of the Huntington production of HURRICANE DIANE couldn't be more spot-on. Not only is it the first production of the Huntington's 40th season, but the first inside any Boston theater since spring 2020 when the world as we knew it shut down. [...]
Want some theater to digest this Thanksgiving weekend? Here's my take on what you might like! QUIXOTE NUEVO--This delightful new adaptation of Cervantes' "Don Quixote" by Octavio Solis is an illuminating, funny, heartbreaking, and wholly relevant musical adventure, and the first time I have fully connected with this classic saga of a hero tilting at [...]
MUST SEE: "THE PURISTS" presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the BCA Calderwood Pavilion. Tony and Grammy Award-winner Billy Porter (FX "Pose," "Kinky Boots") directs this world premiere hip hop dramedy by actor Dan McCabe in his debut as a playwright. It's timely, wise, entertaining, funny as hell, with a killer cast. The title is rich, [...]
A famous critic once said, "The curtain went up at 8 o'clock sharp and came down at 10:30 dull." The sentiment applies to the only pre-Broadway engagement of TEA AT FIVE now onstage at the Huntington Avenue Theatre. Photography: Nile Scott Studios TEA AT FIVE is a dated, sentimental sliver of a [...]
The opening scene of YERMA is a beauty. The strains of a haunting melody waft over a bed center stage in a sea of yellow flowers. We see a woman's naked back undulating as she makes love to her husband in the soft light of an early morning before he heads off for the day. [...]
Theater is in full bloom right now with one of the best shows ever onstage in Boston! INDECENT now in its Boston premiere at The Huntington Theatre shimmers with its brilliant commingling of all the elements that make for great theater: a play within a play that throws light on its creators and [...]
Legendary actress FAYE DUNAWAY, winner of an Academy Award, three Golden Globes, a BAFTA, and an Emmy, will be the Guest of Honor at the 37th Annual Elliot Norton Awards presented by the Boston Theater Critics Association on Monday, May 20, 2019 at 7:00 PM at the Huntington Avenue Theatre! As President of the BTCA, I am thrilled that Ms. Dunaway, BU [...]
Our two great regional theater companies have mounted ambitious productions: Huntington Theatre Company's ROMEO AND JULIET charts a tragic end, while American Repertory Theater's ENDLINGS is an interesting beginning. We all know how Romeo and Juliet end up. The challenge is to find a fresh way to envision this tragedy of star-crossed lovers whose feuding [...]
There are two new comedies onstage in Boston right now, both entertaining, and well-executed by superb casts, but it was the scripts that gave me pause. The New England premiere of SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company was a hit off-broadway and absolutely made me laugh-- and that's about it. What we have [...]
