If the production sends at least some of the audience members back to the magnificent poetry of The Canterbury Tales, it would have done a mitzvah.
American Repertory Theater
Theater Feature: Favorite Stage Productions of 2022
Our theater critics pick some of the outstanding productions in a year haunted by COVID.
Visual Arts Feature: “Life of Pi” — Imagination by Design at The A.R.T.
The most mesmerizing characters in this stunningly visual production are brilliant life-size puppets.
Theater Review: “Life of Pi” — An Enchantingly Theatrical Ocean Voyage
This stunning, brand new production of UK’s Life of Pi is stopping in Cambridge for a month or so before sailing down to Broadway.
Theater Review: “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” — “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”
Anna Deveare Smith’s examination of racism in America remains powerful, 30 years on.
Theater Commentary: “1776” — American Theater Jigs as Democracy Dies?
Maybe I am an alarmist and the rich and powerful know something the rest of us don’t. Perhaps the midterms will not put another nail in the coffin of democracy. Apparently, it will be business as usual for the A.R.T. and other American theaters — until it can’t be.
Theater Review: “1776” — Still an Egg in the Theatrical Incubator
This revival of 1776 tries to strike a culture wars balance, celebrating the country’s commitment to independence while also here and there skewering the idealized images and blatant hypocrisies of America’s patriarchal founders.
Theater Review: “Macbeth in Stride” — Lady Macbeth Sings the Blues? Not Really
As sure as “the crow/Makes wing to the rooky wood,” Mrs. Macbeth is going to fall tragically short when it comes to being an inspirational role model for marginalized females everywhere.
Dance Review: Magic Afoot
Energizing, joyful, expert, close to sure-fire, Chasing Magic was a great choice to reopen A.R.T. after the long pandemic shutdown.
Theater Commentary: Who’s Agitating for a “Green New Theatre”?
The arrival of Groundwater Arts suggests the birth of efforts to organize artists and others to press cultural organizations to take meaningful action on the climate crisis.