It is a pleasure to report that — driven by the lively direction of Jamie Lloyd and the skills of an energetic cast — the National Theatre production proves that even after two centuries Oliver Goldsmith’s classic can still dole out plenty of comic delight.
NT Live
Theater Review: NTLive’s “Comedy of Errors” — Lots of Muddle, But Magic As Well
As this is his only work which Shakespeare himself titles ‘comedy,’ a company may feel an obligation to elicit laughter. Ironically, this duty can become burdensome.
Fuse Theater Review/Commentary: NT Live Presents a Cynical “Collaborators”
Playwright John Hodge chooses to ignore the complexity of the dissident writer’s experience — expedience for the sake of protecting something of value from destruction, an author fighting his inner demons to live long enough to finish what he believes to be a work of art that is also an act of political defiance.
Theater Review: An Epic Tale of Pursuer and Pursued — NT Live’s “Frankenstein”
In this compelling stage version of “Frankenstein,” urgency of revenge pushes forward, murder upon murder. Creature and Doctor merge in immorality. Both are playing God in their command of life and death. Sharing roles is the meaning of this theatrical experience. This is their message and their show.
Coming Attractions in Theater: March 2011
An exciting month, and that isn’t hyperbole. A couple of North American premieres: a futuristic opera from MIT’s Tod Machover and poet Robert Pinsky and a drama tweaking The New Testament from Howard Brenton. Toss in iconic director Peter Brook staging Beckett, F. Murray Abraham as Shylock, and Car Talk:The Musical and you are talking about taking out the smelling salts
Theater Review: HD Hamlet — Determined Relevance
Royal National Theatre Director Nicholas Hytner is determined to make the drama as relevant to our own times as to the Bard’s. The setting is a somewhat flimsy, gray-walled salon. Theatrical apparatuses are visible: a klieg light here, a fresnel there. Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Staged by the Royal National Theatre, London, England. Taped by […]
Coming Attractions in Theater: January 2010
By Bill Marx The coming month offers some unusual examples of theater. Finished with “exploding” Shakespeare, the American Repertory Theater has decided to present the American classics unabridged. Produced by the Elevator Repair Service, “Gatz” is an evening of drama that revolves around a complete reading of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Political […]