Cast of Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”Photos: Nile Scott Studios
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts,321 Arsenal St., Watertown through May 4.
By Shelley A. Sackett
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of those plays that is firmly etched in most people’s long-term memory banks, whether as a first introduction to Shakespeare in high school or as one of scores of film and theatrical productions. There are countless riffs on the play, from the sci-fi A Midsummer Night’s Gene to recently produced The Donkey Dream. Even The Beatles got in on the act in their 1964 TV special, “Around the Beatles,” when they played the “Pyramus and Thisbe” section of the play to an audience of hecklers and moonstruck fans, especially appropriate for this comedy play within a play. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvREt_w_KOE)
Cast of Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”Photos: Nile Scott Studios
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, by William Shakespeare. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown through May 4.
Cast of Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”Photos: Nile Scott Studios
By Michele Markarian
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind”, insists Helena (Deb Martin), a maid musing on the unreasonable and unpredictable foibles of attraction. The minds in this production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” are busy at work, their bodies preening and pursuing the objects of their lusty desires, a kind of Beltane in the middle of summer. This vigorous production is set in a disco, with all the dangers and dreams that go with it.
Cast of Lyric Stage’s ‘The Great Reveal’ Photos by Mark S. Howard
Lyric Stage Boston presents ‘The Great Reveal.’ Written by David Valdes. Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary and Charlotte Snow. Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh. Costume Design by E. Rosser. Lighting Design by Christopher Brusberg. Sound Design by Kai Bohlman. At Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, through April 27, 2025.
By Linda Chin
With concern about revenues and audience attendance – particularly post-pandemic – many theater companies have been skittish about including new titles or playwrights in their seasons. Lyric Stage Boston has boldly programmed a new work, The Great Reveal, by playwright David Valdes, as their spring 2025 production, right before the popular classic Hello, Dolly! as their season closer.
Antonia (Toni) Turilli and Jupiter Lê
The Great Reveal is about a gender reveal party hosted by Lexi and Christopher, a married and expectant cis couple. Set in 2020 during the pandemic, all of the expected guests opt out, except for two – Lexi’s brother, Linus, and his partner, Dosia, a trans couple. Linus and Dosia are conflicted – not only about condoning a celebration that reaffirms society’s gender binarism, but also with each other – Dosia has a plan up her sleeve for making her feelings known that might sabotage the event and damage their relationship; Linus wants to maintain a peaceful relationship with his sister.
Casting plays that put queer and trans characters in the foreground – which Valdes enjoys writing – can also be challenging. With directors Bridget Kathleen O’Leary (who directed Valdes’ The Mermaid Hour at Moonbox last year) and Charlotte Snow at the helm of an ensemble that includes Paige Clark as Lexi, Arthur Gomez as her husband Christopher, Jupiter Lê as Linus, and Antonia Turilli as Dosia, this four-hander dramedy is brought to life with authentic storytellers.
Lê and Paige Clark
Last seen at Lyric Stage in Yellowface (NWOAOC) and in many other productions around town, Jupiter Lê delivers a soft-spoken but powerfully-heard, seen, and felt portrayal of Linus and demonstrates his versatility as an actor. A recent graduate of Northeastern University, Jupiter is a queer trans masculine Vietnamese theater-maker who was born and raised in Boston.
Making her Lyric Stage debut with her portrayal of Dosia, actor Antonia (Toni) Turilli, a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who is a “proud transgender woman,” is positively luminous. Her passion for her artistry is palpable, and I look forward to seeing her onstage again.
Both Lê and Turilli seem younger than their characters are written, but they are well-matched and both possess a depth of maturity, poise, and lived experience that never caused a mismatch between their actual age and the script or took me out of the moment.
As the married cis couple Lexi and Christopher, Boston stage veterans Paige Clark and Arthur Gomez add their considerable acting talents to the ensemble (which notably includes 75% BIPOC actors despite none of the characters being specified as BIPOC in the script).
Arthur Gomez’ and Turilli
Playing Lexi in The Great Reveal marks Paige Clark’s Lyric Stage debut, and shows off her generosity as a scene partner. I found the scenes where Lexi and Linus recalled experiences from their childhood – both loving and rivalrous – and bonded over their parents’ limitations and absence (Valdes’ fifth character is their elderly father, who does not appear but whose stubbornness and sense of loneliness and isolation pervades the production) extremely moving – possibly because I couldn’t help but imagine him as an Asian dad like my own.
Returning to the Lyric Stage, where he appeared in Assassins and Kiss of the Spider Woman, Boston actor and director Arthur Gomez’ added humor and heart to the ensemble as father-to-be Christopher. To relieve his anxiety and relax his nerves, he took drugs that he got from Dosia. While amusing at first – and showing off Gomez’s comedy chops – he was high for much of the play/party, and these scenes dragged. (The play in general could benefit from some trimming and attention to pacing.) A scene towards the end of the play – a poignant flashback to Chris and Lexi’s wedding day – when Jupiter helps Chris tie his bow tie, cementing their bond as “brothers from another mother” was worth waiting for.
The life-sized working set, thoughtfully designed for the Lyric’s ¾ thrust stage by Scenic Designer Baron E. Pugh, contributed to this world premiere production’s artistic excellence. Set in a backyard in the Boston area, the clapboard-sided house, painted a lovely sage green, with patio sliders that open onto a fenced wooden deck, provides wonderful stage pictures and views from every seat in the audience and ample playing areas for the two-person scenes.
