Flat Earth Delivers Luminous ‘Silent Sky’

March 15, 2017March 18, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Silent Sky’ – Written by Lauren Gunderson; Directed by Dori A. Robinson; Set Design by Debra Reich; Costume Design by Cara Chiaramonte; Lighting Design by PJ Strachman; Props Design by E. Rosser; and Sound Design by Kyle Lampe. Presented by Flat Earth Theatre at the Mosesian Center for the Arts (formerly known as the Arsenal Center for the Arts), 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown, MA through March 26.

If the thought of spending an evening watching a play about the life of Henrietta Swan Leavitt – the groundbreaking astronomer who discovered “the relationship between period and luminosity in Cepheid variables” – has you reaching for your appointment calendar to schedule some dental work, try and fight the urge. Dental hygiene can wait, at least until you’ve seen Flat Earth Theatre’s “Silent Sky”, quite possibly the most enjoyable production I’ve seen so far in 2017, a year that has already delivered a plethora of terrific shows.

Heart Challenges Mind in Nora’s ‘Precious Little’

March 10, 2017March 13, 2017 Theater Mirror1 Comment

By Michele Markarian

Precious Little, by Madeleine George. Directed by Melia Bensusen. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company, Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge through March 26.

Brodie, a single lesbian linguistics professor, is pregnant by a sperm donor. Brodie, quite honestly, is probably the least maternal person out there – she actively cringes when her beaming ultrasound technician urges her to say hello to her baby. Brodie is also having an affair with one of her young grad students, who urges her to come to the zoo and witness a gorilla who is being taught to speak by its trainers. Brodie is offended by this; it’s not real science. She is more concerned with preserving the dying language of Kari, for which she’s found a native speaker to record some sounds. But the ambiguous results of her ultrasound rock the bedrock of her intellectually safe and verbal world.

Lyric’s ‘Stage Kiss’ A Comic Gem

March 9, 2017March 13, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Mike Hoban

‘Stage Kiss’ – Written by Sarah Ruhl; Directed by Courtney O’Connor; Scenic Design by Matt Whiton; Costume Design by Amanda Mujica; Lighting Design by Chris Hudacs; Sound Design and Original Music by Arshan Gailus. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon St., Boston through March 26.

Let’s cut right to the chase. There aren’t likely to be many theatrical productions this year that are as flat-out funny as “Stage Kiss”, now playing at the Lyric. Fueled by yet another terrific comic performance by Celeste Oliva (who also killed in the Lyric’s charming production of “Becky’s New Car” a few seasons back), “Stage Kiss” is a comic gem. And while there’s nothing overly clever or original about the play’s premise, playwright Sarah Ruhl blends slapstick, parody, and a brilliant talent for one liners into a riotous comedy that works great for those who have worked in the theater – and just as well for those who just enjoy watching it.

“The Nether” at the Gamm Theatre

March 7, 2017March 9, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Richard Pacheco

The Jennifer Haley play, “The Nether” currently at the Gamm is an excursion into the dark side of the virtual worlds of the Internet. It is not lasting literature but more like a lurid side trip that leaves you disgusted by the virtual haven for pedophiles and its seamier aspects of murder in an interpretation and invention of polices procedurals. It is a sci-fi serpentine crime thriller that lingers in the darker side of private dreams. Read more ““The Nether” at the Gamm Theatre”

‘Sister Anonymous’ Adds New AA Chapter with Compassion, Humor

March 5, 2017October 18, 2022 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Sister Anonymous – Written by Catherine M. O’Neill; Directed by Kelly E. Smith; Presented by Second Act Productions at the Black Box Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., Boston through March 18.

By Mike Hoban

Ever since Alcoholics Anonymous emerged from the shadows with the publication of Jack Alexander’s Saturday Evening Post article in 1941, any account of the formation of the fellowship that would transform the lives of millions of “drunks” and their families has always focused on its founders, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. But as Wilson and Smith readily admitted, they received a lot of help – divine and otherwise – in launching and building upon their ideas.

