Fresh Ink’s ‘Girlish’ – Young Women to Watch

February 8, 2019February 9, 2019 Theater Mirror1 Comment

(Atlee Jensen and Willa Eigo in Frsh Ink’s “Girlish”)

By Linda Chin

‘Girlish’ – Written by Alexa Derman; Directed by Melanie Garber; Scenic Design by Michelle Sparks; Lighting Design by Harrison Pearse Burke; Costume Design by Liz Fenstermaker; Sound Design by Benjamin Finn. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at the Plaza Blackbox at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through February 16

Greater Boston’s theater companies do not generally plan their seasons in concert with each other, so in the cornucopia of play offerings by companies large, mid-size and small, professional/commercial and fringe, it is a jackpot when multiple stories featuring underrepresented demographics make it to the stage. With the Lyric Stage’s recent production of The Wolves, Company One-ART’s co-production of Miss You Like Hell, and Fresh Ink’s current production of Girlish, 2019 has already been a theatrical trifecta of teenage coming-of-age stories featuring very talented theater artists.

Speakeasy’s ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ Silently Sends Up Spirituality Industry

January 8, 2019January 22, 2019 Theater Mirror1 Comment

by Mike Hoban

Small Mouth Sounds – Written by Bess Wohl; Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Mary Lauve; Lighting Design by Annie Wiegand; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at The Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through February 2.

If you’ve ever been skeptical of the kind of spirituality-lite movements whose adherents sometimes mouth the words of the Dali Lama while still behaving with all of the empathy of a corporate raider, you’re going to love Small Mouth Sounds, now playing at SpeakEasy Stage. This very funny but deceptively poignant play by Bess Wohl lovingly skewers the spirituality industry while leaving the door open to the possibility that the universe may indeed work in mysterious ways – when we’re in enough pain to seek a better path.

AKA Theatre Dives Into the Woods

November 24, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

In the Forest She Grew Fangs – Written by Stephen Spotswood. Directed by Kelly Smith. Scenic/Properties Designer: Maggie Kearnan. Lighting Designer: Samuel J. Biondolillo. Assistant Lighting Designer: Brian Ward. Sound Designer: Julianne Mason. Costume Designer: Rachael Linker. Movement Designer: Jessica Scout Malone. Produced by AKA Theatre at The Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts November 16-December 2, 2018.

AKA Theatre’s production of Stephen Spotswood’s In the Forest She Grew Fangs is a mad fever dream of a play. The events occur in a recognizable Smalltown, USA, but the production is chasing after something much more heightened. The dead branches of the surrounding woods are closing in like the claws of a wild animal. At every opportunity, the performance space is soaked with burning reds and deep blues. Acts of violence lurk somewhere on the periphery of the characters’ daily routines. A hunter finds an animal that’s been torn to pieces. It hints at a greater threat hidden within the characters that will erupt center stage in the play’s final stretch.

“Allegiance” a Piece of America’s Dark History

May 13, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

‘Allegiance’ – Book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo, and Lorenzo Thione, Music and Lyrics by Jay Kuo. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, through June 2.

“Every Pearl Harbor Day, they trot me out to prove that I’m still alive”, says the elderly Sam Kimura (Gary Thomas Ng), a decorated World War II war hero. If Sam sounds bitter, it is because the bombing of Pearl Harbor produced a declaration of war against Japan that adversely affected loyal Japanese Americans, including Sam and his family. It was just a few months afterwards that the US government forcibly rounded up 110,000 Japanese American from California, Washington, Arizona and Oregon. Families, just by virtue of looking like the enemy, had to sell their homes, businesses and items for a pittance of what they were worth to take up residence in camps, interned behind barbed wire.

“Still, now” Effectively Combines Movement, Drama

May 9, 2018May 9, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Still, now – Written by Katie Bender; Directed by Amy Meyer; Scenic Designer, Rebecca Lehrhoff; Costume Designer, Sophia Giordano; Lighting Designer, Sophia Giordano; Sound Designer, Amy Meyer. Presented by Heart & Dagger Productions at Martin Hall at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston through May 13

Long before spiritual posers like Oprah and Anthony Robbins began extolling the virtues of “failure” to the masses, there was 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma, who once imparted, “There is no failure. It’s only unfinished success.” So what we often view as failure in the traditional sense can actually be valuable lessons learned that we can pull out of our consciousness when we are truly ready to apply them. That would appear to be the one of central themes of playwright Katie Bender’s moving and insightful new play, Still, now, currently being given its world premiere for an all-too-short run (it closes this weekend) at Martin Hall at the Boston Center for the Arts.

