Boston Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 7

BWW Review: MR. PARENT at Lyric Stage Company Of Boston
by Erik Bailey - January 23, 2022

MR PARENT tells the story of a teacher struggling to find the balance between doing what you love and doing what you feel like you need to be doing....

BWW Review: WILD: A MUSICAL BECOMING at American Repertory Theater
by Erik Bailey - December 11, 2021

American Repertory Theater’s WILD: A MUSICAL BECOMING does not hold back in its message, and truth be told, it shouldn’t. With a book by V and a score by Justin Tranter and Caroline Pennell (with contributions by V and Idina Menzel), WILD forces its audiences to think about the choices they make and...

BWW Review: IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS THE MUSICAL at Berkshire Theatre Group Helps to Make the Season Merry and Bright.
by Marc Savitt - December 06, 2021

There is much to enjoy in this stage adaptation of the 1954 American Musical film. This production features David Adkins as General Henry Waverly; Allison Briner Dardenne as Martha Watson; Alanna Saunders as Judy Haynes; Claire Saunders as Betty Haynes; Michael Starr as Phil Davis and Michael Wart...

BWW Review: MACBETH IN STRIDE at American Repertory Theatre
by Erik Bailey - November 01, 2021

“What’s the difference between what you’re taught and what you know?” are the first words the audience hears in Whitney White’s “Macbeth in Stride.” This rock concert meets Shakespearean play invites the audience to reflect on this question....

BWW Review: THE CHAIRS at Shakespeare & Company
by Marc Savitt - October 17, 2021

THE CHAIRS is an absurdist 'tragic farce' by Eugène Ionesco. It was written in 1952 and debuted the same year. THE CHAIRS concerns two characters, known as Old Man and Old Woman, frantically preparing chairs for a series of invisible guests who are coming to hear an orator reveal the Old Man's disco...

BWW Review: SHIRLEY VALENTINE at Berkshire Theatre Group Reminds That Most “Don't Do What We Want To Do, We Do What We Have To Do”.
by Marc Savitt - October 04, 2021

In the hands of Hill and May audiences sit back, relax, and fall spellbound as she shares stories of her very average ordinary daily existence. May’s command of the stage for two hours is impressive. Her Shirley is comfortable, relaxed, and easy to get familiar with. She evolves into a wise and t...

BWW Review: A CROSSING at Barrington Stage Company Serves Up a Veritable Feast For The Eyes And Ears.
by Marc Savitt - October 02, 2021

As we filed out of the theatre following the performance of the World Premiere Musical, A CROSSING, I leaned in toward BSC Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and said, “I am torn between two words - magnificent and gorgeous”. She replied, “I will take them both”, and I assure you deservedly so....

BWW Review: HANG at Shakespeare & Company Offers A Powerful Reminder That We All Have Choices
by Marc Savitt - September 13, 2021

You likely have little to no knowledge or information about this new play that enjoyed a successful run at the Royal Court in London and now makes its regional debut at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox.  I will cut to the heart of the matter and state that both those who enjoy intrigue as well as good...

BWW Review: SISTER SORRY at Barrington Stage Company the World Premiere of a Suspense Filled New Drama
by Marc Savitt - August 20, 2021

I found myself with an overwhelming sense that what I was watching play out could easily have been an episode of television’s Law and Order or perhaps, more appropriately, the Broadway production of EQUUS from the 1970s. ...

BWW Review: NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN at Berkshire Theatre Group Provides an Eye Opening, Powerful, Stirring, and Unique Theatrical Experience.
by Marc Savitt - August 16, 2021

Director and Choreographer, Gerry McIntyre says, “At a time when people are feeling the need to do something in our hurting world but don’t know how to start, this production is an incredible reminder that you just need to take the first step. Or write the first note. Nina Simone: Four Women meditat...

BWW Review: BOCA at Barrington Stage Company Brings Sunshine to the Berkshires
by Marc Savitt - August 07, 2021

In BOCA, we follow a group of retirees who, between rounds of golf, bridge and Botox, can be found bickering, gossiping and living it up like they’re teenagers all over again. Don’t worry, Sophia, this is NOT Shady Pines. The residents of the Royal Palm Polo Club, a gated community that offers Kund...

BWW Review: ART at Shakespeare & Company Examines the Value of Friendship
by Marc Savitt - August 03, 2021

Allyn Burrows, became aware of the piece by Yasmina Reza when it ran in New York in the late 1990’s and it has been with him ever since.  Given that the play was translated into English by Christopher Hampton twenty-five years ago, along with the current common need for something to laugh about - AR...

