Theater
“The Rocky Horror Show” works best when it is immersive like this—a theatrical party that includes the audience.
Given his full-throttle depiction of the myopia of middle class mores, Bruce Norris is more in the flamboyant satiric line of Sinclair Lewis, who also trained his sharp ear and eye on the Midwest, the American heartland, jabbing away at American delusions of community, status, and self-satisfaction.
Exciting things are happening in Israeli writing, and it is garnering considerable attention in Europe. But what about theater in Israel? Israeli Stage offers the curious a chance to see what is happening.
Liz Duffy Adams’ affectionate look at Aphra Behn’s rise to public prominence, despite prejudice against her gender, comes off as a sort of farcical love letter to an ink-stained ancestor that at times suggests a Shavian talk fest in a minor key.
Given the power, glory, and fun the Boston Babydolls supply with their burlesque routines — pasties and nipple tassels whirl with furious aplomb — the lack of spooky payoff in “The Wrathskellar” amounts to a minor drawback.
It is encouraging that the list of recommendations for October isn’t filled with musicals. Are straight plays back? I wouldn’t count on it in this economic climate. So let’s bask in the chance to hear words without music.
In “Delusion,” veteran performance artist Laurie Anderson generates a muted melancholy, sometimes poetic, sometimes poignant, that makes the piece a consistently compelling if not always successful addition to an ambitious body of work.
“South Pacific” endures in this production (and will in others) because it centers on two love stories that are “lovely beyond description.
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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