The Huntington Personalizes 2008 Economic Collapse with Gripping ‘Skeleton Crew’

March 12, 2018March 12, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Skeleton Crew – Written by Dominique Morisseau; Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian Scenic Design by Wilson Chin; Costume Design by Ari Fulton; Lighting Design by Adam Honoré; Sound Design by Nathan Leigh. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through March 31.

Most of us know what it is like to compromise our ideals to some degree in the workplace, whether we’re working in a boardroom for a large corporation or slinging burgers in a fast food joint. The nature of everyday workplace life often requires us to make ethical decisions that place job security and/or advancement above our personal ideals and dreams, and it only becomes more difficult to do the right thing when the stakes are raised to a level that will directly affect our ability to survive.

Sleeping Weazel Provides an Intimate Winter Escape

February 21, 2018February 21, 2018 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

A Winter Gathering – Production Designer: Mirta Tocci. Lighting Designer: Colin McNamee. Sound Designer: Oliver Seagle. Presented by Sleeping Weazel at the BCA Black Box, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through February 24^th.

When I walked into Sleeping Weazel’s production of A Winter Gathering, I had been awake for thirteen hours and had probably spent about a good third of that time staring at my phone. Not for any sort of emergency purpose, just the regular checking of email, Facebook, text messages and blogs that has slowly grown to be the new normal of daily activity. I went into the theater space with the sort of addled static brain feeling that comes from spending so much time with your eyeballs glued to the glowing screen of a handheld device.

Zeitgeist’s “Faceless” Artfully Melds Current, Timeless Themes

September 21, 2017September 25, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Faceless’ – Written by Selina Fillinger; Directed by David Miller; Set Design by David Miller; Lighting Design by Michael Clark Wonson; Sound Design by Jay Mobley; and Costume Design by Elizabeth Cole Sheehan. Presented by the Zeitgeist Stage Company at Plaza Black Box Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St. Boston through October 7.

There’s a lot going on in ‘Faceless’, the riveting new courtroom drama now making its New England premiere at the BCA’s Black Box Theater. For starters, there’s the specter of Islamic terrorism, the religious intolerance it has spawned, and the effect of social media on our decision-making process from the current topic file, along with the time-tested themes of screwed-up family dynamics, dealing with grief, and blind political ambition lurking in the background. If it sounds like Faceless covers a whole lot of territory in 90-minutes, it does – but director David Miller and his talented cast take the ambitious material and deliver an emotionally charged production that succeeds on most levels.

“American Moor” a Catalyst for Change

August 2, 2017August 2, 2017 Theater Mirror1 Comment

By Michele Markarian

“American Moor”. Written by Keith Hamilton Cobb. Directed by Kim Weild. Presented by O.W.I. (Bureau of Theatre) and Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. At Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, through Aug. 12.

At the end of this deeply personal, soul-mining dialogue, with an invisible but audible white Director, the Actor, played by the magnetic Keith Hamilton Cobb, asks him to tell him what scares him, what makes him feel deeply. And it’s an appropriate question, because experiencing Cobb perform and being privy to his inner thoughts and emotions somehow makes us privy to our own. Read more ““American Moor” a Catalyst for Change”

LAB’s “Yellow Bird Chase” Great Fun for Kids – And Adults

May 17, 2017May 21, 2017 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Yellow Bird Chase’ – Conceived and Directed by Jason Slavick; Written by the LAB Ensemble; Scenic Design and Props by Rebecca Lehrhoff; Puppetry Direction & Design by Penny Benson; Costume Design by Kendra Bell; Lighting Design by PJ Strachman. Presented by Liars & Believers (LAB) at the Boston Center for the Arts, Martin Hall, 527 Tremont Street Boston through May 21.

There’s a lot of fun to be had at Liars & Believers’ expanded production of ‘Yellow Bird Chase’, the laugh-filled fairy tale with music that marks their debut as Artists in Residence at the Boston Center for the Arts. Originally developed as a 30 minute piece for the 2015 “Outside the Box” festival, “Yellow Bird” is 70 minute mash-up of clowning, puppetry, and cabaret-style music that is pure entertainment. And while the production appears to be aimed mostly at the kiddies, there’s still plenty to keep the adults in the audience amused, particularly if they’re fans of iconic 60’s pop tunes.