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?

Two Unlikely Buddies Talk Trash in Gloucester Stage’s Clever Comedy, ‘The Garbologists’

July 10, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Paul Melendy and Thomika Marie Bridwell in Gloucester Stage Company’s “The Garbologists.”
Photos by Shawn G. Henry

‘The Garbologists’ — Written by Lindsay Joelle. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company at 267 East Main St., Gloucester, through July 26.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Rebecca Bradshaw, Producing Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage Company and director of its first-rate The Garbologists, couldn’t have timed it better. With Republic Services sanitation workers in the second week of their strike, garbage is on everyone’s mind as bags pile up on the North Shore and throughout Greater Boston.

Trinity Rep’s ‘Blues For an Alabama Sky’ Could Use Some More Sky, but Its Blues Are Full Of Heart

June 9, 2025April 10, 2026 CJ WilliamsLeave a comment

Cast of Trinity Rep’s ‘Blues For an Alabama Sky’. Photos by Mark Turek

Blues for an Alabama Sky – Written by Pearl Cleage; Directed by Jackie Davis; Scenic Designer Michael McGarty; Costume Designer Amber Volmer; Lighting Designer Erica Maholmes; Sound Designer Larry D. Fowler, Jr; Fight Choreographer Mark Rose; Vocal Coach Rebecca Gibel; Stage Manager Kelsey Emry; and Megan Dilworth as Delia; Taavon Gamnbe as Guy; Cloteal L. Horne as Angel; Dereks Thomas as Sam; Quinn West as Leland (“Alabama”) . Presented by Trinity Repertory Theatre, Providence, RI through

By C.J. Williams

What type of world is it in which a storm can blow through and leave nothing changed? You might say magical realism, Alice-in-Wonderland, or someone’s dreamscape – but Blues for an Alabama Sky is set in hard-as-nails Harlem during Prohibition, and while the storm of the plot in a well-structured play ought to leave the characters comedically or tragically changed, it doesn’t. Thankfully, the audience still gets to experience a few high points: humor and horror.

Speakeasy’s ‘Jaja’ Combines Comedy and Harsh Reality

May 14, 2025April 10, 2026 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.

Moonbox’s ‘Crowns’ Raises the Roof

April 30, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Cast of Moonbox Productions’ “Crowns” at Arrow Street Arts. Photos: Chelcy Garrett

Moonbox Productions presents ‘Crowns’ by Regina Taylor, adapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Mayberry. Regine Vital, Director. David Coleman, Musical Director. Davron Monroe, Associate Director. Kurt Douglas, Choreographer. Isaak Olson, Lighting Designer. Baron E. Pugh, Scenic Designer. James Cannon, Sound Designer. Danielle Ibrahim, Props Designer. E Rosser, Costume Designer. Schanaya Barrows, Wig Designer. At Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, through May 4, 2025.

By Shelley A. Sackett

In Crowns, playwright Regina Taylor’s paean to the Black women who held their families, churches and communities together, gospel music, fanciful hats and swanky dresses take center stage. For 90 intermission-less minutes, this jukebox musical rocks the intimate Arrow St. Arts with two dozen songs and a narrative that traces the history of Blacks in America, from slavery to the Jim Crow south to the Civil Rights movement to present-day Black-on-Black violence in Brooklyn’s tougher neighborhoods.

Alvin Ailey‘s Legacy Uplifts and Transforms — As Always

April 28, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Boch Center Wang Theatre. Photos by Paul Kolnik

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston. At Boch Center Wang Theatre. Run has ended.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Like daylight savings time, red-winged blackbirds and early flowering trees, Celebrity Series of Boston’s presentation of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is an annual harbinger of spring. Its arrival is cause for celebration for the reliably breathtaking performances that await and as a sign that, at last, the long, dark, COLD winter months are behind us.

In Huntington’s “Don’t Eat the Mangos,” a Matriarchy is Reclaimed When Dark Family Secrets are Revealed

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

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.

Short Take: “Her Portmanteau” is a Moving Paean to the Strength of Family

April 6, 2025April 10, 2026 Michele MarkarianLeave a comment

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.

Jenece Upton Channels Billie Holiday Body and Soul in ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at MRT

February 23, 2025April 10, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

Jenece Upton in Merrimack Rep’s ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’

‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ by Lanie Robertson. Directed by Candice Handy. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman. Scenic Design by Tony Hardin. Costume Design by Yao Chen. Lighting Design by Brian Lillienthal. Sound Design by David Remedios. At Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell, MA. Run has ended.

By Shelley A. Sackett

I was lucky enough to squeeze into the next to the last balcony row at the sold-out last performance of ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. Based on comments by colleagues and friends, Jenece Upton in the title role was this season’s not-to-be-missed performance.