Lanna Joffrey's "Valiant,' by InterAct

War is hell, and what else is new?

Lanna Joffrey's Valiant relates the suffering of 13 women in conditions of war and exile, as if war is an exclusively male activity. The cumulative effect of their recitations is more stultifying than enlightening.

Robert Zaller

Mar 31, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Rich man, beggar man— and Albert Barnes

Let 'em eat Picassos: The new Barnes and the homeless

Albert Barnes intended his art collection to serve the common person: He famously refused to admit the rich to his premises in Merion. Now, for the sake of the collection's new home on the Parkway, it's the poor and hungry who are being turned away.

Robert Zaller

Mar 27, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Lyric Fest's salute to 1912

La Belle Epoque's last gasp

Lyric Fest's celebration of the music of 1912 provided a reminder of the cultural richness of La Belle Epoque, just before it died in the slaughter of the First World War.

Tom Purdom

Mar 27, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Shipwrecked!' at People's Light

A South Seas state of mind

In this entertaining true tale of a man who was either the greatest adventurer or greatest hoaxer of his time, Donald Margulies has fashioned a stimulating piece of children's theater that will appeal to adults as well.

Bill Murphy

Mar 27, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

"Death of a Salesman' on Broadway

The way we were, and still are

Mike Nichols's loving production, historically meticulous in every detail, plays curiously more like a museum piece than a fresh, dynamic new exploration of Arthur Miller's 1949 masterwork. It performs a valuable service nevertheless.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 27, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

"Fela!' at Academy of Music (2nd review)

Not your mother's Broadway musical

Pity the Kimmel season subscribers who arrived at Fela! without advance preparation. This is a political musical with some very discomfiting edges— and that's to its credit.

Judy Weightman

Mar 27, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Curse of the Starving Class' at the Wilma (3rd review)

The American Dream's last victims

The Wilma's revival of Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class is strikingly relevant to our present Age of Foreclosure, yet dated in its Pinteresque violence. It also suggests the limits of Shepard's notion of the imploding nuclear family as a metaphor for America.

Robert Zaller

Mar 27, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

A few words about ladies' restrooms

A woman's curse (at least in Philadelphia theaters)

It's time for somebody to say publicly what Philadelphia women have been muttering to each other in the line for years: The ladies' rooms at many Philadelphia theaters are deplorable. Join me for a guided tour.

Alaina Johns

Mar 25, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Stalin meets George III in London

Between tyranny and lunacy

Two plays in London about Stalin, who died nearly 60 years ago? Maybe it's taken that long to appreciate the full measure of Uncle Joe's tyranny — over Russians in general and artists in particular.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 24, 2012 · Articles · 7 minute read

Henze's "Elegy For Young Lovers'

Never trust a megalomaniacal poet

In a well-sung and well-played production, Hans Werner Henze's 1961 composition, Elegy For Young Lovers, lived up to its advance hype. The drama, alas, did not.

Steve Cohen

Mar 24, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read