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Swinging Between Thinking and Feeling in Huntington’s ‘Triumph of Love’

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Vincent Randazzo, Avanthika Srinivasan in Huntington’s ‘The Triumph of Love’. Photos by Liza Voll

The Huntington Theatre presents ‘The Triumph of Love. Written by Pierre de Marivaux. Adapted by Stephen Wadsworth. Directed by Loretta Greco. Scenic and Costume Design by Junghyun Georgia Lee. Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design by Tom Watson. Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind. Composer and Sound Design by Fan Zhang. At The Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston through April 6, 2025.

By Linda Chin

Much like its 2016 production of Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, based on post-impressionist painter George Seurat’s ‘La Grande Jatte’ (1884), the action in playwright Pierre de Marivaux’s 1732 stylized French comedy The Triumph of Love takes place in a natural setting – and gives a nod to another French artist. In bringing Triumph to life, director (and artistic director) Loretta Greco, scenic and costume designer Junghyun Georgia Lee, and lighting designer Christopher Akerlind have created a visual feast that draws inspiration from Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s renowned ‘The Swing’ (1767), transforming the Huntington stage into “the gardens of Hermocrate’s country retreat,” replete with vines of ivy climbing the walls, lemon trees, rhododendrons, roses in bloom, and a luminous backdrop of a kaleidoscopic, cloud-swept sky. Completing the landscape, a stone bench with some ornamentation and a simple swing made of wood and ropes.     

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‘Parade’ at Emerson Colonial a Stark Reminder that Past is Prologue

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Cast of the National Tour of ‘Parade’ at the Emerson Colonial Theatre. Photos by Joan Marcus

Parade – Book by Alfred Uhry; Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown; Co-conceived by Harold Prince; Directed by Michael Arden; Choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant & Christopher Cree Grant; Music direction by Charlie Alterman. At the Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston, through March 23rd.  

by Mike Hoban

Theatergoers should prepare for a profoundly conflicted experience with the Broadway revival of Parade, now at the Emerson Colonial on its North American tour. The brilliant artistry of this production is undeniable, with its superb cast and creative staging, but the content is a painful reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Although it’s set in the Deep South in 1913, the mob rule and the institutionalized demonization of the “other” look a lot like America in 2025.

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Deadword Theatre Company’s ‘Julius Caesar’ Stabs Towards Boldness

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Cast of Deadword Theatre Company’s ‘Julius Caesar’

‘Julius Caesar’ – Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Charlie Lunardi. Stage Management by Zoe Moore; Scenic Design by Just Lahue; Lighting Design by Hope Debelius & Rachael Harned; Prop Design by Melinda Kalanzis; Costume Design by Gaby Obando Arévalo; Sound Design by Sam Noto. Produced by Deadword Theatre Company, ‘Julius Caesar’ runs from March 6th – March 16th at 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116. 

By Charlotte Snow

The time has come when Julius Caesar sadly becomes relevant again. This year, it’s more dangerously relevant than ever. Political violence, tyrannical rule, socioeconomic gaps, and more exist in both today’s headlines and Shakespeare’s 426-year-old play. Some theater companies shy away from this script during the post-election season for this very reason, others embrace it. I’m thankful that Deadword Theatre Company, a rising gem in the Boston theater scene, has so boldly staged one of the theatrical cannon’s most spitfire plays.  

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You Don’t Have To Be Irish To Love GBSC’s ‘The Irish And How They Got That Way’

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The cast of GBSC’s ‘The Irish And How They Got That Way’

Greater Boston Stage Company presents ‘The Irish And How They Got That Way’ by Frank McCourt. Original Music Arrangements by Rusty Magee. Directed by A. Nora Long. Music Director Kirsten Salpini. Scenic Design by Jeremy Barnett. Lighting Design by Amanda Fallon. Costume Design by Emily Woods Hogue. Sound Design by John Stone. At Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main Street, Stoneham, MA, through March 16, 2025.

By Linda Chin

Like the iconic (and remarkably inclusive for the 1960s & 70s) ad campaign that New Yorkers of a certain vintage will fondly recall – featuring photo portraits of a young African American boy, Chinese man, Italian nonna, Native American elder, White (Irish?) cop, enjoying sandwiches with Levy’s Real Jewish Rye – you don’t have to be Irish to love the Greater Boston Stage Company’s production of The Irish and How They Got That Way.”

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SpeakEasy’s ‘A Man of No Importance’ Is Must-See, Feel-Good Theater at Its Absolute Finest

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Eddie Shields and Will McGarrahan in Speakeasy’s ‘A Man of No Importance’
Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘A Man of No Importance’ – Based on the film, ‘A Man of No Importance.’ Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Music by Stephen Flaherty; Book by Terrence McNally; Directed by Paul Daigneault. Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins. Music Direction by Paul S. Katz. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company. At the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, through March 22.

By Shelley A. Sackett

There is so much to praise about SpeakEasy Stage Company’s ‘A Man of No Importance,’ director Paul Daigneault’s swansong production after leading the company he founded for 33 years, it’s hard to know where to begin.

