Lonergan's 'Lobby Hero' at Theatre Horizon

Satisfying ethical conundrums

Kenneth Lonergan's taut drama avoids law enforcement stereotypes in favor of complex characters and challenging issues.

Mark Cofta

Mar 05, 2016 · Articles · 2 minute read

Kim Davies's ‘Smoke’ at Theatre Exile (second review)

When are warnings warranted?

We go to the theater to be challenged. Should we be warned when the subject matter may be difficult or remind us of unpleasant experiences?

Naomi Orwin

Mar 05, 2016 · Articles · 5 minute read

Goidel's 'Local Girls' at Azuka

High school in all its terrible glory

Azuka's Local Girls takes us back to the agony and ecstasy of high school through an unlikely friendship.

Mark Coftaand Illustration by Mike Jackson

Mar 04, 2016 · Articles · 2 minute read

'A Wonderful Noise' by Hollinger and Lehmkuhl

Barbershop nostalgia

December 7, 1941, the “date that will live in infamy,” also was the day of the national competition of barbershop quartets. That’s the premise of the new musical comedy by Michael Hollinger and Vance Lehmkuhl in which women try to penetrate an all-male organization.

Steve Cohen

Mar 04, 2016 · Articles · 2 minute read

'Prodigal Son' and 'The Humans' in New York

Growing up and growing older

Two new plays of uncommon power — Prodigal Son and The Humans — will, I hope, make it from Broadway to Broad Street

Carol Rocamora

Mar 04, 2016 · Articles · 4 minute read

Kim Davies's ‘Smoke’ at Theatre Exile (first review)

You get to choose what happens to you

Kim Davies's Smoke challenges audiences to see disturbing sex — and, perhaps, to see beyond it.

Mark Cofta

Mar 01, 2016 · Articles · 3 minute read

John Logan's 'Red' at the Walnut Street Theatre

A lesson in how to look at art

Is red a color, is it a feeling? John Logan’s Red challenges us to go deeper into what it means to really look at art for both the artist and the audience.

Naomi Orwin

Feb 28, 2016 · Articles · 4 minute read

Clara Brennan's 'Spine' by Inis Nua

Celebrating libraries and storytelling

Clara Brennan's Spine, one of those wonderful U.K. fictional monologues, captivates with an unlikely and inspirational tale.

Mark Cofta

Feb 27, 2016 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Sense and Sensibility' at People's Light (second review)

Can Jane Austen pass the Bechdel test?

Sense and Sensibility fails the popular test about women characters in fiction, but succeeds in many other ways.

Mark Cofta

Feb 23, 2016 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Plutus' by Aristophanes at Plays and Players

Wealth and poverty for laughs

The youthful cast of Once More Theater embody high spirits, belly laughs, clever off-center meditations, and all-around comic anarchy in Aristophanes’s Plutus.

Richard da Silva

Feb 23, 2016 · Articles · 2 minute read