In the program of Barker Playhouse’s production of The Shadow Box, director Jeff Sullivan notes the definitions of “shadow box” as: “to spar with an imaginary opponent as a form of training” and “a case with a protective, transparent front, used for displaying objects of value.” Both seem relevant to the premise of the play: […]
When attending a play, especially one from such a well-defined genre as murder-mystery, there are certain expectations you can reliably count on – well-defined characters, an intricately woven plot, gradually revealed secrets and lies, and a twist ending you never saw coming. You are likely to find none of these things in Contemporary Theater Company’s […]
There is an old joke that there are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who let things happen, and those who ask, “What happened?” This is a play about that third group. The three characters in This Is Our Youth at Burbage Theatre inspire a certain affectionate empathy in me, since […]
I have to admit that as I drove over to Academy’s new space (same location, updated space), I knew next to nothing about Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which was part of the appeal in going. Looking through my social media feed, it felt that I was indeed the last person on Earth to know […]
Benny’s. The little store that had it all, long before Walmart was a thing. Some of us are still traumatized by their closing and get a little choked up with nostalgia when we reminisce, or see the iconic logo somewhere. But a musical? Hello?! Benny’s: The Musical describes itself as the tale of your local Benny’s […]
Keeping calm while carrying on – quite a lot of carrying on, really – is the theme of The Night Watch, the Gamm Theatre’s US premiere of Hattie Naylor’s adaptation for the stage of Sarah Waters’ novel set in London during World War II and its immediate aftermath. The first act is set in 1947 […]
It is difficult to summarize or even explain what Thom Pain (based on nothing) is about: a one-man monologue with surreal references to everything from Shakespeare (repeatedly) to the Song of Songs. Much of the material involves a somewhat central narrative about a child and a remarkably literal shaggy dog story, to which the monologist often returns after his […]
Oral storytelling is one of the oldest traditions known to man; the intimacy of storytelling was how groups of people retold their history, entertained each other and reinforced their cultural values. The Rhode Island Black Storytellers’ (RIBS) Funda Fest, which takes place in late January and early February, keeps that tradition alive as storytellers share […]
Four public high school girls and an intelligent, caring teacher study and rehearse Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. This may seem nothing very unusual, but that play is a classic story of cliques forming within small groups, politicking for advantage. Its subject, the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693, were driven in large part by the testimony […]
The new National Tour of the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical CATS will kick off at the Providence Performing Arts Center January 22 and will run through January 27. CATS is based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. The musical tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the […]