'Hamilton' at the Public Theater

Making history in New York

What makes Alexander Hamilton’s story — and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s way of telling it —so special is the conflation of the historical and the personal.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 14, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Under the Skin' at the Arden: An interview with Terrence Nolen

The show must go on

Another story — an unscripted one — unfolded while Under the Skin was premiering at the Arden.

Carol Rocamora

Mar 10, 2015 · Articles · 4 minute read

Jeanne Sakata’s ‘Hold These Truths’

Do Americans really believe in self-evident truths?

Hold These Truths, about the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, may make you think that things haven’t changed much in America.

Alaina Johns

Feb 24, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

Michael Whistler's 'Mickle Street'

When Oscar Wilde came to Camden

What is our fascination with Oscar Wilde? In 1882, he stopped in Philadelphia to give a talk on aestheticism, and it seems he never left. Now he has taken the town by storm once again, appearing in the opera, the theater, and the library.

Naomi Orwin

Feb 24, 2015 · Articles · 4 minute read

'Rasheeda Speaking' at the New Group

“You need to be careful”

Actress Cynthia Nixon makes her directorial debut with impressive skill and control. The threat of violence hangs on the air from the moment the play begins, and Nixon keeps her foot on the pedal as the conflict escalates to a shocking, unbearably painful final scene.

Carol Rocamora

Feb 24, 2015 · Articles · 4 minute read

'The Cherry Orchard' at People's Light

The times they are a-changin'

Oscar-nominated actors Mary McDonnell and David Strathairn join the People's Light & Theatre Company ensemble in a fine production of Chekhov's Cherry Orchard.

Bill Murphy

Feb 24, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Into the Woods' at Theatre Horizon

A gathering around a campfire

Into the Woods is Stephen Sondheim’s most complicated musical — so intricate that major theater companies have trouble fitting the parts together. So it’s amazing to see the small Theatre Horizon pull it off successfully with an innovative approach that’s more imaginative than any I've seen.

Steve Cohen

Feb 17, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

Tennessee Williams's 'Stairs to the Roof' (second review)

Is drama meant to be taken seriously?

What happens when you treat a dramatic play as farce? Lane Savadove’s production of an early Tennessee Williams play makes you wonder how other great playwrights would fare under his whimsical direction.

Naomi Orwin

Feb 17, 2015 · Articles · 4 minute read

Tennessee Williams’s ‘Stairs to the Roof’

Before Williams was Williams

Stairs to the Roof is early Tennessee Williams as you’ve never seen him — a wacky, surrealistic farce. Director Lane Savadove’s stylized physical movements manage to transform a simplistic script into sparkling entertainment.

Steve Cohen

Feb 16, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

Terrence McNally’s ‘Mothers and Sons’ at PTC (second review)

Fathers Know Best?

While the predictable, albeit slow, ascendancy of the mother’s acceptance of the situation seems to be the main thrust of the play, we also get a cinemascope review of the entire LGBT movement. For the straight person who doesn’t know much about gay history, this 101 overview might serve as the perfect seminar.

Thom Nickels

Feb 13, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read