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The Beautiful PeopleReviewed by Iris MannRogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre Through July 31At the conclusion of this play by Tim Venable, we realize that here is a very timely work; the play crawls inside the violent mindset of disaffected youth, the kind of incel teens often responsible for mass shootings. Until its conclusion, although […]
The Colored Museum Reviewed by Martίn HernándezLoft EnsembleThrough July 25RECOMMENDED George C. Wolfe’s 1986 satiric take on Black American culture still packs a wallop, a testament to the durability of this classic and that for Black people things have gotten worse since the play’s premiere.Wolfe’s panoply offers eleven “exhibits,” poking acerbic fun at cultural tropes, […]
The Birthday PartyReviewed by Deborah KlugmanCity Garage TheatreThru July 23RECOMMENDED The Birthday Party, Harold Pinter’s first full length play, opened in London in May 1958. Reviews were grim. Most critics, accustomed to the kitchen sink realism of writers like Sillitoe, Braine and Osborne, were incensed and/or bewildered by the non-sequiturs, contradictions and pauses in Pinter’s […]
RoeReviewed by Taylor KassThe Fountain TheatreThrough July 10RECOMMENDEDRoe at The Fountain Theatre is an obituary. Like any good funeral, it is passionately felt and imbued with the appropriate gravity. It has moments of humor and levity. One may laugh, one may cry. Hearing “Roe was here,” freshly past tense, is devastating. The Fountain’s “hyper-staged reading” […]
The Funny ManReviewed by Steven Leigh MorrisWrite Act Rep/Brickhouse TheatreThrough July 17Playwright Will Manus’s one-man homage to humorist and screenwriter S.J. Perelman (Sam Aaron) is a bit of throwback, and that’s a compliment. In a world as lunatic and partisan as ours, when the divide between evidence and superstition has melted across huge swaths of […]
PODCAST: Stages of Our City: Episode 18, Part 2: Hollywood Fringe Week Two, with Dana Martin and Joseph KlinkProduced by Julia StierIn Part 2 of Episode 18, Joseph and Dana review “Pain in My Aspergers,” “What About Dad?” “Vincero: The Italian Opera Experience,” “Toughest Man in Chicago,” “Cassandra,” “My Names is Thileepan,” and “The Great […]
PODCAST: Stages of Our City: Episode 18, Part 1: Hollywood Fringe Week Two, with Inger Tudor and Socks WhitmoreProduced by Julia StierIn Part 1 of Episode 18, Inger and Socks review “Dead Skin (A Queer Australian Play)”, “Thom Pain (Based on Nothing)” “Battle Song of Boudica,” “Your Own Crown,” “Something in the Air” and “Mr. […]
Guess Who’s Coming to DinnerReviewed by Iris MannThe Ruskin Group Theatre Through July 17RECOMMENDED:This play is adapted by Todd Kreidler from the 1967 Stanley Kramer film of the same title, written by William Rose, who won the Oscar for best original screenplay. The movie starred Spencer Tracy, in his last screen appearance, Katherine Hepburn and […]
