Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Caryl Churchill
Theater Review: A Raucous and Moving “Cloud 9”
Expert performers and taut direction make this Cloud 9 a natural high.
Theater Review: “Escaped Alone” and “Come and Go” — Forms of Disconnection
To be truly effective black humor must have us laughing at something we fear, regret, or at the very least recognize.
Theater Review: “Top Girls” — As Brilliant and Harsh As Ever
Top Girls’ conflicts and political themes seem more relevant than ever in this excellent production.
Theater Review: New Rep’s “A Number” Doesn’t Add Up
The laughter in the production serves a useful purpose: it distract us from the serious narrative problems in Caryl Churchill’s script.
New York Theater Round Up: “Intimacy,” “Stage Kiss,” and “Love and Information”
A trio of superb off Broadway plays explore the complicated faces of love and lust — from the seamy to the sublime.
Theater Review: “The After-Dinner Joke” — How We are Out-Sourcing Our Consciences
British dramatist Caryl Churchill proffers a valuable line of satiric attack on our delusions of doing good, so it is easy to forgive the dramatist her broad and scattershot comic approach.
Stage Review: A Tangy “Vinegar Tom”
The Whistler in the Dark production does right by the gaunt power of “Vinegar Tom” — if only dramatist Caryl Churchill hadn’t served up such a tidily edifying coven of alleged sorceresses.
Coming Attractions in Theater: January 2012
The year kicks off with few unusual productions — companies are depending on proven New York hits, such as the Yasmina Reza duo, the Tony award-approved “Red,” and “Green Eyes,” though the Tennessee Williams curio tantalizes.
Theater Review Round-up: Our Man in London
It should be pointed out that in London it is possible to see more shows in a limited time than one can do in the United States. Why? Because it has long been the sensible practice to stagger weekday matinees. By Caldwell Titcomb Shakespeare first, of course. The British quite rightly never tire of “Hamlet.” […]