Central Square Theatre’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Warmly Stirs Memories

December 12, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘A Christmas Carol’ – Based on the novel by Charles Dickens. Adapted and Directed by Debra Wise. Scenic Designer: David Fichter. Costume Design: Leslie Held. Costume & Properties Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Lighting Designer: John Malinowski. Sound Designer: Mark Bruckner. Dialect Design: Charles Linshaw. Choreographer: Susan Dibble. Presented by Central Square Theatre at 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge through December 29, 2019

I suspect that there are some theater critics who approach the holiday season with a higher than usual sense of dread, (I mean, don’t we all have some degree of dread at this time of year?). The sunsets arrive earlier, the cold weather streams in, and all of the theaters whip out their annual holiday show for another go-around. The source of dread isn’t the prospect of watching these productions, (which are often delightful); it’s the idea of trying to come up with something new to say about a show that you’ve seen any number of times before and will see any number of times again. (For the record, this is my first time reviewing a production of A Christmas Carol, but seeing as I have no plans of checking out anytime soon, I know it’ll be far from the last.) Add in the additional hurdle that the sources for so many of the holiday theater shows are fairly well ingrained in our collective pop culture. When everyone goes in already knowing the story, beats, and even individual lines, just what is a critic supposed to do?

The Nora Theatre Lets Loose The Crucible with some Help from Bedlam

September 22, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(*The Cast of* *‘The Crucible’* *Presented by The Nora Theatre Company in association with Bedlam*)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘The Crucible’ – Written by Arthur Miller. Directed by Eric Tucker. Scenic and Properties Designer: Lindsay Genevieve Fuori. Costume Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Lighting Designer: John Malinowski. Sound Engineer Ted Kearnan. Dramaturg: Musa Gurnis. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company in association with Bedlam, 450 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, through October 20

As I heard it, the joke is that if you meet someone who participated in high school theatre, you ask them which one they did: Our Town or The Crucible? With their large cast sizes, the two shows hold a particular appeal to drama teachers who are looking to cram as many kids on stage as possible (though I wasn’t in it, my own high school did Our Town my freshman year.) The Crucible has the added bonus of having both its plot and the circumstances it was written in as major historical moments, allowing teachers to force the rest of the student body watch as part of their lesson plan. When you first step into Central Square Theater it looks like this production of The Crucible, (from The Nora Theatre Company in association with Bedlam), is going to riff on this idea of our shared history with the play. The drab green and off-white colors on the walls suggest a high school gymnasium that’s seen better days. High up on the back wall is a mural, (one almost identical to several in my own high school), that’s been painted over but needs a few more coats before it gets completely washed away. When director Eric Tucker makes his first appearance as Reverend Hale, he looks the spitting image of your physics teacher (or at least, mine).

‘Black Odyssey Boston’ is Near-Perfection

May 7, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Ramona Lisa Alexander (Circe) and Brandon G. Green (Ulysses Lincoln) with Akili Jamal Haynes in the background in ‘Black Odyssey Boston’. Photo: Maggie Hall. Photo: Maggie Hall.

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘Black Odyssey Boston’ – Directed by Benny Sato Ambush. Written by Marcus Gardley. Choreographer: Melissa Alexis. Scenic Designer: Jon Savage. Lighting Designer: Aja M Jackson. Sound Designer: Dewey Dellay. Music/Choral Director: Allyssa Jones. Properties Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Stage Manager: Phyllis Y. Smith. Assistant Stage Manager: Sara Hutchins. Presented by Front Porch Collective and Underground Railway Theater at Central Square Theater through May 19th

To call Black Odyssey Boston a retelling of the Greek myth of Ulysses “but with Black people” would be a gross mischaracterization. Such a play, after all, would be politically weak and artistically disappointing. What good is seeing Black bodies on stage if the stage is not affected by their Blackness, if Black folks are not allowed to tell their own narratives, rather than be stand-ins for a drama they do not know? And what good is a mere “retelling” of one of the oldest stories we have, a parroting of the past?

‘Photograph 51’ Takes a Molecular Look at Science of Relationships

March 21, 2019March 22, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

*(Josh Gluck and Stacy Fischer in Nora Theatre’s ‘Photograph 51’)*

By Michele Markarian

‘Photograph 51’ – Written by Anna Ziegler. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Kristin Loeffler, Scenic Designer; Chelsea Kerl, Costume Designer; Elizabeth Cahill, Sound Designer; Aja M Jackson, Lighting Designer. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge through April 15.

