Articles

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Renninger, Felder: Troubling.

Neil LaBute's "Fat Pig' by Theatre Horizon

Size matters

Neil LaBute's Fat Pig— a commentary about prejudice against those who are different, especially the overweight— is a daring choice for a small suburban company. Its callous characters are difficult to watch but also difficult to turn away from.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 2 minute read
McCarty (as Bush), Schmitz: Satire, or dead-on imitation? (Photo: Seth Rozin.)

Lee Blessing's "When We Go Upon the Sea'

Europe's ghosts, and ours: George W. Bush on trial

Lee Blessing's new play, When We Go Upon the Sea, imagines George W. Bush in a place liberals would love to see him: awaiting trial as a war criminal in The Hague. Blessing has plenty of fun with “George,” as he calls him, but he points a darker finger at the rest of us, Americans and Europeans alike.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 7 minute read
'Head of a Smiling Young Woman' (1542-43): Mona Lisa, but more so.

Bronzino drawings at the Met in New York

When to draw was to withdraw: Bronzino for the ages

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's show of all 60 of the extant drawings by the Florentine master Agnolo Bronzino (plus several by his teacher, Pontormo) is a treat for the scholar, the connoisseur, and the lay museum-goer alike. They contain some of the most splendid examples of the draughtsman's art you'll ever see.
Robert Zaller

Robert Zaller

Articles 5 minute read
Oka: Two sides of the violin.

New music: Three concerts

Up against six centuries of champions, or: The appealing audacity of new music

The new music played at Philadelphia concerts may or may not be the music of the future. But it can be pretty satisfying in the present, as its growing audiences attest.
Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom

Articles 5 minute read
Robert Winokur's asparagus house: Sly commentary.

Ceramic artists (Vavrek and the Winokurs) at Rosenfeld Gallery

The clay is just the beginning

Each of these three ceramic artists begins with clay but ends with vastly different modes of expression. We've seen each of them in separate museum exhibitions; now that they're together, we can enjoy the dialogue.

Anne R. Fabbri

Articles 3 minute read
Who cares about the story?

"The 39 Steps' in Wilmington

Hitchcock goes slapstick

Patrick Barlow's The 39 Steps is an entertaining spoof of the Hitchcock genre, using a series of clever slapstick stunts in place of the master's subtle wit.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 1 minute read

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Ditnes, Tomasetti: Overdose of protection. (Photo: Aaron Oster.)

Luna Theater's "Sick' at Walnut Studio 5

Clean up your room (but don't overdo it)

Zayd Dohrn's disturbingly intense and provocative play about parents who isolated their children from germs serves as an allegory about the benefit of exposure to alien ideas.
Jim Rutter

Jim Rutter

Articles 3 minute read
Bardeen, Schirner, Riopelle: Making love to wicker chairs. (Photo: Brett Thomas.)

"Travels With My Aunt' at Walnut's Studio 3

Graham Greene vindicated

Giles Havergal's stage adaptation is faithful to Graham Greene's mischievous comic novel about the travels of an amoral adventuress and her straitlaced nephew. But the real marvel however, is the cast— a perfectly synchronized quartet, each playing about 22 madcap roles with pitch-perfect precision.

Jane Biberman

Articles 3 minute read

Network For New Music plays Michael Hersch (1st review)

Our new Prince of Darkness

Michael Hersch's A Forest of Attics is complex, ferocious and disturbingly dark— in short, very refreshing at a time when ebullient tonality is all the rage. Hersch writes with an emotional honesty that leaves him naked.

Articles 3 minute read
Greer, Zielinski: A lesson for Mamet. (Photo: Jorge Cousineau.)

McPherson's "Shining City' by Theatre Exile (1st review)

That couldn't be me, could it?

Conor McPherson's haunting Shining City is a small, intensely involving, disquieting and thought provoking story about two lonely men trying to pull themselves together. Shining City. By Conor McPherson; directed by Matt Pfeiffer. Theatre Exile production through April 25, 2010 at Plays and Players Theatre, 1724 Delancey Pl. (215) 218-4022 or www.theatreexile.org.

Pamela Riley

Articles 3 minute read