Robert Israel

Theater Review: “And So We Walked” — A Missed Opportunity

April 28, 2023
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And So We Walked is about the performer finding her roots, and that quest is often meandering.

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Theater Review: “Clyde’s” – An Exhilarating Food Fight

April 2, 2023
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The Huntington Theatre Company’s co-production of Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s is spirited and sassy.

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Opera Interview: Director Anne Bogart Takes on “Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs”

March 14, 2023
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“We take the audience on a journey that’s not part of a traditional approach to opera.”

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Theater Remembrance: Trinity Repertory Company Director Adrian Hall

February 7, 2023
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During his career as the founder and artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence (from 1964 to 1989), Adrian Hall achieved a lasting place in the American theater as a visionary director.

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Theater Review: “The Art of Burning” — Bonfire of the Vanities

January 29, 2023
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The domestic demolition in Kate Snodgrass’s script is served au flambé.

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Theater Review: “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” — A Stirring Dramatic Experience

October 25, 2022
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Despite some missteps and miscasting bumps along the way, this staging faithfully captures playwright August Wilson’s searing poetic vision.

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Theater Interview: Performer Bill Irwin – Channeling Samuel Beckett

October 21, 2022
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“Samuel Beckett’s work speaks to me because he’s a very visceral writer. And, because I have training as a clown, I think of him as a natural clown.”

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Book Review: Steve Stern’s “Village Idiot” — Painted into a Corner

September 6, 2022
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Steve Stern’s novel about the Jewish expressionist painter Chaim Soutine is more informative than it is engaging.

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Poetry Commentary: Native American Poet and Activist Joy Harjo at Tanglewood — A Disappointment

August 4, 2022
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Many have surrendered to Joy Harjo’s undeniable shamanistic charms and classify her as a national treasure.

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Theater Review: “Hurricane Diane” — A Whimper Rather than a Whirlwind

September 4, 2021
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Madeleine George’s uneven 90-minte one-act comedy/drama borrows heavily on Greek mythology to zip up the misadventures of a cluster of suburban women in New Jersey,

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