2015 Contemporary American Theater Festival

Where new plays thrive

A professional company that only produces new plays celebrates its 25th year with an ambitious but uneven quintet of plays.

Mark Cofta

Jul 21, 2015 · Articles · 6 minute read

Kristen Schier on the Commonwealth Classic 'Tempest'

Shakespeare and improv: The perfect match?

Shakespeare, often viewed by the general public as the most sacred, highfalutin form of drama we have, is also possibly our richest and even most necessary ground for improvisation. Kristen Schier explains why.

Alaina Johns

Jul 14, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

Audiences behaving badly

A comedy of manners

Where is Emily Post when we need her? There’s a crisis in the theater — and it’s not on the stage.

Carol Rocamora

Jul 14, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Beckett’s 'Happy Days' at the Flea Theater

Beckett at his best

When a cast and director are in synch, anything and everything is possible. Director Andrei Belgrader understands the precarious balance of tragedy and comedy in Beckett’s Happy Days.

Carol Rocamora

Jul 04, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Hands Up' by Flashpoint Theatre Company

Fuck you! And fuck this shit!

The six testaments of Hands Up are connected by the theme of uncertainty, with each character revealing his particular stain.

Ardencie Hall-Karambe

Jun 30, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

Sondheim's 'Passion' at the Arden (second review)

When feelings crack you open

In Passion, Sondheim is saying that love comes from sources that seem unlikely and at times when you least expect it — there’s no logic to it.

Steve Cohen

Jun 23, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Murder for Two' at PTC

It takes two, baby

I wonder if the dazzling performer Kyle Branzel loved the old movies in which Jerry Lewis played multiple characters as much as I did.

Rhonda Davis

Jun 23, 2015 · Articles · 1 minute read

Dave Malloy's 'Preludes'

Breaking the block

Who knew that Sergei Rachmaninoff, the great Russian composer, suffered from writer’s block? Dave Malloy’s arresting new Preludes dramatizes the story.

Carol Rocamora

Jun 16, 2015 · Articles · 4 minute read

Mary Tuomanen's 'Hello! Sadness!'

A one-woman show doesn’t have to be about only one woman

What would it be like to be friends with an icon you admire? Mary Tuomanen draws us into the world of her imagination, where she gets to talk to Jean Seberg and Françoise Sagan. Who would you talk to? What would you talk about?

Naomi Orwin

Jun 16, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Forbidden Broadway' at Act II Playhouse

Rejection, depression ... attention!

For Tony Braithwaite’s 21st birthday, his parents hosted a party at the family’s home in Bala Cynwyd and performed skits they called "Forbidden Braithwaite" (based, of course, on Forbidden Broadway). His Dad imitated Tevye and sang "What will take Tony from Bala to Broadway? Ambition! In the mean time what do I have to pay? Tuition!" Now here is Tony, 21 years later, doing similar material.

Steve Cohen

Jun 13, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read