Motif seeks to recognize the excellence in local theater at many different levels. We polled the critics and the theater companies themselves – about their own best work, and the best work they saw – and then over 2,500 of you, our theater-going readers, voted for your favorites. The results were announced at our awards […]
Starting this weekend, Rhode Island’s own Radioactive Theater Company will debut its latest production: Guido’s: Scenes from a Restaurant. Written by Rhode Island natives Shannon McLoud and Stephen Nani, Guido’s chronicles the story of love, from the optimism of that first date to depressing reality of life with kids. To set the stage, you’re first […]
The one-person show is a producer’s dream. Less overhead, same ticket price, more control over the process. Often the domain of comedians and comedic actors, the one-person show does actually have an honorable dramatic tradition, often in the context of bringing to life historical personalities for either educational purposes or for a contemporary retelling of […]
The beginning of Trinity Repertory Company’s production of Ivanov caught me pleasantly off guard. The actors, accompanied by a group of musicians, break into song before the show’s main character, Nikolai Ivanov (Stephen Thorne), was wheeled onstage in a bathtub. Ivanov, which opened in previews on September 4 and runs through October 5, is acclaimed […]
Epic Theatre Company has gotten off to a smashing start for its 2014-2015 season with a highly entertaining production of Compleat Female Stage Beauty. The setting is 1661 when it was routine for male actors to play the female characters in Shakespeare productions. Jonathan Fisher stars as vain actor Edward Kynaston, famous for playing roles […]
Rhode Island theater, for the uninitiated, can be a complex mess of posters, social media events and pages of listings in the local papers. Even those folks who have been going to see shows at Trinity Rep or Theatre by the Sea for 30 years are shocked to hear that, on any given weekend, you […]
Kevin Broccoli is a serious man: artistic director of Rhode Island’s Epic Theatre, author of plays and monologues that have been performed by literally hundreds of actors, and an acclaimed director and actor himself. Yet nothing of his prior years of committed work in theater attracted the kind of viral publicity as his recent Kickstarter […]
With summer drawing to a close, a common theme echoed by many is that it was too short and it was too cool. Yet, even with fall fast approaching, area dance companies are ready to turn up the heat. Following a very busy summer with its summer dance intensive and various performances throughout the summer, […]
PROFESSIONAL It couldn’t be a better time to be a theater-goer in Rhode Island. With eight professional theaters to choose from, the fall season is ripe with gripping dramas, cutting-edge musicals and hysterical comedies to match anyone’s mood. I asked many of the smallest state’s artistic directors what they’ll be bringing to the Rhode Island […]
I don’t know about art, but I know what I like. This frustrating aphorism creates boundaries and absolves the person using it from the burden of responsibility for their opinion. It is how Everyman relates to the aesthetic in much the same way we can spout insensitivity with the qualifier, “I’m just saying…” Both phrases […]