By ROY BERKO In its off-Broadway production, Shakespeare R&J (which is now on stage at convergence continuum) ran for a year, making it the longest running version of “Romeo and Juliet” in New York history. The piece was described as “Hot-blooded … Wrenching … pulsates with an adolescent abandon and electricity of which Romeo himself […]
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News “Silly is as silly does,” could easily be the subtitle following the name of the current comedy/farce romp The Underpants, now on stage at the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White stage. However, when the playwright in question is the wildly talented and brilliant Renaissance man of comedy who […]
By JACK LYONS, Desert Local News There have been many love stories written about the redemptive power of love in all its art forms: poems, songs, odes, sonnets, essays, novels, movies, and stage plays over the centuries. Be it the 2500-year-old Greek theatre with its ancient plays and their paean’s to love and war– or the […]
By ROY BERKO Kenneth Lonergan is noted for writing about decent people who are unexpectedly challenged by issues of ethics. In his Lobby Hero, now on stage at Blank Canvas, the 2016 Oscar winner for “Manchester by the Sea” specifically asks, “What happens when emotions come in conflict with principles.” The play premiered Off-Broadway in […]
![Macbeth 3[1]](http://www.theatrecriticism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Macbeth-31-1024x404-300x225.jpg)
By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE — If you ask most people, they may tell you that they’ve always known their life can change– or end – in less time than it takes an assault riffle’s bullet to reach its target. Even so, before recent years, these folks were able to keep such knowledge out of […]
By ALAN SMASON For her first one-woman show in several years, Dorian Rush has opted to mount a most unusual presentation with producers Jonathan Mares Productions and the Jefferson Performing Arts Society. It’s all about the blues, but viewed strictly from the distaff side – 100 Years of Women in Blues. Supported by pianist and […]
By ALAN SMASON, WYES-TV Theatre Critic (“Steppin’ Out“) There is little doubt when Thomas Lanier Williams put pen to paper and drafted what became The Glass Menagerie that he was pouring out the poetic words that traced his own tortuous upbringing. Under the guise of his nom de plume, Tennessee Williams, his “memory play” was […]
By EDWARD RUBIN While New York City recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising with much hoopla and an enormous traffic-stopping Gay Pride parade that went on well into the night, New York’s Lincoln Center Theater chose to feature the other side of the coin by mounting the American premiere of playwright Chris […]
By ROY BERKO When I saw Come From Away on Broadway I was totally blown away! As the lights faded on the last scene, I shot out of my seat to give a standing, yelling salute. Yes, me, the person who doesn’t believe in standing ovations unless the show is an A+ was totally “in” on awarding this […]
By EDWARD RUBIN In the past year (or five), there have been a healthy number of beautifully crafted, wonderfully acted, and solidly produced black-centric plays both on Broadway and Off Broadway. What it means to be black in the United States has been examined from every conceivable angle – historically, sociologically, and psychologically – both […]