SpeakEasy’s Outstanding ‘Primary Trust’ Simmers Slowly Until It Boils Over

September 21, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

David J. Castillo, Luis Negrón and Arthur Gomez in Speakeasy’s “Primary Trust”.
Photos by Benjamin Rose

‘Primary Trust’ — Written by Eboni Booth. Directed by Dawn Simmons. Scenic Design by Shelley Barish; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through October 11.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Like homesickness and old age, some things just “creep up” on us. A feeling that might start suddenly and imperceptibly, the sensation gradually builds until reaching a tipping point, after which we are acutely aware of and significantly affected by it.

Such is the case with SpeakEasy’s first production of the 2025/2026 season, Primary Trust, now enjoying a long run through October 11 (so there’s plenty of time to catch this gem).

NSMT’s ‘Rent’ Is Timely Entertainment

September 19, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

The cast of “Rent” at North Shore Music Theatre. Photos by Paul Lyden

‘Rent’ — Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner. Direction and Choreography by Marcos Santana. Scenic Design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec; Costume Design by Rebecca Glick; Lighting Design by José Santiago; Sound Design by Alex Berg; Video Design by Beth Truax. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre through September 28.

By Shelley A. Sackett

North Shore Music Theatre is tailor-made for musicals with its theatre-in-the-round, signature creative set designs and talented casts. With Rent, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical set in New York City’s East Village from 1989 to 1990, it manages to pay homage to a classic that defined an era while also spotlighting its relevance to today.

Paul Melendy Soars in GBSC’s Fabulous ‘Featherbaby’

September 18, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Gabriel Graetz, Paul Melendy and Liv Dumaine in GBSC’s ‘Featherbaby’

‘Featherbaby’ — Written by David Templeton. Directed by Weylin Symes. Scenic Design by Katy Monthei; Lighting Design by Matt Cost; Costume Design by Deirdre Gerrard; Sound Design by Mackenzie Adamick. 1 hour 45 minutes, one intermission. Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company at 395 Main St, Stoneham, MA, through September 28.

By Shelley A. Sackett

There are not enough words of praise to describe Paul Melendy’s sublime performance as the insightful, unfiltered and outrageously funny trash-talking parrot, Featherbaby, in the eponymous play now running in its co-world premiere through September 28 at Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham. If you only see one production this entire season, this is the one that should be at the top of your list.

‘My First Ex-Husband’ Spotlights Joy Behar And Divorce’s Light and Dark Sides

September 16, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

THE VIEW – The View’s Season 28 Co-host photo shoot – Joy Behar. “The View” airs Monday-Friday, 11am-12noon, ET on ABC. (ABC/JEFF LIPSKY) JOY BEHAR

‘My First Ex-Husband’ — Play by Joyce Behar. Directed by Randal Myler. Presented by The Huntington Selects. Produced by Caiola Productions and Cyrena Esposito. At The Huntington Calderwood, 537 Tremont St., Boston, through September 28.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Joy Behar is familiar to fans of television’s ABC daytime talk show, “The View,” as the co-host with the comedic, acerbic wit. She won an Emmy Award in 2009 and is also known as a sharp-tongued, incisive stand-up comic.

With My First Ex-Husband, her fourth play that ran successfully off-Broadway and is now in production at The Huntington Calderwood through September 28, she will be known to Boston audiences as a playwright as well.

Broadway in Boston’s ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Is A Raucous Good Time

September 14, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Cast of Broadway in Boston’s Mrs. Doubtfire’ Photos: Joan Marcus

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Music and Lyrics by Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick. Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. Based on the Twentieth Century Studios Motion Picture. Arrangements and Orchestrations by Ethan Popp. Tour Direction by Steve Edlund. Tour Choreography by Michaeljon Slinger; Original Choreography by Lorin Latarro; Original Direction by Jerry Zaks. Scenic Design by David Korins; Costume Design by Catherine Zuber; Lighting Design by Philip S. Rosenberg; Sound Design by Keith Caggiano. Presented by Broadway in Boston and Work Lights Productions at the Emerson Colonial Theatre through Sept. 21.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Every family has that iconic favorite movie or television show that follows its members throughout childhood, adulthood and parent/grandparent-hood. For mine, it was (and is) “Mrs. Doubtfire,” the 1993 movie that has been with us from Blockbuster rental to VHS to DVD to stream-on-demand. So any live version of this holy grail was going to have a very high bar.

Thankfully, Broadway in Boston and Work Light Production’s musical version of the Broadway hit at the Emerson Colonial Theatre manages to hurdle over that bar more often than knock it over.

