BWW Review: Wilbury Theatre Delivers Raw and Real DRY LANDSeptember 22, 2015DRY LAND is a play that is both shocking and probably resonant with more people that you would necessarily think. Themes of life, death, friendship and ambition are woven together to create a snapshot of life that feels incredibly real and intimate. It's a play intended to challenge the audience and make them feel uncomfortable, especially considering the young ages of the main characters and the writer Ruby Rae Speigel.
BWW Review: Gamm Theatre Kicks off the 2015-2016 Season with a Stunning A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRESeptember 23, 2015A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is one of those plays that is so ubiquitous it's almost become a cliche. Like one-liners from Casablanca or references to Citizen Kane, we become so used to the shorthand, it's almost easy to forget the masterpiece that embedded those lines and images into everyone's brain. That's why it's refreshing and borderline surprising to be reminded of exactly why certain works become classic. Through the near-flawless execution of this masterpiece, The Gamm takes us back to 1947 and the heartbreak in The French Quarter.
BWW Review: Epic Theatre Rules the Yard with THESE RUTHLESS BITCHESSeptember 8, 2015Epic Theatre kicks off their page to stage season with a delightfully catty update to Clare Boothe Luce classic The Women retitled THESE RUTHLESS BITCHES. All of the original themes are still present: loyalty to men, the notion of the Ideal Woman, but everything is slightly sideways in that this re-telling takes place in a Women's Prison. Comparisons to Orange is the New Black are obvious and easy to make, but telling the story of upper class women in a prison rather than a parlor works surprisingly well. Instead of being captive by the rules of society, which may not ring as true for the audience today, these women are literally captive by the legal system and have merely transferred their social hierarchies and rules to a more drab environment.
BWW Review: Head Trick Theatre's Pastorally Pleasing AS YOU LIKE ITAugust 31, 2015Shakespeare in the park is one of the best parts of summer, and it's exciting that Head Trick Theatre has mounted a production that is affordable, family-friendly and energetic. AS YOU LIKE IT is the perfect outdoor production, and using the beautiful woods of Blackstone Park as its backdrop, and very minimal sets that allow the dialogue and performances to shine as they should.
BWW Review: The Thoroughly Satisfying THE BOYS OF ST. MATTHEW'S PRESENT TARTUFFE at Epic Theatre CompanyAugust 17, 2015Tartuffe or The Imposter, by Moliere was first performed in 1664, which may make potential theatregoers feel like they are doing something smart and sophisticated on a Friday or Saturday night by attending this production re-dubbed THE BOYS OF ST. MATTHEWS PRESENT TARTUFFE. It's a smart move, to be sure, but perhaps not quite in the way one would imagine. Kevin Broccoli's Epic Theatre Company has taken this French classic and added the frame of it being a forbidden production in an all boys school, to turn it into a raunchy, homoerotic and hilarious romp that had the tiny audience roaring with laughter.
BWW Reviews: The Sidesplitting and Strange MELANCHOLY PLAY: A CHAMBER MUSICAL at Trinity RepJune 4, 2015Melancholy Play: A Chamber Musical, begins as one might expect-- with a song about being melancholy. Set in what looks like the aftermath of a New Year's eve party with gold tinsel strewn about the floor, and a sad, saggy banner on the back wall. Our five characters regale the audience a song of melancholy setting the audience up for a witty, if nonsensical 90 minutes.