Review by James Wilkinson

 

3/Fifths’ Trapped in a Traveling Minstrel Show. Conceived and Written by James Scruggs. Directed by Mark Rayment. Scenic and Graphic Design by Michael O’Reilly. Video Design by Jason Batcheller. Lighting Design by Bridget K. Doyle. Sound Design by Mark Van Hare. Choreographed by Nejla Yatkin. Makeup Artist: Brian Strumwasser. Presented by Sleeping Weazel through November 11.

 

There’s an inherent irony present in this review which I cannot help but appreciate. A white male is going to tell you what he thinks about a show that is very concerned with examining what happens when black men do not have control over their own narratives. If this is the kind of scenario that bothers you, then feel free to check out after this paragraph (I promise that I won’t take it personally). I’ll boil the review down to this: You should go see Sleeping Weazel’s production of James Scrugg’s play, 3/Fifths’ Trapped in a Traveling Minstrel Show. You should see it, form your own opinion on the work and contribute to the conversation that Scruggs and his director, Mark Rayment are trying to start.

 

Still with me? Fantastic…

Read more “Sleeping Weazel Combines Thought-Provoking Message, Humor with “Traveling Minstrel Show””

 

by Michele Markarian

 

‘Kiss – Written by Guillermo Calderon. Directed by David Dower. Presented by ArtsEmerson, at the Emerson Paramount Center, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, 559 Washington St, Boston, through November 19.

 

“Kiss” begins as a televised performance of what appears to be a melodrama from Syria, loaded with betrayal of both friendship and love, staged by young Americans. The character of Hadeel (Ashley Dixon) is being propositioned by the character of Yusef (Derek Brian Demkowicz), despite the fact that both of them are friends with their respective others, the characters Ahmed (Brandon Beach) and Bana (DeeDee Elbieh). “Hate is fire – the beginning of a second love,” Yusef tells Hadeel, who tries to resist him. “Right now you think you hate me, but that’s just the beginning”.  Hurt feelings and jealousy come into play with the arrival of Ahmed and later, Bana, especially after Bana announces triumphantly that she has been kissed. She does chastise Yusef for his odd revolt from the relationship with “Before you break up, you have to become distant and weird”, which he has not done.

Read more “ArtsEmerson Delivers Tense and Moving “Kiss””

 

By Michele Markarian

 

In the Heights.  Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Book Quiara Alegria Hudes.  Directed by Rachel Bertone.   Presented by Wheelock Family Theatre, 200 The Riverway, Boston, MA, through November 19.

 

I don’t know if anyone remembers watching the 2008 Tony awards, but the winner of that year’s Best Musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda, rapped his acceptance speech. “What an odd little guy”, I thought, with a mixture of admiration and disdain (even for the Tonys, it was an unusual form of acceptance speech). I never felt compelled to see “In the Heights”, but given the quality of Wheelock Family Theatre’s musical productions, I figured, why not?  This wonderful show, expertly directed and choreographed by Rachel Bertone, does not disappoint.

Read more ““In the Heights” Soars at Wheelock Family Theatre”

 

By Michele Markarian

 

‘Souvenir’ – Written by Stephen Temperley.  Directed by Spiro Veloudos.  Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA through November 19.

 

“How many people have already seen the show?” asked Producing Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos during his curtain speech. A large number of hands went up in the audience. “What the heck?  Who sees a show twice?” I thought. After seeing “Souvenir” once, I get it.  This is one of the funniest shows I’ve seen all year, with its two performers wonderfully in tune with each another.

Read more “Lyric’s “Souvenir” a Keeper”

 

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

 

The opening show of Providence College’s Blackfriar’s Theatre is “Bat Boy:The Musical” based on a tabloid story in The Weekly World News. It is a musical reminiscent of “Little Shop of Horrors” and “The Rocky Horror Show” done in a campy manner, lots of blood and gore depicted by lighting. A half boy/half bat creature is a discovered in a cave near Hope Falls, West Virginia in 1953. The local Sheriff brings Bat Boy to the home of the veterinarian, Dr. Parker, where he is eventually accepted as a member of the family and taught to act “normal.” They teach him how to speak and he yearns for acceptance eventually falling in love with Shelly, the daughter of the family incurring the wrath of his foster father. Bat Boy is happy with his new life but when he naively tries to fit in with the narrow-minded people of Hope Falls, they turn on him.

Read more “BATBOY:THE MUSICAL (Providence College)”

 

By Mike Hoban

 

‘Silent Sky’ – Written by Lauren Gunderson; Directed by Sean Daniels; Set Design by James J. Fenton; Costume Design by Anne Kennedy; Lighting Design by Brian J. Lilienthal; and Original Composition and Sound by David Keeton. Presented by Merrimack Repertory Theatre at the 50 East Merrimack Street through November 12

 

Lauren Gunderson’s ‘Silent Sky’, now being given glorious life by Merrimack Rep’s first rate production, is proof positive that science can indeed be fun. It certainly helps that it’s the science of the stars – and its infinite possibilities – at the heart of this dramedy, which is uplifting without hitting us over the head with the very real importance of its subject matter. Silent Sky tells the story of Henrietta Swan Leavitt, the groundbreaking astronomer who devised a method of analysis that established “the relationship between period and luminosity in Cepheid variables” – which essentially provided the building blocks for the discovery that the universe is considerably bigger (by billions of times) than previously thought.

Read more “‘Silent Sky’ Shines Brightly at MRT”

 

by Mike Hoban

 

A Guide for the Homesick – Written by Ken Urban. Directed by Colman Domingo. Scenic Design by William Boles; Original Music and Sound Design by Lindsay Jones; Costume Design by Kara Harmon; Lighting Design by Russell H. Champa. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, through Nov. 4.

 

About a third of the way through A Guide for the Homesick, the outstanding new drama being presented by the Huntington Theatre Company, it becomes apparent that this is not going to be your typical “boy-meets-boy, boy-is-closeted, boy-gets-boy” story. Instead, what we get is an utterly engrossing new work that weaves religiopolitical and mental health issues into a tale of two men (who just met) sharing their guilt and remorse over their potentially life-destroying screw-ups in a place far from home. The play, written by Huntington Playwriting Fellow Ken Urban, features two Boston-born protagonists, and is fittingly receiving its premiere at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Calderwood Pavilion.

Read more “Huntington’s “A Guide for the Homesick” Artfully Mixes Global Politics, Personal Pain”