Eryn O’Sullivan Lifts Gloucester Stage’s ‘Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson’

September 10, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley Sackett1 Comment

Breezy Leigh, Stephen Shore, Erin O’Sullivan in Gloucester Stage’s ‘Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson’

‘Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2b.’ Written by Kate Hamill. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Set Design by Kristin Loeffler; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Deb Sullivan; Sound Design by Julian Crocamo. Presented by Gloucester Stage, 267 East Main St., Gloucester, through September 27.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Playwright and actor Kate Hamill, known for putting a feminist spin on adaptations of classic literature, turns her droll pen on the iconic partnership of Detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in the hit-and-miss Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2b, in production at Gloucester Stage through September 27. While set design (Kristin Loeffler), crisp direction (Rebecca Bradshaw), and a captivating Eryn O’Sullivan as Holmes dull the play’s dull edges, its 2-hour, 45-minute (one intermission) length at last Sunday’s matinee was as unwarranted as it was irritating.

A.R.T.’s Ephemeral ‘Passengers’ Awes with Acrobatics, Music and Dance

September 8, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Cast of ‘Passengers’ by The 7 Fingers (Les 7 Doigts) at A.R.T.

The 7 Fingers ‘Passengers.’ Written and Directed by Shana Carroll. Composition and Musical Direction by Colin Gagné; Lyrics by Colin Gagné and Shana Carrol; Scenic Design by Ana Cappelluto; Costume Design by Camille Thibault-Bédard; Lighting Design by Éric Champoux; Projection Design by Johnny Ranger; Sound Design by Colin Gagné and Jérôme Guilleaume. Presented by American Repertory Theater at Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, through Sept. 26.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Train travel has always evoked a magical aura of nostalgia and romanticism, an opportunity to slow down, observe and contemplate while suspended between past and future, between here and there. American Repertory Theater’s production of Passengers, a contemporary circus performance that combines acrobatics, dance, music and a gossamer thread of dramatic narrative, makes a case that train travel (as a metaphor for life) is all about the journey, not the destination.

‘Grease’ Is The Word at NSMT’s Knock-Out Production

August 21, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

‘Grease – Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.Kevin P. Hill (Director & Choreographer), Milton Granger (Music Director), Jack Mehler (Scenic & Lighting Design), Alex Berg (Sound Design), Rachel Padula-Shuflet (Wig & Hair Design), Rebecca Glick (Costume Coordinator), Alaina Mills (Associate Director & Choreographer). Presented by North Shore Music Theatre at 54 Dunham Rd., Beverly, MA, through August 24, 2025

By Shelley A. Sackett

If you think you’ve seen enough disappointing summer theater productions of the iconic film starring the incomparable John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in their impossible-to-replicate roles (as I frankly did), think again and high-tail it to North Shore Musical Theatre’s rip-roaring, talent-laden, thoroughly enjoyable rendition of this phoenix of a musical.

GSC’s Timely ‘No Child…’ Lauds Teachers And Showcases An A+ Solo Performance

August 18, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley Sackett3 Comments

Valyn Lyric Turner in “No Child …” at Gloucester Stage Company. Photos by Jason Grow Photography

‘No Child…’ — Written by Nilaja Sun. Directed by Pascale Florestal. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Amanda Fallon; Sound Design by Jacques Matellus. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St., Gloucester through August 23.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Playwright Nilaja Sun’s conventional tribute to the trials and tribulations of our unsung heroes who day after day teach the toughest kids at their toughest ages (high school) in the toughest neighborhoods is must-see theater for one reason— the luminous performance by its solo star, Valyn Lyric Turner.

Playing no fewer than a dozen roles, Turner is a whirling dervish of talent, her physicality and vitality hoisting the play from a ho-hum trope to a true tour de force.

In Company One’s ‘The Meeting Tree,’ Family Legacy Confronts Memory To Reshape The Future

August 8, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Sarah Elizabeth Bedard and Anjie Parker in Company One’s ‘The Meeting Tree’.
Photos by Annielly-Camargo

‘The Meeting Tree’ — Written by B. Elle Borders. Directed by Summer L. Williams. Dramaturgy by afrikah selah and Ilana M. Brownstein. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Amanda Mujica; Lighting Design by Elmer Martinez; Sound Design by Aubrey Dube. Presented by Company One Theatre in partnership with Front Porch Arts Collective and the City of Boston’s Office of Arts and Culture. At Strand Theatre, Boston through Aug. 9. All tickets are pay-what-you-want.

By Shelley A. Sackett

B. Elle Borders’ The Meeting Tree (her first play) is a bold and effective new work that portrays the story of six generations of women and their interconnected lives as a backdrop for her exploration of bigger ticket issues. For 75 intermission-less minutes, she keeps the audience engrossed with her skillful storytelling that combines a tale of complex, emotionally deep characters with thought-provoking questions that prompt reflection about family history, the legacy of slavery in the United States, and the power of personal connection to overcome history.

In polarized times, Borders seems to ask, is redemption and healing possible? And if it is, at what price?