I’m curious to see what happens next. I’ll keep writing plays, but I might need to hone my skills as a handyman just in case this whole theater thing doesn’t pan out.
Theater
Arts Commentary: Pestilence on Stage, Part Two — “When the Impossible Really Begins”
Theater is seen as a cleansing illness that sets out to obliterate the illness we blithely accept as health.
Arts Commentary: Pestilence on Stage, Part One — Karel Čapek’s”The White Plague”
The White Plague uses dread to shock us into empathy for ourselves, to be alarmed by the fragility of our bodies as well as the resources and ethics of the medical system.
Arts Remembrance: Terrence McNally — Dramatist and Father of the Serious Contemporary Musical
The late Terrence McNally was more than just a masterful playwright. He also forged new roads in musical theater.
Theater Commentary: A Memorable “Merchant of Venice” — Squeezing Blood Out of a Rubber Chicken
This was an enormously exciting production of Merchant of Venice, a reminder that theater can be (in fact, must be!) nervy.
Theater Review: “Pipeline” — A Didactic Excursion
Dominique Morisseau’s earnest Pipeline is a “message” play, American style.
Theater Review: “The Children” — After the Damage Has Been Done
An apocalyptic backdrop gives the play urgency, especially given the current worldwide struggle to contain the Corvid-19 virus, which has already claimed thousands of lives.
Theater Review: “Nina Simone: Four Women” — Theater of Social Concern
There’s much to admire and appreciate about this MRT production; but the play’s lack of a solid dramatic spine is a crippling problem.
Theater Review: “A Tale of Two Cities” — Beware the Revolution!
Given Dickens’ penny-a-word driven verbosity and his fondness for resolving every plot point with a flurry of coincidences, adapter McEleney seems undecided: is this history play a tragedy or a farce?
Theater Review: “The Treasurer” — Lives of Quiet Disconnection
Cheryl McMahon is quietly spectacular as Ida, who tries desperately to conceal her cognitive decline behind a wall of egocentric cheerfulness that borders on the frantic.