Silence and Omission in the ‘Heartland’ – at New Rep

January 17, 2019January 20, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Deanna Dement Myers

“The space between the words is where the ache lies.”

A charming young refugee, Nazrullah, brilliantly played by Shawn K. Jain, shows up at the home of retired University of Nebraska professor, Harold Banks (Ken Batlin). We soon learn that Nazrullah was a teacher at the same school in Afghanistan as Bank’s adopted daughter, Getee. At first, Harold mistrusts this young man, mistaking him for a repairman. It becomes clear they share a bond through their complicated relationships with Getee, played by Caitlin Nasema Cassidy, in her first role at the New Rep. Across language barriers, this cast of three weaves time and location to tell a fast-paced story of deep love, strong beliefs and unsettling betrayal. We jump from the present where both Harold and Naz learn to navigate their own relationship without the help of Getee, to the past where we learn the reasons why she felt compelled to visit the land of her birth.

Underlings’ Beast Approaches

January 16, 2019December 27, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by James Wilkinson

‘What Rough Beast’ – Written by Alice Abracen. Directed by Lelaina Vogel. Scenic Design: Michelle Sparks. Lighting Design: Kat C. Zhou. Costume Design: Evelyn Quinn. Sound Design and Composition: Joshua Garcia. Presented by The Underlings Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston through January 19

The other day while driving home from the grocery store, I happened to catch the end of the TED Radio Hour on NPR and the speaker was Sue Klebold, mother of one of the Columbine High School shooters. If you’ve never heard it before, it’s worth seeking out. Her talk is relevant here for a few different reasons, but what brings it to my mind now is how she wrestles with the idea of finding answers in the face of unspeakable tragedy. In the years after her son became infamous, she and anyone she interacted with couldn’t let go of the idea of find that missing magical ingredient that would have prevented everything. If only she had hugged her son more. If only she had said “I love you” more often. If only he hadn’t played those violent videogames. The answer, though, can’t be found in a fortune cookie. You have to wade into much more complicated waters.

ART/Company One’s ‘Miss You Like Hell’ a Musical Latina Road Trip

January 16, 2019January 20, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Miss You Like Hell’ – Book & Lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes; Music & Lyrics by Erin McKeown; Directed by Summer L. Williams; Music Director: David Coleman; Scenic Designer: Erik D. Diaz; Costume Designer: Danielle Domingue Sumi; Lighting Designer: Justin Paice; Sound Designer: Rachel Neubauer. Co-produced with American Repertory Theater as part of the A.R.T. Breakout Series at Oberon, 3 Arrow St. Cambridge through January 27.

Company One and the A.R.T. couldn’t have picked a better time to stage Miss You Like Hell, a mother-daughter road trip musical by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes (who also wrote the book for the Tony Award-winning In the Heights) and singer-songwriter Erin McKeown. With the anti-immigrant rhetoric being spewed on a seemingly daily basis throughout the midterms and into the New Year by the president and his supporters, the plight of the undocumented in this country is top of mind for many – and front and center of this flawed but entertaining work.

Speakeasy’s ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ Silently Sends Up Spirituality Industry

January 8, 2019January 22, 2019 Theater Mirror1 Comment

by Mike Hoban

Small Mouth Sounds – Written by Bess Wohl; Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Mary Lauve; Lighting Design by Annie Wiegand; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at The Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through February 2.

If you’ve ever been skeptical of the kind of spirituality-lite movements whose adherents sometimes mouth the words of the Dali Lama while still behaving with all of the empathy of a corporate raider, you’re going to love Small Mouth Sounds, now playing at SpeakEasy Stage. This very funny but deceptively poignant play by Bess Wohl lovingly skewers the spirituality industry while leaving the door open to the possibility that the universe may indeed work in mysterious ways – when we’re in enough pain to seek a better path.

THOM PAIN – Burbage Theater

January 1, 2019January 20, 2019 Theater Mirror1 Comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre’s first show of 2019 is “Thom Pain” (based on nothing) which is a one man show. The play was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which was won by “Doubt” by John Patrick Shanley. “Thom Pain” was written by Will Eno in 2004 and even though this Thom Paine isn’t based on the real Thomas Paine who uttered “These are the times that try men’s souls” but this one can be trying too. The main character delivers a stream of consciousness existential monologue. He is like you, only much worse. This surreal and real one man show follows Thom Pain as he desperately, and hilariously, tries to save his own life, to save your life and does so in that order. Or to at least make life into something worth dying for. In his quest for salvation, he’ll stop at nothing He tells the audience that he has suffered greatly in his lifetime. His stories are of various calamities including a young boy with a dog who died horribly, who is then stung severely by bees and when the boy grew up his experience with a woman. It is about love, pain and loss with the performer interacting with the audience and breaking the fourth wall with his monologues and soliloquies. Director Vince Petronio blocks the show marvelously using the whole playing area and he obtains a phenomenal performance from his leading man.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Abridged) – MMAS Black Box, Mansfield

