Quintessence production of 'The Three Musketeers'

Diving into submerged sexuality

The engaging Quintessence production of The Three Musketeers makes the Musketeers more appealing than Dumas intended. As written, they’re a bunch of hair-trigger Hells Angels ready to fight at the slightest provocation and thoroughly contemptuous of their social inferiors.

Lynn Hoffman

Apr 20, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

'Bonhoeffer's Cost' by Beacon Theatre

High drama about the price of commitment

While Bonhoeffer’s theology is important, we remember him today for his courage in seeing through the Nazis' lies and his willingness to die so that others might live. While it asks penetrating questions, this play is ultimately about Bonhoeffer the man.

Victor L. Schermer

Apr 19, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'The Hairy Ape' (1st review) and 'Penelope'

Men, cages, and the unattainable woman

When a woman is responsible for men’s actions, do they always behave badly?

Naomi Orwin

Apr 18, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

Jeff Talbott's ‘The Submission’ at Quince Productions

Unmasking hidden prejudice

Playwright Jeff Talbott tackles a tough subject, and he should be given credit for what he was trying to say. Unfortunately, the way he said it leaves much to be desired: The Submission is not a particularly well-written play.

Gary L. Day

Apr 14, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

Plays are getting shorter

A lament for lost leisurely length

Norma Desmond famously said that she was still big, but it's the pictures that got small. That’s what’s been happening with theater, too.

Steve Cohen

Apr 14, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Thomas Gibbons's 'Uncanny Valley' at InterAct (1st review)

The future is not us

Can billionaires buy their future — and ours? In Tom Gibbons’s new play, they’re doing it already.

Robert Zaller

Apr 12, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'Macbeth' at the Arden

'What bloody man is that?'

The Arden Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth has spectacle going for it, but pays less attention to the power couple, Macbeth and his lady, whose interaction is the center of the drama.

Robert Zaller

Apr 10, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' at Paper Mill Playhouse

Dark Disney

Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame comes to the stage with more serious content than other Disney shows and with a superlative score by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken.

Steve Cohen

Apr 07, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'An Octoroon' and 'The Liquid Plain'

The race to write about racism

Racism in this country today and its origins in American slavery is apparently on everyone’s mind, if the theater is any reflection of the zeitgeist (and it should be).

Carol Rocamora

Apr 05, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'Honeymoon in Vegas' on Broadway

Local boy makes good

Write down this prediction: South Philly’s Rob McClure will win this year’s Tony Award for best performance by a leading actor in a musical for his role in the otherwise disappointing Honeymoon in Vegas.

Steve Cohen

Apr 05, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read