Theater

Fuse Theater Review: The Tennessee Williams Theater Festival Turns a Healthy Six

September 26, 2011
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The quality varies at the TWTF, but here is a chance to become aware of rarely done Williams plays. And if a production does not measure up to one’s expectations, the effort will inspire a few sturdy directors to try their own hand at these and other texts of America’s most eloquent poet-playwright.

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Theater Review: An Unimpressive “Next Fall”

September 25, 2011
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“Next Fall” is so anxious not to polarize or offend that it ends up as little more than well meaning. Something serious seems to be happening on stage, but for all intents and purposes the conflicts that make for genuine drama fall by the wayside.

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Theater Review: A Fabulous “Candide”

September 22, 2011
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In this delightful production of “Candide,” director Mary Zimmerman imaginatively reworks and mischievously augments the musical. Her deliciously blowzy approach embraces, with charming lyrical fervor, the sheer preposterousness of Voltaire’s sardonic fable.

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Theater Review: How Much Is Enough — A Gentle Conversation between Theater Company and Audience

September 19, 2011
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The audience, seated at tables in semi-darkness, responded to TV talk-show style questions. At first, we raised our hands to vote on generic, consensus-building questions: Who believes in private, public or charter schools? Who wants significant change in their lives?

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Theater Review: “The Lady With All the Answers” Makes for Predictable Drama

September 15, 2011
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“The Lady With All the Answers” presents the columnist Ann Landers as a person who just might write a letter to Ann herself. Her faith in herself and her work is unquestioned, even as her own life takes a bump or two. Well, really, only one bump.

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Theater Review: An Enjoyable If Unmemorable Trip Down the “Big River”

September 12, 2011
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The impressive cast and lovely, atmospheric design of the Lyric Stage production cannot completely overcome the flaws of “Big River,” but they make the trip a scenic, often amusing, and enjoyable theatrical journey.

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Theater Review: A “Porgy and Bess” Made For Broadway

September 3, 2011
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The American Repertory Theater’s juggling/removal of the operatic elements in “Porgy and Bess” is clumsy, but the goal is to create a compelling entertainment for contemporary audiences, smoothing out the melodramatic story’s edges and cutting its length.

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Theater Review: A Bright and Literate Version of the Darkly Comic “Measure for Measure”

September 1, 2011
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Director Gus Kikkonen and cast come up with a bright, literate presentation of William Shakespeare’s play “Measure for Measure,” a potentially dark comedy pregnant with power.

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Coming Attractions in Theater: September 2011

August 31, 2011
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Every September proffers an explosion of productions; as usual, my eclectic picks, driven by my prejudice for the new. There are few world premieres among the openers this season, aside from the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival’s “Once in a Lifetime” and Arts Emerson’s presentation of The Foundry Theatre’s “How Much is Enough.”

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Theater Review: The BSO Delivers Porgy and Bess With Gusto at Tanglewood

August 29, 2011
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An alternative to the New York Times’ review of “Porgy and Bess” at the Tanglewood Festival.

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