January 1, 2019January 20, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

MMAS’s latest show is “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The show is a parody of the plays written by Shakespeare, all 37 plays in 90 minutes. It is an irreverent, fast-paced romp through all the Bard’s plays in shortened form by three actresses. The performers speak directly to the audience during much of the play and some scenes involve audience participation. Improvisation plays an important role with them deviating from the script. They open the show with a parody of “Romeo and Juliet”, then combine the comedies into a convoluted reading by stating that they recycle the same plot devices and they do this while wearing red noses. They then tackle the histories and the tragedies. The second act is a very hilarious performance of “Hamlet.” Steve Dooner directs the talented and energetic performers in the show wonderfully, bringing a lot of shtick and slapstick antics to keep the audience entertained for the whole performance. They win a resounding standing ovation at the end of the show!

Two Mile Hollow: Family Drama with an Edge

December 27, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Two Mile Hollow’ – Written by Leah Nanako Winkler. Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Stage Manager/Choreographer Robin Mackey. Scenic Design: Nathan K. Lee. Costume Design: Susan Paino. Sound Design: David Reiffel. Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company at Chelsea Theatre Works December 21, 2018-January 20, 2019.

The family patriarch is dead. In life, we’re told, he was a great man, but now he’s gone. The only physical likeness that we’ll get of him are the photographs that hang on the walls of the family homestead. His descendants and widow have descended upon the home to divide his possessions between them. In the process of gathering these family members together, secrets are revealed, passions erupt and long-held grudges bubble to the surface. If this sounds familiar, it should. American playwrights from Eugene O’Neil, Tennessee Williams, Horton Foote, Sam Shepard, Tracy Letts and others have all been riffing on this general scenario in one form or another since the dawn of twentieth-century theatre. The gathering of disparate family members has become one of those boilerplate situations playwrights keep offering their own take on. It’s done partly because the scenario is perfectly designed for generating conflict, but it makes you wonder, what do audiences get out of it? Perhaps watching the explosions on stage confirm for us a sense of dread that’s felt if you get enough of your family members gathered in the same room, the feeling that this whole thing could go to hell at any moment.

Not Your Grandmother’s ‘Cinderella’

December 24, 2018December 26, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Sheila Barth

So who knew…

That Prince Charming (a.k.a. Topher) isn’t really charming, but a dragonslayer with a paucity of social skills, self-confidence, and awareness of the kingdom’s usurping of farmers’ lands, inciting his subjects’ increasing growling against the empty throne? That lovely Ella (Kaitlyn Mayse), who sits “in her own little corner,” among the cinders, doing household chores and obeying her cruel stepmother’s orders, is also an activist, touting kindness, forgiveness and rights for the downtrodden?

Ambassador Group Gives ‘Cinderella’ A Joyful Makeover

December 21, 2018December 26, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Mike Hoban

‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ – Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; New Book by Douglas Carter Beane; Original book by Oscar Hammerstein II; Directed by Gina Rattan; Choreography by Lee Wilkins; Scenic Design by Anna Louizos; Costume Design by William Ivey Long; Lighting Design by Kenneth Posner; Sound Design by Nevin Steinberg. Presented by Ambassador Theatre Group at Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St., Boston, through Dec. 30.

If you’re thinking of not taking your kids to see Cinderella because it sends the wrong message to girls (and boys) – think again. You obviously haven’t seen the new and improved Broadway touring version now playing at the Emerson Colonial Theatre, which takes the story and turns it on its head while still delivering the wonderful songs in their original form. Disney – and productions of fairy tales in general – have rightfully been taken to task in recent years for reinforcing the “princess culture” that disempowers girls by creating role models that reinforce the wrong-headed notion that girls are less capable than boys in a range of skill sets – especially leadership.

Christmas Revels Celebrates the “Other” Great White North

December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘The Christmas Revels:A Nordic Celebration of the Winter Solstice’ – Directed by Patrick Swanson; Musical Direction by Megan Henderson; Set Design by Jeremy Barnett; Sound Design by Bill Winn; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg; Costume Design by Heidi A. Hermiller; Presented by Revels, Inc. at The Sanders Theater at Harvard University, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, through December 29th.

The Yuletide season is upon us once again, and for many theatergoers that means the annual viewing of holiday staples like It’s A Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol. To others, it means a trip to Sanders Theater in Cambridge to see what land The Christmas Revels will transport them to. Each year Revels presents the stories, music, and dance of different cultures, centered loosely on the Winter Solstice/Christmas season. This year it’s A Nordic Celebration of the Winter Solstice, which takes us to the Northlands – Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden – for a taste of folk traditions of the other “Great White North,” along with the Revels’ perennial favorites. And this production shines as brightly as the Northern Lights on a dark winter night.