Turilli, Clark
In the Artist Spotlight in the show program, in response to the question “What has being a part of The Great Reveal meant to you?” Antonia Turilli (Dosia) states, “My hope is that audiences feel seen in the story we share with them, as these characters are truly not that different from any one of us.” Paige Clark (Lexi) notes, “I hope everyone watching gets a chance to recognize their shadow self and find ways to heal it.” My favorite moment was a flashback scene on the beach when Lexi and Dosia connect and bond as the sisters they’ve each wanted. Heartfelt and real, they showed us that their friendship’s foundation was strong enough to withstand some hard conversations. I also related to the important role that chosen family members have in my own life. For more information and tickets, go to: https://www.lyricstage.com/
Evelyn Howe, Jessica Pimentel, Yesenia Iglesias in The Huntington’s Don’t Eat the Mangos Photos by Marc J. Franklin
‘Don’t Eat the Mangos.’ Written by Ricardo Pérez González. Directed by David Mendizábal. Scenic Design by Tanya Orellana; Costume Design by Zoë Sundra; Lighting Design by Cha See; Sound Design by Jake Rodriguez; Original Music by Jake Rodriguez with Alexandra Buschman-Román and Jason Stamberger. Produced by The Huntington Theatre Company, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through April 27.
By Shelley A. Sackett
Don’t Eat the Mangos,Ricardo Pérez González’s one-act play, has a lot going for it. Set in 2019 in El Comandante, a neighborhood outside San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tanya Orellana’s bright island set plunks the audience smack into a festive, colorful vibe where curtains are doors and a commanding mango tree dominates the yard. We immediately meet three sisters, as different in personality as in looks, yet clearly cut from the same mold.
Jade A. Guerra, Lorraine Victoria Kanyike in Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective’s “Her Portmanteau”. Photos by: Maggie Hall Photography
“Her Portmanteau” by Mfoniso Udofia. Directed by Tasia A. Jones. Co-produced by Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective, , 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through April 20th.
By Michele Markarian
I was hesitant about seeing this piece, the fourth in a series of nine under the umbrella of the Ufot Family Cycle by Mfoniso Udofia, as I hadn’t seen the other plays, and its length – an hour and forty-five minutes without an intermission – was off-putting. From the very beginning, when Jade A. Guerra, as Iniabasi Ekpeyong walks onto the stage with a suitcase and an air of wariness, I was completely sucked in. An hour and forty-five minutes never went by so quickly, as the rest of the audience and I were pulled into one of the more compelling, well-written, and well-acted family dramas this season.
FlawBored’s Aarian Mehrabani, Samuel Brewer, and Chloe Palmer. Photo Credits: Alex Brenner
‘It’s A Motherf**king Pleasure’ – Written by Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani and Chloe Palmer. Directed by Josh Roche. Presented by ArtsEmerson at the Emerson Paramount Center, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, 559 Washington Street, Boston, through April 13, 2025
By Mike Hoban
ArtsEmerson’s latest offering, the incongruously-named It’s A Motherf$%*ing Pleasure by disability-led theatre company FlawBored, is a riotous, blistering indictment of identity politics that pushes audiences to look at their own discomfort when interacting with differently-abled or marginalized groups. The production uses ableism (defining people by their disabilities) as a springboard for the absurd lengths people sometimes go to attempt to make “others” feel comfortable – while it’s clear they’re grossly uncomfortable themselves. And although ableism is the focus of this show, it could easily be a stand-in for excessive white guilt or other well-intentioned but ultimately disingenuous gestures.
Cast of GBSC’s ‘The Play That Goes Wrong‘. Photos by Maggie Hall Photography
‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ –Conceived and written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. Directed by Tyler Rosati; Original Scenic Design by Peter Colao; Scenic Design by Danielle Ibrahim; Lighting Design by Katie Whittemore; Costume Design by E. Rosser; Sound Design by James Cannon. Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company at 395 Main Street, Stoneham through April 19th
By Mike Hoban
One of the beautiful things about live theater, in addition to the communal experience, is that literally anything can happen onstage. Dropped lines, missing props, doors that won’t open, and, sadly, even accidents that injure the actors (as happened with “Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark” in New York). All of these mishaps and more – way more – occur in rapid-fire succession during Greater Boston Stage Company’s (GBSC) riotous production of The Play That Goes Wrong, which also serves as an homage to the “show must go on!” determination of community and fringe theater troupes.
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 30th.
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.
Marianna Bassham, Nael Nacer in Huntington’s ‘The Triumph of Love’. Photos by Liza Voll
‘The Triumph of Love.’ Written by Pierre Carlet de Marivaux. Adapted by Stephen Wadsworth. Directed by Loretta Greco. Scenic and Costume Design by Junghyun Georgia Lee. Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design by Tom Watson. Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind. Composer and Sound Design by Fan Zhang. Presented by The Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston through April 6, 2025.
By Shelley A. Sackett
Pierre Carlet de Marivaux’s “The Triumph of Love,” which premiered in 1732 and is at The Huntington through April 6, is like a trifle dessert, with light spongey layers of raucously funny deceptions, disguises and mistaken identities soaked in a sherry-spiked pastoral period set design. Instead of the traditional alternating tiers of sweet jams and custard, however, Marivaux has substituted a bitter concoction of calculated cruelty and manipulation. The end result is a sugar-coated confection that leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth.
Robin Bloodworth, Jonathan Fielding, andRobert Kropf in Harbor Stage Company’s “My Dinner with Andre” Photo: Joe Kenehan
My Dinner With Andre’ – 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 Andre’ runs from March 13th – March 30th at 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116.
By Charlotte Snow
Many great conversations happen at a table, over the course of a meal, when thoughts are shared and hearts are bared. The ritual of devouring sustenance and drinking in words can be deeply human. Harbor Stage Company’s My Dinner With Andre endeavors to serve a slice of life, but the meat and potatoes are far too small a portion and leave the audience famished.
