by Michele Markarian

“Queens Girl in the World” – Written by Caleen Sinnette Jennings. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Co-produced by The Nora@Central Square Theater, The Front Porch Arts Collective, and The Hangar Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through October 31.

Jacqueline Marie Butler (Jasmine M. Rush)  is a black girl living in Queens, the overprotected daughter of middle-class parents, a doctor from the Caribbean and his elegant wife, Grace. Her friend Persephone – “I hate Persephone Wilson when she’s not my best friend” – lives next door.  Jacqueline Marie’s proper mother dispenses such as advice as “Once a lady lays down in the gutter, she can never be a lady again.” Once Jacqueline Marie is discovered in the company of Earl Waddlington, a boy she meets inadvertently through Persephone, Grace decides that Jacqueline Marie needs to associate with a different class of people. Instead of going to her local PS, Jacqueline finds herself taking the train into Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to attend the primarily Jewish Irwin School, where she is one of three black students. Nonetheless, she finds friendship, love, and care from the students and faculty there, even though, as she says, “I’m always afraid. Afraid of being the wrong me in the wrong place.” Manhattan Jacqueline is very different from Queens Jacqueline. 

Read more “Rush Delivers Tour de Force Performance in “Queens Girl in the World” at Central Square”

Review by James Wilkinson

‘A Christmas Carol’ – Based on the novel by Charles Dickens. Adapted and Directed by Debra Wise. Scenic Designer: David Fichter. Costume Design: Leslie Held. Costume & Properties Designer: Elizabeth Rocha. Lighting Designer: John Malinowski. Sound Designer: Mark Bruckner. Dialect Design: Charles Linshaw. Choreographer: Susan Dibble. Presented by Central Square Theatre at 450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge through December 29, 2019

I suspect that there are some theater critics who approach the holiday season with a higher than usual sense of dread, (I mean, don’t we all have some degree of dread at this time of year?). The sunsets arrive earlier, the cold weather streams in, and all of the theaters whip out their annual holiday show for another go-around. The source of dread isn’t the prospect of watching these productions, (which are often delightful); it’s the idea of trying to come up with something new to say about a show that you’ve seen any number of times before and will see any number of times again. (For the record, this is my first time reviewing a production of A Christmas Carol, but seeing as I have no plans of checking out anytime soon, I know it’ll be far from the last.) Add in the additional hurdle that the sources for so many of the holiday theater shows are fairly well ingrained in our collective pop culture. When everyone goes in already knowing the story, beats, and even individual lines, just what is a critic supposed to do?

Read more “Central Square Theatre’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Warmly Stirs Memories”

by Michele Markarian

“Cloud Nine”, by Caryl Churchill.  Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner.  Presented by The Nora Theatre Company, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through June 30.

Given our current climate of the contraction/expansion of sexuality and all of its permutations, the decision of The Nora Theatre Company to produce Caryl Churchill’s “Cloud Nine” is an apt and timely one. Churchill presents us with sexuality in all of its extremes, often hilariously, sometimes disturbingly. Lee Mikeska Gardner’s excellent direction and the stellar acting by the seven-member cast make this an unforgettable theater-going experience.

Read more “Strong Acting Marks Nora Theatre’s “Cloud Nine””

By Michele Markarian

‘Photograph 51’ – Written by Anna Ziegler. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Kristin Loeffler, Scenic Designer; Chelsea Kerl, Costume Designer; Elizabeth Cahill, Sound Designer; Aja M Jackson, Lighting Designer. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge through April 15.

Rosalind Franklin (Stacy Fischer) came of age as a scientist during the 40s and 50s, when it was unusual for young women to pursue such a path. 1951 finds the x-ray chrystallographer in a research lab at King’s College, London, where she is assigned the task of working on x-ray diffraction (don’t panic; there is a wonderful glossary of terms in the show’s program). Franklin finds herself in a boys’ club, where her colleague, the awkward Maurice Wilkins (Barlow Adamson) decides to dine in the male-only dining room on his new lab partner’s first day, rather than accompany her to lunch. Unsurprisingly, this gets them off on the wrong foot. 

Read more “‘Photograph 51’ Takes a Molecular Look at Science of Relationships”

by Mike Hoban

A Christmas Carol – Directed by Debra Wise; Scenic Design by David Fichter; Costume Design by Leslie Held & Elizabeth Rocha; Lighting Design by John R. Malinowski; Sound Design by Mark Bruckner. Presented by The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater at the Central Square Theater at 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge through December 30

Central Square Theater’s inspired production of A Christmas Carol is proof positive that, in the right hands, you really can take an iconic story, deviate a bit from conventional characterizations and staging, and still present a work that will enthrall even staunchest of traditionalists. This version of A Christmas Carol keeps its roots firmly planted in Dickens’ Victorian England, while offering a bit of inclusive multiculturalism, featuring depictions of the characters that you’re not likely to see in the old black-and-white movie versions of the holiday favorite. But Central Square seems less interested in scoring political or sociocultural points than re-imagining this classic in a way that more closely reflects today’s audiences, and the changes actually enliven the story.

Read more “Central Square’s Joyous ‘A Christmas Carol’ Melds Victorian Era with Present Day”