"Noises Off' at People's Light (1st review)

What Michael Frayn could learn from the Marx Brothers

Michael Frayn's farce about the production of a farce succeeds even while violating a time-honored vaudeville maxim.

Bill Murphy

Jul 16, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Peter Morgan's "The Audience' in HD-Live (2nd review)

A few elegant hours with the ultimate classy lady

Peter Morgan's The Audience provides a civilized speculation into the private conversations of Queen Elizabeth and eight of her prime ministers. Helen Mirren, regal yet refreshingly human and even funny, plays the queen between the ages of 25 and 87.

Steve Cohen

Jul 02, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors' in Central Park

Improving on Shakespeare (in the Jazz Age, yet)

By deftly trimming the fat from Shakespeare's convoluted Comedy of Errors, Daniel Sullivan provides 90 minutes of exuberant theatrical mayhem. The lush Central Park backdrop doesn't hurt, either.

Carol Rocamora

Jul 02, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

"Wicked' returns to the Academy

A different kind of wickedness

Wicked, the musical back-story of what happened before Dorothy arrived in Oz, is about to observe its ten-year anniversary as a Broadway hit. Its current touring stars are a delight to eye and ear, but they lack the deviously deceptive charm of the originators. Wicked. Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz; book by Winnie Holzman, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire; Joe Mantello directed. Through August 4, 2013, at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Sts. (877) 686-5366 or www.kimmelcenter.org.

Steve Cohen

Jun 29, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

When the playwright gets into the act

In search of reality: When playwrights become actors

Every so often in the theater, playwrights wants to get into the act, too— that is, perform in their own plays. A playwright's presence can't help but change your perception of his work in intriguing ways. Sometimes it changes the playwright's perceptions, too.

Carol Rocamora

Jun 25, 2013 · Articles · 6 minute read

Is explicit sex a theatrical disease?

Sex without fear (and right in the middle of Broad Street, too)

You can barely set foot in a theater these days without observing a simulated sex act. Is this phenomenon a bold reflection on an age in which virtual relationships trump real ones? Or is theater itself losing its grasp on reality?

Naomi Orwin

Jun 25, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Terrence McNally's "Ragtime' in Norristown

Revolution from below

You might assume that a panoramic historical-sociological musical like Ragtime is beyond the competence of a small company in Norristown. In fact, the Centre Theatre assembled a huge cast that created several touching moments.

Steve Cohen

Jun 23, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Ibsen's "Master Builder' in Brooklyn

Not exactly the master builder that Ibsen had in mind

What alchemy of genius, vision and audacity (not to mention money) drives today's master builders? Don't ask John Turturro or director Andrei Belgrader. In this case the resident genius is the set designer, Santo Loquasto.

Carol Rocamora

Jun 11, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

James Graham's "This House' in HD-Live

British politics: Comedy or tragedy?

Britain's Parliament before Margaret Thatcher was a basket case where nothing ever seemed to get done. James Graham, who didn't experience the '70s, treats the chaos as a comedy. Do you suppose Americans will be chuckling about our own dysfunctional Congress 40 years hence?

Steve Cohen

Jun 09, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

EgoPo's "Uncle Tom's Cabin' at Plays and Players (2nd review)

Slavery, up close and personal

In the 1850s, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin mobilized public opinion against slavery. But EgoPo's stage adaptation is even more powerful. It's one thing to read about slave whippings and auctions, another to actually watch them.

Steve Cohen

Jun 04, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read