ASP’s ‘Macbeth’ Is a Muddled Mashup of Time, Place and Tone

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Omar Robinson, Brooke Hardman in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s ‘Macbeth’
Photos by Benjamin Rose Photography.

‘Macbeth’ — Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown through October 26.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Ten minutes into ASP’s production of Macbeth, my friend leaned over and whispered, “I thought we were seeing Macbeth.”

He wasn’t being a smart aleck; he was astutely stating the obvious. While it seems au courant (at least in Boston) to catapult timeless Shakespeare into other eras with disco, hip hop, and gratuitous references to current headlines, Actors Shakespeare Project, under the direction of Christopher V. Edwards, proves definitively that it is possible to overreach and completely miss your mark.

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‘Mother Mary’ Drives Radical Kindness into Hearts and Minds

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Tara Forseth, Adriana Alvarez in BPT’s ‘Mother Mary’. Photos by Benjamin Rose Photography

‘Mother Mary’ – KJ Moran Velz. Directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue. Stage Managed by Jess Brennan. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco. Lighting Design by Darius Knight Evans. Costume Design by Nora Kempner. Sound Design by Mackenzie Adamick. Prop Design by Courtney Licata. Dramaturgy and Cultural Consulting by Carla Mirabel Rodríguez. Intimacy Direction by Jessica Scout Malone. ‘Mother Mary’ runs from October 9th – 26th at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215. 

By Charlotte Snow 

“Birthing a play in collaboration with a playwright is a journey into the unknown,” director Elaine Vaan Hogue begins her director’s note. Every playwright hopes that when their baby (the play) has its world premiere, that audiences will love the play as much as they do. That’s the hope; the reality is they are usually bombarded with “I think that could be changed,” “I didn’t like the ending,” or “what you should really be writing about is…” It’s rare that an audience can so clearly see the playwright’s dreams and intentions. Speaking for my audience (my partner and I), we belong to the former category and fell in love with KJ Moran Velz’s Mother Mary. 

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Whoa! Wow! The Big Apple Circus Returns to Boston

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The Bingo Troupe in ‘The All-New Big Apple Circus: The World’s Best Under Our Big Top’.

‘The All-New Big Apple Circus: The World’s Best Under Our Big Top’. Director & Choreographer: Renaud Doucet; Scenic & Costume Design: Andre Barbe; Technical Director: Guy Simard; Sound Design: JP Perreaux; Music Director: Rob Slowik. Presented by The Gold Group, EMC presents BAC, and Circus Vazquez at Suffolk Downs, 525 McLellan Highway, East Boston, through November 2, 2025

By Mike Hoban

From the very opening sequence, with a thundering pop-rock score playing behind an array of jugglers, hula hoopers, flying acrobats, and dancers, the Big Apple Circus grabs your attention and doesn’t let go, generating a chorus of “Whoas!” and  “Wows!” throughout the performance. The latest show, returning to Boston after a six-year hiatus, blends circus arts (trapeze, aerial ropes, various forms of juggling, acrobatics, and a tightrope act), clowning, and dog acts with a light show and an eight-piece orchestra to deliver a “one-ring” circus that brings out the kid in all of us.

The Flying Caceres
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Huntington’s ‘Sardines’ A Work of Amazing Grace

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Chris Grace in ‘Sardines’ at The Huntington. Photos by Eric Michaud

‘Sardines (a comedy about death)’. Written and performed by Chris Grace. Directed by Eric Michaud. Kevin Becerra, Associate Director of Artistic Programming and Activation. Kendyl Trott, Production Coordinator. At The Maso Studio at The Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston, through November 16.

By Linda Chin

At The Huntington Theatre, attendees of Sardines (a comedy about death) will be treated to sixty minutes of the sweet sounds of Amazing Grace. Not the comforting hymn that’s popular at funerals, but the words and voice of playwright-actor Chris Grace (NBC-TV’s Superstore) in a solo stage show about family, grief, and loss that he’s written and performs.

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Manual Cinema Brings Playful Puppetry to Wheelock Family Theatre with ‘Leonardo!’

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Cast of ‘Leonardo!’ at Wheelock Family Theatre

Leonardo! A Wonderful Show about a Terrible Monster, based on the books by Mo Willems; directed and adapted by Sarah Fornace and Drew Dir; 2D paper puppet and prop design by Drew Dir; music, lyrics, and sound design by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter; hand and rod puppet design by Lizi Breit; costume and wig design by Mieka Van der Ploeg; lighting design by Trey Brazeal with Nick Chamernik; dramaturgy by Megan Alrutz; stage managed by Maydi Díaz; created by Manual Cinema; presented by Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston, MA through October 19, 2025.

by Julie-Anne Whitney

Manual Cinema is a Chicago-based performance collective that specializes in cinematic shadow puppetry. For Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster, presented by Wheelock Family Theatre, the troupe transforms two books by beloved children’s author Mo Willems into a unique live-action cinematic experience.

