Burbage Theatre Company’s production of Nicky Silver’s The Altruists is about a group of liberal activists who claim to care about women’s rights, gay rights, the plight of the homeless and other social issues, but are so self-centered and shallow they really seem incapable of doing anything. Director Vince Petronio says of the characters, “They […]
Telling people that I was going to review the Wilbury Group’s production of Mr. Burns, I got a few variations on the same response: “Maybe I don’t know a lot about theater – the only Mr. Burns I know is the one on ‘The Simpsons!’” That is, in fact, the one. Anne Washburn’s play, subtitled […]
Anyone who knows Rhode Island knows that Rose Weaver is an icon who works in stage, film and television. She sometimes graces the steps of the state house with her powerful singing voice and has numerous awards to match her endless credentials. Now she’s bringing dinner theater to the state with her show Menopause Mama. […]
The latest in a series of biography plays written by Leonard Schwartz, Goodbye and Hurry Back is about the romance between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that began in 1944 on the set of her first movie, To Have and Have Not, when she was 19 and he was 44. Although at the Arctic Playhouse, […]
This is your last week to catch The Gamm’s new virtual tech thriller The Nether, receiving a taught, well-acted staging now through March 26. Fans of Netflix’s techno-horror TV series “Black Mirror” will be thrilled to hear that author Jennifer Haley’s disturbing digital drama offers up much of the same type of sharp writing, dark […]
In 1997 I had the opportunity to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Mrs. Mumford’s English class. This was important for two reasons: one the show’s memory stayed with me for 20 years, and two, I enter my classroom on a daily basis aspiring to be half the teacher Mrs. Carol Mumford was. Twenty years […]
One of the most beloved of William Shakespeare’s plays is Romeo and Juliet, the tale of two star-crossed lovers from two feuding families – the Montagues and the Capulets. The charming Romeo (Austin Venditelli) is smitten with the fair-haired Juliet (Kristin Wedel McGuirk), who faces resistance from her strong-willed father (Andrew Stigler), and Stigler […]
Risk + vulnerability = comic revelation. Actress and playwright Elizabeth Keiser’s work seems to thrive on this combustible combo in order to push her performances past safe zones and into more dynamic territory. Her newest project, intriguingly titled Horror, is out to explore America’s current state of chaos. Now playing monthly at Aurora Providence, […]
Ocean State Theatre Company’s opening night performance of Little Women: The Musical, provoked both laughter and tears. Director Ethan Paulini has crafted a funny, powerful and moving production of Louisa May Alcott’s semi-autobiographical novel. He wonderfully captures the highs and lows of the March sisters during the Civil War while their father is away serving […]
The Lion King opened on Broadway 20 years ago, and I have spent the last two decades rolling my eyes at the thought and never felt the need to buy tickets. As a huge Disney fan, I have to admit that The Lion King has never been a favorite of mine. Sure I loved the music […]