Ian Thal
Despite being a staged reading with scripts still in hand, the members of the Israeli Stage ensemble were already comfortably inhabiting their roles, striking just the right balance between the tragic and comic dimensions of their characters.
Read MorePlaywright Gericke-Schönhagen, hoping to avoid the phenomenon of talking heads, deliberately placed emphasis on those letters between Voltaire and Frederick that dramatized personalities rather than ideas.
Read More“The Boston theatre community can always profit from international influx. The German theatre scene in particular is quite innovative both in the plays being written and the productions that reach the stage.”
Read MoreThe agility of Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s acrobats may be the spectacle that draws audiences in to see “Séquence 8,” but it’s their decision to treat acrobatics and other types of circus virtuosity as a form of acting that offers a new, intimate direction for the nouveau cirque genre.
Read More“One of the enormous changes I’ve seen is that in big city theater scenes, queer work isn’t so scarce anymore, which is great. These days, no major theater company in a city like Boston would program its season without discussing what might be of interest to gay men.”
Read MoreMany historical dramas are content to use the past as a lens through which to view the present, but “Hand in Hand Together” does more than explore how conflicting ideologies influenced the creation of modern Israel. Dramatist A. B. Yehoshua explores the other possible routes history may have taken.
Read More“As an artist, you probably know when a project pulls at you, sometimes kicking and screaming. Shylock definitely has me by the back of the neck.”
Read MoreThis daring musical version of “The Merchant of Venice” provides a fascinating re-imagining of a classic play that explores many of the themes and tropes of the original more deeply than many modern productions do.
Read MoreTennessee Williams’ stature amongst American playwrights may be more secure then it was when he died in 1983, but companies like Beau Jest, when they stage inspired productions of previously neglected works, are expanding our appreciation of what kind of a dramatist he was.
Read MoreThe Broadway run of The National Theatre’s production of One Man, Two Guvnors, based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, has been nominated for 7 Tony Awards. Here is Fuse Critic Ian Thal’s review of the National Theatre Live broadcast of the British production, first posted in September, 2011.
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