Speakeasy’s ‘Jaja’ Combines Comedy and Harsh Reality

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

MaConnia Chesser (center) and the cast of *Jaja’s African Hair Braiding* at SpeakEasy.
Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’ – Written by Jocelyn Bioh; Directed by Summer L. Williams; Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland; Costume Design by Danielle Domingue Sumi; Lighting Design by Christopher Brusberg; Sound Design by Aubrey Dube. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. Through May 31.

By Mike Hoban

On its surface, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, now being presented by the Speakeasy Stage Company, is a bubbly slice of life comedy. Set in a women’s hair salon in Harlem that specializes in African hair braiding, the play offers a glimpse into the lives of a half-dozen West African women who work at the salon and their American customers. But bubbling just under the surface is a much weightier concern, one that has become increasingly relevant since the play debuted on Broadway in 2023 and has dominated recent headlines.

Strong Performances Lift Mystic Evidence Productions’ ‘Skazki: A Spell of Ice and Snow’

April 21, 2025April 21, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

‘Skazki: Spell of Ice and Snow.’ Written by J.X.M. Corriss. Words and Music by Jonathan Blackshire. Musical Direction by Sam McLoughlin. Directed by Sean Robinson. Choreography by Katie Formosi. Costume Design by Kitty Prue. Lighting Design by Nick Tavares. Stage Management by Max Cavanaugh, assisted by Mason West. Presented by Mystic Evidence Productions at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

By C.J. Williams

“Culture is also a casualty of war.” So what’s culture? And is its loss akin to losing a limb – or a family member?

Skazki: A Spell of Ice and Snow recently wrapped up its run at the Boston Center of the Arts. The brand-new musical, written by a first-time playwright (but veteran poet and novelist, X.M. Corriss), is a whimsical musical with a cold as steel fairy tale edge, and where it may falter in pacing, it more than evens out in its cast and crew’s passionate performances. If culture is indeed a casualty of war, Skazki is perhaps the result of artists who know that all art is a kind of healing.

Harbor Stage Brings the Cult Film ‘My Dinner with André’ to Life

March 30, 2025April 10, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Robin Bloodworth, Jonathan Fielding, and Robert Kropf in Harbor Stage Company’s
“My Dinner with Andre” Photo: Joe Kenehan

‘My Dinner With André’ – Based on the film by Wallace Shawn and André Gregory. Developed by Johnathan Fielding and Robert Kropf. Production Stage Management by D’Arcy Dersham. Scenic Design by Evan Farley. Lighting Design by John Malinowski. Produced by Harbor Stage Company, ‘My Dinner With André’ runs at BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre at 539 Tremont Street, Boston through March 30^th.

By Shelley A. Sackett

A corner booth, fancy fare and tasty conversation — who doesn’t remember the cult frenzy caused by Louis Malle’s 1981 110-minute film that enchanted audiences, defied pigeon-holing and raised the bar on the “art” referred to as conversation?

This unconventional film should have been all but unwatchable. After all, it is simply a cinema verité version of a conversation between playwright Wallace Shawn and André Gregory, a well-known experimental theater director who seems to have dropped off the edge of the planet and whom Shawn has been trying to avoid for years.

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

February 26, 2025March 2, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

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.

Yorick Ensemble’s ‘The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals’ Will Convert Even the Most Ardent of Musical Haters

February 18, 2025February 20, 2025 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

The cast of *The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals.* Photo Credit: Toni Photography.

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals with Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blim. Book by Matt & Nick Lang. Originally Produced by Starkid Productions. Directed by Kari Boutcher, Music Directed by Elias Condakes. Scenic Design by Bradley Boutcher & Josh Telepman. Costume & Prop Design by Josh Telepman. Lighting & Sound Design by Michael Jay. Produced by Yorick Ensemble at BCA Plaza Theatre at 539 Tremont Street, Boston, through February 22nd.

By Charlotte Snow

Whether we like to admit it or not, being surrounded by theater people is a special kind of Hell. We’re overly extroverted, overly annoying, overly… everything! So when I saw that Yorick Ensemble was producing The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, a musical that is self-aware about musicals being a plague to humanity, I was jazzed as a chorus boy’s hands. Despite being about musical theatre and its culture, this show has never made it to Broadway. Although it’s famous, it’s YouTube famous.

Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ Growls Instead of Roars

December 8, 2024December 28, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Thain Emrys Bertin, Sehnaz Dirik, James Honaker, and Finian Ross in Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion In Winter.’ Photos by Gary Ng.

‘The Lion In Winter’ by James Goldman. Directed by Allison Olivia Choat. Produced by/ Prop Design by/ Scenic Design by Sehnaz Dirik; Set Design by Leonard Chasse; Costume Design by Richard Itczak; Lighting Design by Erik Fox; Intimacy Direction by Kayleigh Kane. Produced by Theater Uncorked, ‘The Lion In Winter’ runs from December 5th – 15th at the BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116.