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Central Square Theatre’s “Silent Sky” Shines – with Occasional Flickers. 

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Lee Mikeska Gardner, Jenny S. Lee, Erica Cruz Hernández in Central Square’s ‘Silent Sky’
Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘Silent Sky’ – Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Sarah Shin. Stage Management from Fanni Horváth. Lighting Design by Eduardo M. Rameriz. Costume Design by Leslie Held. Sound Design by Kai Bohlman. Props Design by Julia Wonkka. Central Square Theatre’s ‘Silent Sky’ ran from September 11th – October 5th. 

By Charlotte Snow 

(Editor’s Note: Charlotte Snow designed the costumes for their 2025 production of SPACE at Central Square Theater)

Lauren Gunderson, who has penned such hits as I and You, The Book of Will, and Émilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, has been the nation’s most produced playwright for several years now. To me, her writing is the antithesis of David Mamet’s (which is her second greatest accomplishment). I have long harbored a love-hate relationship with her writing style. While love that she often focuses on intelligent, independent, and resourceful female heroines who strive to break into the sciences and/or other male-dominated fields, I frequently groan and cringe at her over-reliance on humor and sickeningly sweet faux sincerity. Central Square Theatre’s production of Silent Sky only furthers this love-hate relationship, even though the production is quite well done. 

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ArtsEmerson’s ‘Hang Time’ is a Searingly Powerful Call to Action

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Cast of ArtsEmerson’s ‘Hang Time’. Photos by Maria Baranova

Hang Time, written and directed by Zora Howard; scenic design by Neal Wilkinson; movement direction by Charlie Oates; stunt direction by Rick Sordelet; lighting design by Reza Behjat; sound design by Megan Culley; costume design by Dominique Fawn Hill; produced by The Flea; presented by ArtsEmerson at the Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre/Paramount Center in Boston, MA through October 12, 2025.

by Julie-Anne Whitney

From the moment you walk into ArtsEmerson’s Black Box Theatre, you are confronted with an awful scene: three Black men hanging in mid-air. The image is provocative and shocking. You are no longer just an audience member; you have become a witness.

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Kilian Melloy Interviews Playwright KJ Moran Velz, whose new play, ‘Mother Mary’ is premiering at BPT

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Tara Forseth, Adriana Alvarez in BPT’s ‘Mother Mary’. Photos by Benjamin Rose Photography

by Kilian Melloy

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s season continues with KJ Moran Velz’s new play Mother Mary, a story set in 1968 that finds two women — cab driver Jo Cruz and Catholic schoolteacher Mary O’Sullivan — navigating not just the streets of Southie, but also the perils of the time and the eternal mysteries of love. What starts as a ride home turns into a shared daily ritual of commuting and discussing books like The Price of Salt. Jo’s uncertainties and Mary’s innocence are roadblocks on the road to romance, but so too are the insults hurled by community members who can see plainly that Jo likes women… something that Mary, catching onto, finds herself intrigued by. There’s a complication in that Mary is pregnant thanks to her boyfriend (also Catholic, but deployed to Vietnam), but that might just be something Jo happens to be able to help with…

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Kilian Melloy Interviews Tom Coiner, Star of Merrimack Rep’s “Misery”

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by Kilian Melloy

It’s hellishly hard to get Stephen King’s work to translate well from page to screen; you’d better be a Stanley Kubrick, a Bran DePalma, or a Mike Flanagan if you hope to create the same sense of dread and terror King imbues his novels and short stories, or a Frank Darabont or a Rob Reiner to capture some of the same emotional charge and general atmospherics.

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Winston Churchill Comes to Life in “Churchill”

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“Churchill” − Created and directed by David Payne. Presented by Emery Entertainment, Standford Calderwood Pavilion, 539 Tremont Street, through October 12.

by Michele Markarian

One-person shows are tricky in terms of verisimilitude – who is the person talking to?  Why are they standing before us? Years ago, my grandmother, knowing I was fond of Emily Dickinson, took me to see “The Belle of Amherst” with Julie Harris. My twelve-year-old self didn’t buy the fact that Emily was willing to address a roomful of 650 strangers at Boston’s Colonial Theater for no apparent reason other than the fact that we were there. She even offered us cake when clearly there wasn’t enough to go around. It didn’t make for a credible suspension of disbelief.

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