Review: MARISOL at Promethean Theatre Ensemble

Review: MARISOL at Promethean Theatre Ensemble

My cheeks still feel the crispness of the cold night air as I stare at the words graffitied onto the set of Promethean’s MARISOL. I read the short, haphazard words that invoke big ideas of war and racism and injustice. Despite knowing that the worlds of Jose Rivera’s plays are usually more magic than reality, the relevance of these words makes their weight linger with the night’s coldness.

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Review: DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK at Pivot Arts

Review: DON’T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK at Pivot Arts

We have our photos taken and are given forms to fill out. I’m surprised at the familiar heat spreading across my face as I realize that one of the forms is exactly that which I filed over a year ago and have been waiting for a response ever since.

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Review: Billy Elliot at Porchlight Music Theatre

Review: Billy Elliot at Porchlight Music Theatre

Porchlight’s production may not be perfect but it doesn’t need to be to be outstanding.

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Review: INTO THE WOODS at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre

Review: INTO THE WOODS at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre

Broadway in 1987, West End in 1990, Broadway again in 2002, and a Disney film in 2014. Clearly, INTO THE WOODS is a prolific musical in the western world.

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Review: “GHOSTS & zombies” at Akvavit Theatre

Review: “GHOSTS & zombies” at Akvavit Theatre

When you think of the work of the ‘father of realism’ Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, it’s likely you’ll picture complicated marital relationships, gothic heroines, and telling letters. It’s unlikely you’ll think of zombies.

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Review: THE TOAD KNEW at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Review: THE TOAD KNEW at Chicago Shakespeare Theater

It’s a strange feeling, drinking a glass of Sprite but thinking it’s water. Neither is better, it’s just not what you thought it would be

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Review: THE REMBRANDT at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Review: THE REMBRANDT at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

They are a couple – just as any couple – sharing and grieving and bickering. “Grief is a profound sense of failure,” mutters Henry over pudding, in what is undoubtedly the most moving moment of the play.

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Review: A NIGHT IN ALACHUA COUNTY at WildClaw Theatre Company

Review: A NIGHT IN ALACHUA COUNTY at WildClaw Theatre Company

Pictured: Allison Cain. Photo courtesy of WildClaw Theatre Company.  By Bec Willett World creation has always been important in engaging audiences in stories, particularly those presented in more fantastical genres. How would it affect our interpretation of the story if we were never quite able to believe that in Harry’s world...

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Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY at Route 66 Theatre Company

Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY at Route 66 Theatre Company

A hospital room is a ubiquitous yet evocative thing. Stiff linen corners, tiny paper cups, polyester-clad furniture – all in chemical pastels so sterile that even the filth of grief and the sloppiness of celebration remain unabsorbed.

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Review: THE AUDIENCE at TimeLine Theatre Company

Review: THE AUDIENCE at TimeLine Theatre Company

“You’re allowing complicated people, over-complicated people, to measure themselves against something unchanging”

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