By Charlotte Snow

The Lion In Winter is one of those “perfect for the family to watch during the holidays” shows. It contains all of the warm and fuzzy feel-good tropes such as the mother recently released from prison, three scheming siblings plotting their father’s downfall, and one offstage dead child. It’s as heartbreaking as it is surprisingly funny at times. The satire follows fictionalized versions of Henry the II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine as their sordid and sparring relationship consequently drags down the rest of their family: three fatally flawed sons, Henry’s mistress/Eleanor’s surrogate daughter, and a vengeful newly crowned king of France, into an ill-fated Christmas gathering full of dangerous ambitions, complex political schemes, and saucy romantic entanglements.

Vinny DePonto’s MINDPLAY a Mind-Bending Experience

November 26, 2024November 26, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Performer, playwright, and mentalist Vinny DePonto in “Mindplay” at the Huntington Theatre.
Photos by Jeff Lorch.

‘Mindplay’ by Vinny DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg. Directed by Andrew Neisler. Produced by Eva Price. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston, MA, through December 1.

By Mike Hoban

There’s no question about it: The feats (tricks?, stunts?) performed by mentalist and self-described mind reader Vinny DePonto during MINDPLAY, his one-man “exploration of the imperfect mind,” are nothing short of astonishing. His ability to correctly “read” the thoughts of the audience members that he calls to the stage – whether through the use of gimmicks, psychological ploys, or (less likely) a supernatural gift – is well worth the price of admission, as are the segments of the performance that seem more like a magic show.

‘Did You Eat? (밥먹었니?)’ A Poignant Portrait of the Artist Zoë Kim as a Young Girl Hugs and Fills Your Soul

November 23, 2024November 23, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Zoë Kim during a performance of her show “Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?).” (Courtesy Maggie Hall)

CHUANG Stage and Seoulful Productions present ‘Did You Eat (밥 먹었니)?’ Written and performed by Zoë Kim. Directed by Chris Yejin. Choreography by Christopher Shin. Set and Costume Design by Szu-Fen Chen. Sound Design by Katie Kuan-Yu Chen. Lighting Design by Ari Kim. Projection Design by Michi Zaya. At Boston Center for the Arts, Black Box Theatre, 539 Tremont Street, through November 30, 2024.

By Linda Chin

As we transition into colder and darker winter weather and approach the holiday season and its accompanying triggers (stress, travel, grief, family dynamics, food, lack of belonging, anyone?), being in a room with other compassionate and kind humans can be an antidote to loneliness. In that respect, the timing of CHUANG Stage and Seoulful Productions’ world premiere of the new solo show Did You Eat?( 밥 먹었니 ?), stunningly penned and performed by Asian American storyteller Zoë Kim, couldn’t have been more perfectly planned. At the Black Box Theater in the depths of the Boston Center for the Arts, Kim shares her life journey from birth to now, transporting us to places and spaces in Korea and the US that have felt unsafe, while taking audiences on a deep dive into the complexities of identity, love, and family.

Theater Mirror Talks with Emmy Award-winning Actor Gordon Clapp, on returning to Boston for Speakeasy Stage’s ‘Pru Payne’

October 22, 2024October 22, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Karen MacDonald and Gordon Clapp in the SpeakEasy Stage Company production of *Pru Payne*. Photo: Nile Scott Studios

Gordon Clapp, best known for his Emmy-winning role of Detective Greg Medavoy in the long-running TV series NYPD Blue, returns to the Boston stage for the second time this year, following up his acclaimed portrayal of poet Robert Frost (Robert Frost: This Verse Business) last spring. This time around, Clapp appears in Pru Payne, an unlikely love story set in a memory care unit by Pulitzer Prize nominee and Newton native Steven Drukman (“Another Fine Mess”). Clapp plays a retired custodian who falls in love with the title character, a contemporary Dorothy Parker type whose memory is failing. The cast includes Boston theater stalwarts Karen MacDonald, Marianna Bassham, Greg Maraio, and De’Lon Grant, and runs through November 16th at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts.

Theater Mirror spoke with Clapp during the rehearsal process.

Not Your Parents’ ‘Romeo & Juliet’ by Actors Shakespeare Project

May 19, 2024May 25, 2024 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Evan Taylor and Chloe McFarlane in Actors Shakespeare Project’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’

Actors Shakespeare Project presents ROMEO & JULIET. Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Marianna Bassham. Movement Choreography by Ilya Vidrin. Lighting Design by Deb Sullivan. Costume Design by Lisa Coleman. Props Design by Grey Rung. Scenic Design by Saskia Martínez. Sound Design by Jesse Hinson. At the Roberts Studio Theater, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through June 2, 2024.

By Linda Chin

The works and words of William Shakespeare can be difficult to appreciate – and some may say, stay awake for – but after seeing their accessible production of Romeo and Juliet, I felt grateful that Actors Shakespeare Project chose to present this story this season (they last staged it a decade ago), and is part of the Boston arts and culture ecosystem in general. As seen in last year’s As You Like It, ASP intentionally blends stage (and Shakespearean) veterans with younger actors from local conservatories and communities, an ensemble of diverse storytellers playing diverse human characters – as I like it.