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‘Art’ Becomes More Than What Meets The Eye in Lyric Stage’s Splendid Production

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John Kuntz and Michael Kaye in Lyric Stage’s ‘Art’. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard

‘Art’ by Yasmina Reza. Translated by Christopher Hampton. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Scenic Design by Shelley Barish. Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl, Lighting Design by Elmer Martinez. Sound Design by Adam Howarth. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, through March 16.

By Shelley A. Sackett

The French playwright, actress, novelist, and screenwriter Yasmina Reza has a special talent for creating dialogue and characters that simultaneously focus inward on the complexities of interpersonal relationships and outward on the demands and mores of contemporary middle-class society. ‘Art,’ now enjoying a magnificent run at Lyric Stage Company, premiered in Paris in 1994 and took both London’s West End and New York’s Broadway by storm. It won Olivier, Tony, Molière, and every other major theatre award and has been packing in audiences worldwide in 30 languages ever since.

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Daigneault Closes the Door on SpeakEasy Stewardship with Poignant and Timely ‘A Man of No Importance’

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Cast of Speakeasy’s ‘A Man of No Importance’. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘A Man of No Importance’ – Based on the film, ‘A Man of No Importance’. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Music by Stephen Flaherty; Book by Terrence McNally; Directed by Paul Daigneault. Choreographed by Ilyse Robbins. Music direction by Paul S. Katz. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company. At the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, through March 22.

By Mike Hoban

For the final show of a thirty-plus year career as the founder & artistic director of Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company, it’s interesting to note that Paul Daigneault chose the small but quietly beautiful A Man of No Importance for his final production. Producer and/or director of over 160 productions and winner of multiple Eliot Norton and IRNE Awards, Daigneault is equally adept at drama and musicals, including the mind-blowing two-part The Inheritance in 2022 and a slew of terrific musicals, the most recent being the Eliot Norton Award-winning The Band’s Visit. So it should probably come as no surprise that his final selection straddles the two genres.

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Hell Hath No Fury Like Hedda Gabler’s Scorn

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Parker Jennings and Joshua Lee Robinson in Apollinaire’s ‘Hedda Gabler’
Photo Credits: Danielle Fauteux Jacques

‘Hedda Gabler’ — Written by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted by the company from the translation by Edmund Grosse and William Archer. Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques; Scenic and Sound Design by Joseph Lark-Riley; Costume Design by Elizabeth Rocha; Lighting Design by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Presented by Allpoinnaire Theatre Company at Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet Street, Chelsea, through March 16.

By Shelley A. Sackett

In ‘Hedda Gabler,’ Ibsen dramatizes the miserable life of his title character, the iconically unclassifiable Hedda Gabler. The pampered daughter of a wealthy general, Hedda recently married the mild-mannered, decidedly middle-class George Tesman. Fearing her years of youthful abandon might be behind her, she snagged the first – and only – bird that actually landed in her hand. “I can’t think of anything ridiculous about him,” she explains when asked by a former suitor why she had settled for George. He is also respectable, conscientious about his research work, and intent, under any circumstances, to look after her.

What George is not, however, is dangerous, sexy or aggressive, three traits Hedda admires, embodies and craves.

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A Taut, Fraught and Entertaining “Art” at the Lyric

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Michael Kaye, John Kuntz and Remo Airaldi in Lyric Stage’s ‘Art’. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard

‘Art’ by Yasmina Reza. Translated by Christopher Hampton. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Scenic Design by Shelley Barish. Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl, Lighting Design by Elmer Martinez.  Sound Design by Adam Howarth. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, through March 16.

By Michele Markarian

Longstanding friendships are based on commonalities – like income bracket, hobbies, artistic sensibilities, mutual support, and admiration. With Art,  playwright Yasmin Reza turns her observational lens on male friendship and the emotional chaos that happens when one man goes rogue and throws the rest of the group off-kilter.

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Apollinaire’s ‘Hedda Gabler’ is Sublime

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Parker Jennings in Apollinaire’s ‘Hedda Gabler’ Photo Credits: Danielle Fauteux Jacques.

Hedda Gabler’ – Written by Henrik Ibsen. Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Stage Management by Kaleb Perez-Albuerne; Costume Design by Elizabeth Rocha; Scenic and Sound Design by Joseph Lark-Riley; Lighting Design by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company at Chelsea Theatre Works, at 189 Winnisimmet St, Chelsea, MA. through March 16th

By Charlotte Snow 

“One cannot always be mistress of her thoughts.”  Hedda Gabler slyly confides to her aunt-in-law, who counters with, “That is the way of the world.” In that exchange, the play seems to unite all its core questions at once. “What is the source of our suffering and vices?” “Is it written in the stars or in the unwritten rules of society?” “Are we our own internal darkness?” “Or is it a separate entity latched onto us that must be ignored, cut out, or tamed?” Only a moment is needed for Apollinaire Theatre Company to establish that this play will be a thought-provokingly moody masterpiece, even if it will take a few scenes before the plot’s mystery to develop (and unravel).  

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