"Comedy of Errors' in Brooklyn

Shakespeare gets the kitchen sink

What Shakespeare did to Plautus in The Comedy of Errors, Edward Hall's production now does to Shakespeare, in this wild, inspired version set in an all-inclusive holiday package resort somewhere in South America in the 1980s.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 29, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

"Of Elephants and Roses' at the Philosophical Society (1st review)

When giraffes were a bigger deal than emperors

A new show at the American Philosophical Society recalls a pre-Google time in the France of Napoleon and the Bourbons when folks traveled miles to see or paint an elephant, a giraffe or an Australian black swan.

Andrew Mangravite

Mar 28, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Anna Deavere Smith's "Let Me Down Easy' (2nd review)

It happens to all of us

When I learned that my friend was dying at age 59, I sought comfort from my doctor, my rabbi and my therapist. None of them conveyed as much calming effect as the sense of human commonality in Let Me Down Easy.

Steve Cohen

Mar 28, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Ibsen’s “Master Builder” at People’s Light (1st review)

Ibsen's confession (or is it?)

With its layers of ambiguity, Ibsen's The Master Builder can be confusing, and the lead characters could seem cartoonish. But the People's Light cast is superb, and the tone established by director Ken Marini is perfect.

Steve Cohen

Mar 28, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Lantern Theater's "Midsummer Night's Dream' (2nd review)

If it's spring, thus must be Midsummer

Forget the drabness of the costumes and set. The Lantern's Midsummer places the emphasis where it belongs— on the magic of Shakespeare's luscious language. When you have a talented cast, who needs fancy props?

Alaina Johns

Mar 26, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Kashu-juku Noh Theater at the Perelman (1st review)

From feudal Japan: Models for Wagner, Brecht and the Marx Brothers

A packed house was mesmerized by a sampling of Kyoto's Kashu-juku Noh Theater, an aesthetic born of feudal times in 14th Century Japan.

Jonathan M. Stein

Mar 26, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Anna Deavere Smith's "Let Me Down Easy' (1st review)

Stayin' alive

The multi-talented actor/playwright/journalist Anna Deavere Smith understands how to find obscure dramatic subjects, how to listen to them, and how to perform their stories onstage. The result in this case is an extraordinary meditation on health care, equal parts emotion and intellect, notwithstanding some flaws in her method.

Dan Rottenberg

Mar 24, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

Astral Artists showcases Aaron Jay Kernis

Renaissance traps, successfully avoided

Aaron Jay Kernis finished his two-year stint as Astral Artists' first composer in residence with two spectacular pieces that starred a spectacular soprano.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Orchestra 2001 plays Hindemith

Orchestra 2001's odd couple

Hindemith and folk songs? It's an odd juxtaposition, but the two halves created a thoroughly enjoyable Saturday night outing.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Lantern Theater's "Midsummer Night's Dream' (1st review)

Everybody into the forest

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's take on love mistaken for infatuation and vice versa, is as endlessly inane and amusing as any episode of "Seinfeld.”

Jackie Schifalacqua

Mar 22, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read