Reviews

Laughter on the 23rd Floor: Wit, warmth, and a wink to mid-century chaos

In an age when comedy writers are influencers and punchlines are tweets, Laughter on the 23rd Floor is a nostalgic trip back to when humor came with nicotine, neurosis, and the steady clack of a typewriter. This production captures the manic charm and underlying melancholy of Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical play with an effervescent energy that […]

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Fat Ham: Reinventing a Shakespearean classic

FAT HAM by James Ijames, directed by Don Mays, is a funny, poignant play that deftly transposes Hamlet to a family barbecue in the American South to grapple with questions of identity, kinship, responsibility, and honesty. Wilbury Theatre presents this 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama in a candid, hilarious and thought-provoking tragedy that presents more as […]

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Dead Man’s Cell Phone: One ringy dingy….

Through the Glass Theatre Ensemble presents Sarah Ruhl’s surrealist comedy Dead Man’s Cell Phone at AS220’s Black Box. Ruhl is known for her probing humor, vivid imagination and poignant humanity. Director Olivia M. Sahlin artfully takes on challenging topics in a world of ordinary people living extraordinary lives, and small coincidences opening into quirky metaphysical […]

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Profiling Rhode Island’s Community Theaters: The stories behind our neighborhood storytellers

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream may not have been the first play to parody amateur theater, but his depiction of the exceptionally incompetent Mechanicals certainly created the mold for more modern-day, like-minded British comedies like Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong. Christopher Guest’s now-iconic Waiting for Guffman – a mockumentary about the aspirations […]

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Life of PI: An Epic Journey of Endurance and Hope

Maybe you’ve read the philosophical novel by Yann Martel, or seen the movie, but you’ve seen nothing like this theatrical adaptation by Lolita Chakrabarti! PPAC presents Life of Pi, an epic tale of perseverance and hope. Told with incredible visuals, masterful puppetry and amazing stagecraft, Life of Pi creates a visually stunning journey that leaves […]

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A Legendary RI Treasure Takes Grand Stage

Just when The Providence Performing Arts Center was grappling with final arrangements for its 2024-25 season – kicking off with back-to-back premiers of two national stage tours (A Beautiful Noise, Shucked) – President and CEO J.L. “Lynn” Singleton received an interesting email from Trinity Repertory and its executive director, Kate Liberman. A grand stage inspired […]

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