BWW Review: ELEANOR at Barrington Stage Company
by Marc Savitt - July 22, 2021

Every aspect of this production works together seamlessly and synergistically.  What's more, the team deploys seemingly simple techniques and tactics with very positive results.  The scenery consists of a park bench and a few sheets of fabric.  There is one actor in only one costume with no changes....

BWW Review: BECOMING OTHELLO: A BLACK GIRLS JOURNEY at Shakespeare & Company
by Marc Savitt - July 19, 2021

Provides a tasty smorgasbord comprised of the layers contributing to the woman, as well as her depth, dynamism, energy, and intensity. The performance is primarily, a recounting of Byrd’s life and experiences. Like the woman, herself, the piece is an amalgamation of myriad events, issues, topics, ...

BWW Review: KING LEAR at Shakespeare & Company
by Marc Savitt - July 10, 2021

The return of the performing arts across the region over the past few weeks has given Berkshire theatre goers much to celebrate.  With the opening production of KING LEAR, Shakespeare & Company increases the list of reasons, “when power to flattery bows”....

BWW Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST at Berkshire Theatre Group
by Marc Savitt - June 26, 2021

Oscar Wilde's much-loved and enduring masterpiece, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST tells the story of two bachelor friends, dandy Algernon Moncrieff and reliable John (Jack) Worthing, as they take on double lives to court the attentions of the desirable Gwendolyn Fairfax and the romantic Cecily Card...

BWW Review: CHESTER BAILEY at Barrington Stage Company
by Marc Savitt - June 25, 2021

Sharing details regarding the plot would be a disservice to the piece and those who will accept my encouragement to experience it for themselves. During the roughly 90 minutes (with no intermission) the pair of skillful actors present two broadly disparate seeming individuals mostly in a series of i...

BWW Review: DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHTS at The Roxbury International Film Festival
by Andrew Child - June 22, 2021

The Roxbury International Film Festival, New England’s largest film festival celebrating works by and about people of color is happening through June 26 with in-person screenings, online viewing options, and plenty of exciting events. I was able to catch three of the documentary highlights from this...

BWW Review: WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE? at Barrington Stage Company Kicks Off the 2021 Season in Style.
by Marc Savitt - June 18, 2021

BSC Artistic Director, Julianne Boyd, who directs this production, said that WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE? Is a tribute to Gershwin’s indominable spirit and love-for-life.  It is also a joyous and triumphant return of live theatre to the Berkshires following the bleakness of the pandemic....

BWW Review: ISLAND OF HOPES, ISLAND OF TEARS (WORKING TITLE) at Guerilla Opera
by Andrew Child - May 22, 2021

Guerilla Opera’s artistic director, Aliana de la Guardia, hosted a warmly informal Zoom preview of the company’s current work in progress, Island of Hope, Island of Tears (working title) which served effectively as a promotion of a planned in-person workshop as well as an opportunity to engage in di...

BWW Review: MOMMY'S DEAD AND THEY BURIED HER IN MOSCOW at Nervous Theatre
by Andrew Child - April 19, 2021

As long as the current standard theatrical canon is taught in schools, young artists will continue to riff on the sanctified artists from their syllabi. Thus, America has seen a recent trend in irreverence toward the works of Anton Chekhov....

BWW Review: ROW at Williamstown Theatre Festival On Audible Theater
by Marc Savitt - April 08, 2021

In response to the unprecedented challenges the last year brought, WTF embarked upon an innovative artistic endeavor that ensured the voices of their artists could be heard loudly and clearly around the globe. Four of the seven offerings in the 2020 WTF Season on Audible Theatre are World Premiers i...

BWW Review: THE IMPRESARIO at Enigma Chamber Opera
by Andrew Child - April 08, 2021

There is a lot good about Enigma Chamber Opera’s new meta-comedy adaptation of Mozart’s The Impresario, but the highest praise must be reserved for its formatting as a highly scroll-able hour-long entertainment (mainly because it is actually at most a 20 minute performance trapped inside a redundant...

BWW Review: WISH YOU WERE HERE at Williamstown Theatre Festival On Audible Theater
by Marc Savitt - April 01, 2021

WISH YOU WERE HERE presents a reality which, on the surface, might seem rather different than our own, but below is far more similar.  In the final scenes / moments, it also pointed out, to me, how relatively “good” Americans have it.  Then again, like all works of art, what it says to you will vary...

BWW Review: PARADISE BLUE at Williamstown Theatre Festival On Audible Theater
by Marc Savitt - March 27, 2021

WTF Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield’s choice to revive PARADISE BLUE is another of many highly relevant selections given prevailing racial tensions.  It also demonstrates that a new play, 'born' at Williamstown, that the New York Times suggested was “unlikely to be final” in its form can evolve a...