Children are resilient; in the bombed-out rubble of Europe after World War II, children found ways to do amidst the ruins what they were naturally inclined to do – play. It has been indisputably known for decades that the single most important way children learn about the world around them is through play, but what […]
The decline and fall of a civilized society from ancient greatness to modern mediocrity has been the subject of much of British literature for centuries, ranging from William Blake and Lord Byron to Rudyard Kipling and J.R.R. Tolkien. Jerusalem takes place entirely at the ramshackle caravan abode of Byronic anti-hero “Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron” (David Tessier) […]
The Man from Earth is a rare stage play that raises challenging intellectual questions usually only seen in the best science-fiction, reminiscent of Twilight Zone and Star Trek. This is no coincidence, as it is the final dramatic work by playwright Jerome Bixby who was responsible for several episodes of both series in the 1950s […]
In a world premiere, Contemporary Theatre playwright-in-residence Andy Hoover imagines a virtual reality combat game, “Triad,” played by teams of three seated at their respective computers, the objective of which is to confront and defeat various incarnations of “leviathans,” computerized monsters with almost unlimited variations of forms and capabilities. Fairly accurately modeling air combat, each […]
Blues for Mister Charlie is an angry play from an angry time. The “Mister Charlie” of the title is a euphemism for “cracker,” a pejorative racial epithet for white people that has etymological roots in the slave driver of the antebellum South who literally cracked a whip. Trinity Rep deserves enormous credit for putting on […]
George Orwell was one of the most influential writers of the 20th Century and Animal Farm is his most widely read book, but that is because it is short rather than because it is good. Orwell was primarily an essayist: His journalism and non-fiction, although no longer commonly read, demonstrated remarkable prescience and ability. His […]
Fresh off the successful and widely acclaimed introduction of a new logo and slogan, “Size Doesn’t Matter,” the state tourism agency announced plans to convert Rhode Island into a theme park. “Once we discovered that the Rhode Island economy was so far in the tank that we couldn’t afford electricity, we decided to make the […]
Racism is the curse of American history and slavery was America’s original sin. Abraham Lincoln warned that expiating the sin of slavery might demand that “every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” Seven score and 11 years later, #BlackLivesMatter is a hashtag adopted as the […]
The first warning Burbage Theatre Company’s Titus Andronicus was not to be the usual Shakespeare performance was seeing everyone in the front rows at a sold-out show covering themselves with dark green, plastic, 30-gallon trash bags because they were in the “splatter zone.” Although the play is notoriously Shakespeare’s bloodiest, Burbage presents the extraordinary goriness […]
Rhode Island-based independent film director Richard Griffin knows how to make movies, and he’s made over 20 of them. In his latest outing presented at a sold-out world premiere at the Route One Cinema Pub in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, on Sunday, February 21, he set out to recreate his beloved 1980s schlock horror even more […]