Review: DELIGHTFUL 'TWELFTH NIGHT' AT GAMM THEATRE
Twelfth Night is possibly Shakespeare's most brilliant comedy, packed with ribald wordplay, mistaken identities, and revenge, tied up in a tangled web of unrequited love. The slick, energetic production at the Gamm Theatre gets every bit of it. This is a dazzling show, stuffed with talent in every role, and staged with panache. It is Shakespeare made accessible, and it is deliciously funny. Not to be missed.
BWW Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at The Gamm Theatre
Shakespeare warns early in the first act of Midsummer Night's Dream that 'the course of true love never did run smooth.' In that warning lies the comedic core of the show, and the Gamm Theatre delivers a visually stunning, delightfully playful production that fully captures the Bard's vision. It's a thoroughly enjoyable, punchy take on the classic.
BWW Review: Searing ADMISSIONS Shines at The Gamm
Joshua Harmon's ADMISSIONS is a play that wants to challenge well-meaning white people to reconsider how they seek to lift up people of color. That may make it seem like it's a slog, or like it's a bitter pill one should swallow, but thankfully the biting dialogue and exceptional performances all around make this 110 minute play zing by. Harmon does a great job of raising the stakes for all the players until the tension reaches a satisfying crescendo, but, in the end, the payoff isn't quite as satisfying as it could be. However, that could also be part of the point.
Gamm Presents ADMISSIONS
The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) opens the new year with the off-Broadway hit Admissions by playwright Joshua Harmon (Significant Other, Bad Jews). Winner of both the 2018 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for best play, Harmon's newest comedy-drama explores white privilege in education-a topic made even more relevant by the country's headline-making college admissions scandal. Bryn Boice, associate artistic director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, makes her Gamm directorial debut with Admissions. The production features Deb Martin (Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana) and Jim O'Brien (Mr. Mundy in The Night Watch) as husband and wife prep school administrators pushing for racial diversity in the student body. Gamm newcomer Jacob Osborne plays their son, whose Ivy League ambitions expose deep cracks in his parents' progressive values.
MOULIN ROUGE, JAGGED LITTLE PILL & More Earn Nominations for 23rd Annual IRNE Awards
The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) today announced the nominees for the 23rd Annual IRNE Awards, which honor the best of the previous year's actors, directors, choreographers, designers and companies across the full spectrum of large, mid-size and fringe theater companies. Moulin Rouge!, a new musical produced by Global Creatures, and An American in Paris, produced by the Ogunquit Playhouse, led with 12 and 11 nominations, respectively, in the Large Stage Musical Category. The Huntington Theatre led all companies with 31 nominations across seven productions, including 11 for Man in the Ring, the story of six-time world champion prizefighter Emile Griffith.
BWW Review: THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA Kicks Off The Gamm's New Season
THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA is among Tennessee Williams' least-know plays, but still one that resulted in over 300 performances on Broadway and a 1964 film version starring Richard Burton and directed by John Huston. Unlike Williams' more famous works, it's likely that audiences don't know much about this play going into it, and while there are some interesting characters and poignant lines, it becomes easy to see why this play is not often produced. The double whammy of a tedious and heavy-handed script paired with performances that beg for more nuance leave this first production in The Gamm's new Warwick location an unfortunate slog.
Williams' THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA Opens Debut Season in Warwick
The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre(The Gamm) opens Season 34 (2018-2019) with Tennessee Williams' rarely performed masterpiece, The Night of the Iguana. The production marks the theater's debut in its new home at 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI. Considered Williams' last great play, The Night of the Iguana follows defrocked Episcopal clergyman Rev. T. Lawrence Shannon and fellow guests at a dilapidated resort on the Mexican coast -- all seeking human connection while battling their personal demons.
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Presents Free Shakespeare On The Common
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler, presents its 23rd season of "Free Shakespeare on the Common:" William Shakespeare's drama Richard III, directed by Steven Maler and starring Faran Tahir. Performances are free of charge, and will take place on the Boston Common, near the Parkman Bandstand.
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Presents Free Shakespeare On The Common
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler, presents its 23rd season of "Free Shakespeare on the Common:" William Shakespeare's drama Richard III, directed by Steven Maler and starring Faran Tahir. Performances are free of charge, and will take place on the Boston Common, near the Parkman Bandstand.
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Presents Free Shakespeare On The Common
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler, presents its 23rd season of "Free Shakespeare on the Common:" William Shakespeare's drama Richard III, directed by Steven Maler and starring Faran Tahir. Performances are free of charge, and will take place on the Boston Common, near the Parkman Bandstand.
BWW Review: Sunny, Sublime THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Dazzles at The Gamm
Pawtucket's Gamm Theatre opens its season with Oscar Wilde's comedic masterwork THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, and the company delivers an utterly superlative production. Everything about this EARNEST is absolutely right in every way. The Gamm's cast is magnificent, the stagecraft of the finest quality, and the direction flawless. If there is one theatrical experience not to be missed in Rhode Island this year, the Gamm's EARNEST is it.
BWW Review: BARBECUE: A Dysfunctional Family Roast
BARBECUE is a play about which one cannot say too much without ruining its considerable effect. Here's the minimalist FYI, things you need to know but that won't give anything away. It is written by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams, and features an ensemble cast of ten actors who all give great performances and disappear into their richly drawn characters. Taking place on a raised pavilion in a pastoral park, the lovely setting belies the serious nature of the subjects (substance abuse, family dysfunction, race) that BARBECUE serves up on a platter. And one more thing - it's a comedy.