Rosalind Franklin (Stacy Fischer) came of age as a scientist during the 40s and 50s, when it was unusual for young women to pursue such a path. 1951 finds the x-ray chrystallographer in a research lab at King’s College, London, where she is assigned the task of working on x-ray diffraction (don’t panic; there is a wonderful glossary of terms in the show’s program). Franklin finds herself in a boys’ club, where her colleague, the awkward Maurice Wilkins (Barlow Adamson) decides to dine in the male-only dining room on his new lab partner’s first day, rather than accompany her to lunch. Unsurprisingly, this gets them off on the wrong foot.

Bedlam Takes ‘My Fair Lady’ Back to its Unsentimental Roots With Glorious ‘Pygmalion’

February 8, 2019August 14, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Vaishnavi Sharma, Eric Tucker in ‘Bedlam’s Pygmalion’ – Nile Scott photos)

by Mike Hoban

‘Pygmalion’ – Written by George Bernard Shaw; Directed by Eric Tucker; Costume Design by Charlotte Palmer-Lane; Lighting Design by Les Dickert; Sound Design by Eric Tucker; Properties Coordination by Elizabeth Rocha and Joseph Stallone. Presented by Bedlam and The Underground Railway Theatre at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge through March 3

If you’re heading to Central Square Theater to see Bedlam’s Pygmalion with the expectation that you’re going to see a kind of non-musical version of the rom-com-ish My Fair Lady, you may be in for a bit of disappointment. That’s because The New York-based troupe is presenting their own superb take on George Bernard Shaw’s century-old classic in its original form. Which, while still wildly comical, is more of a searing indictment of the early 20^th century classicism, misogyny, and anti-immigrant attitudes of the British monied class – that sadly doesn’t look much different than most western societies today – than a lighthearted comedy of manners.

Central Square’s Joyous ‘A Christmas Carol’ Melds Victorian Era with Present Day

December 14, 2018December 17, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

A Christmas Carol – Directed by Debra Wise; Scenic Design by David Fichter; Costume Design by Leslie Held & Elizabeth Rocha; Lighting Design by John R. Malinowski; Sound Design by Mark Bruckner. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater at the Central Square Theater at 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge through December 30

Central Square Theater’s inspired production of A Christmas Carol is proof positive that, in the right hands, you really can take an iconic story, deviate a bit from conventional characterizations and staging, and still present a work that will enthrall even staunchest of traditionalists. This version of A Christmas Carol keeps its roots firmly planted in Dickens’ Victorian England, while offering a bit of inclusive multiculturalism, featuring depictions of the characters that you’re not likely to see in the old black-and-white movie versions of the holiday favorite. But Central Square seems less interested in scoring political or sociocultural points than re-imagining this classic in a way that more closely reflects today’s audiences, and the changes actually enliven the story.

‘Truth Values’ Returns to the Central Square Theater

September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 Theater Mirror2 Comments

by Deanna Dement Myers

‘Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze’ – Written and acted by Gioia De Cari: Directed by Joey Brenneman. Scenic Designer, Brian Freeland; Costume Designer, Heather Carey; Lighting Designer, Kate August; Sound Design, Andy Evan Cohen. Presented September 12-23, 2018 at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, (617) 576-9278.

What is truth?

This is the first question actor and playwright Gioia De Cari grapples with in her award-winning autobiographical play Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze. Returning to the Central Square Theater to be a part of this venue’s 10^th anniversary, Truth Values fills the stage with over 30 characters that tell the story of one woman’s time in the world of elite mathematics as she pursues a doctoral degree. De Cari uses humor to reveal the gender inequality of MIT and mathematics in general, something that resonates today as it did in the late 80s when she was a student.

Friendship and Politics Rumble in “Guards at the Taj”

March 7, 2018March 8, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Michele Markarian

“Guards at the Taj” – Written by Rajiv Joseph; Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman. Presented by Underground Railway Theater at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge through April 1.

A few years ago I drove to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Words can’t begin to describe how magnificent it was – I wanted to live in its shimmering beauty and sleep in its shadow. Hard to imagine how brilliant the Taj must have looked at its unveiling in 1648, but luckily, we don’t have to – we can see it reflected on the faces of Humayun (Jacob Athyal) and Babur (Harsh J. Gagoomal) in Underground Railway’s fantastic, funny, and tragic production of Rajiv Joseph’s “Guards at the Taj”.

Hell – It Ain’t Paradise, but “Paradise” May Show the Way Out

April 14, 2017April 14, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By CJ Williams

‘Paradise’ – Written by Laura Maria Censabella; Directed by Shana Gozansky; Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord; Costume Design by Gail Astrid Buckley; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Presented by Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA -2139 through May 7

Hell is other people, goes the famous saying. But perhaps the proverb is just plain wrong. In “Paradise”, we get a glimpse of another possibility: maybe, just maybe, Paradise – and freedom from prejudice, loneliness, and lovelessness, can only be found by bridging the judgment gap between you and me.