“Little Women” (Ocean State Theatre)

March 5, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Richard Pacheco

“Little Women: The Musical”, which takes on the novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, is a pleasant enough look at novel which seems to lack full, deeper characters, instead content to dwell more on the surface of traits and events while lacking the nuance and details that makes that vivid onstage. If it has a saving grace, it lies in the talented cast who manage to bring some of the lacking qualities to the fore.

ART’s ‘Night of the Iguana’

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Daniel Gewertz

Night of the Iguana – Written by Tennessee Williams; Directed by Michael Wilson; Scenic Design by Derek McLane; Costume Design by Catherine Zuber: Lighting Design by David Lander; Sound Design by John Gromada. Presented by The American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge through March 18.

“The Night of the Iguana” doesn’t get produced as frequently as the other half-dozen of Tennessee Williams’ essential plays. That’s not just because it didn’t win as many awards or sell as many tickets as “Glass Menagerie” or “Streetcar” or “Cat.” It is also among the playwright’s most difficult to pull off. Like Williams’ other major works, “Iguana” possesses a brilliant balance of dueling forces: each character represents a crucial human trait, or, in the more complex characters, a troublesome clash of traits, and their battle is metaphoric and philosophic as well as psychological. The character of Shannon, the dissolute, sinful, regretful ex-pastor, plays a more dominant part in this drama than the leading men do in most other major works of the Williams’ canon. (This dominance has less to do with the number of lines as to the fact that in “Iguana,” Shannon’s female counterweight is portrayed by two characters, the lusty Maxine and the spiritual Hannah.)

Read more “ART’s ‘Night of the Iguana’”

Rousing Folk Rock in Stoneham’s ‘Jonah’ as Real as It Gets

March 1, 2017March 13, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By CJ Williams

Jonah and the Whale – Book written by Tyler Mills; Music and Lyrics by David Barrow and Blake Thomas; Directed by Weylin Symes; Scenic Design by Katheryn Monthei; Costume Design by Deirdre Gerrard: Lighting Design by Christopher Fournier; Sound Design by John Stone. Presented by The Stoneham Theatre 395 Main Street, Stoneham, MA 02180 through March 12.

“It wasn’t real,” says a character at one point in ‘Jonah’, the newish musical now making its New England premiere at the Stoneham Theatre. But in this rousing new folk-rock musical, that’s not the answer, rather, it’s a question, and one that runs through the length of the show. As we get our sea legs, so to speak, on the theatrical ship, we’re pressed more and more to ask about reality, both what and why – What makes life worth living? What makes us human? But like that first statement, the answers the play gives are often more questions in disguise.

The Sumptuous Tragedy of “Edward II”

February 28, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

“Edward II” – Written by Christopher Marlowe; Directed by David R. Gammons; Set Designer, Sara Brown; Lighting Designer, Jeff Adelberg; Costume Designer, Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Sound Designer, Dave Wilson. Presented by Actors Shakespeare Project, Charlestown Working Theater, 442 Bunker Hill Street, Charlestown, through March 19.

By most accounts, Edward II was a failure as king, considered weak, inept, and prone to lavishing money on his favorites. He fathered at least one illegitimate child and was reputed to enjoy the company of lower-class people, including his alleged homosexual lover, Piers Gaveston. It is this relationship and its repercussions that are the focus of Christopher Marlowe’s accessible and exciting play, “Edward II”.

ART Delivers Compelling Take on Williams’ ‘Night of The Iguana’

February 27, 2017February 28, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Night of the Iguana – Written by Tennessee Williams; Directed by Michael Wilson; Scenic Design by Derek McLane; Costume Design by Catherine Zuber: Lighting Design by David Lander; Sound Design by John Gromada. Presented by The American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge through March 18.

In “Night of the Iguana” the star-studded production now being mounted by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Tennessee Williams may ostensibly be tackling the weightier themes of sex and religion, but at its core, the play is still about loneliness in its many forms. Williams has assembled a collection of principal characters, led by a “defrocked” clergyman turned second-rate tour guide, that have lived their entire lives without ever making that vital – and risky – connection to another human being. And during the 24 hour span which “Iguana” takes place, we experience the messy process of watching the characters trying to make themselves whole by trying to find that human bond.