National Theatre's “War Horse” at Academy of Music

A boy, his horse and a war

This anti-war manifesto reminds us that it takes brilliant technicians to create puppet horses for the stage, and brilliant technology to destroy real animals and people as well. War Horse. Adapted by Nick Stafford from the novel by Michael Morpurgo; Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris directed. National Theatre of Great Britain production through December 2, 2012 at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust St. (215) 893-1999 or www.kimmelcenter.org.

Steve Cohen

Nov 25, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

"The Music Man' at the Walnut

The way we wish we were

In retrospect, Meredith Willson's corn-fed Music Man has aged better than Leonard Bernstein's pseudo-realistic West Side Story. There's something to be said for unabashed fairy tales.

Steve Cohen

Nov 18, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Theatre Exile's "The English Bride'

Truth, lies and self-delusion

Lucile Lichtblau's fascinating psychodrama deliberately keeps the audience in the dark about the motives and pressures of terrorists, spies and victims. The play's perceptive point is that all of us tell lies— most often to ourselves.

Steve Cohen

Nov 17, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Royal National Theatre's "Timon of Athens'

Shakespeare discovers Goldman Sachs

Shakespeare's rarely performed Timon of Athens has been dusted off and given an updating that dazzles in its relevance to our troubled times.

Carol Rocamora

Nov 17, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Carson Kreitzer's "Behind the Eye' (3rd review)

The truth of the lens

Carson Kreitzer's Behind the Eye offers a kaleidoscopic view of Lee Miller, an American girl from Poughkeepsie who charmed, fascinated and sometimes tormented some of the great figures of the 1920s and 1930s in Paris, London, and New York, and became a significant artist in her own right.

Robert Zaller

Nov 13, 2012 · Articles · 7 minute read

Akhtar's "Disgraced' at Lincoln Center in NY

An American Muslim's identity crisis

Ayad Akhtar's explosive Disgraced concerns a Muslim determined to assimilate into American society, only to be betrayed and embittered for his efforts.

Carol Rocamora

Nov 11, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Carson Kreitzer's 'Behind the Eye' (2nd review)

A woman in the shadows

Carson Kreitzer's Behind the Eye is less about the fascinating model-photographer Lee Miller and more about the celebrities she latched onto.

Steve Cohen

Nov 11, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Lantern Theater's "The Liar'

A few kind words for deception

David Ives's breezy “translaptation” of Pierre Corneille's classic farce contends that, in human relations, lies are the coin of the realm. But isn't that the truth of comedy itself?

Robert Zaller

Nov 10, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Pretty Fire' at Horizon in Norristown

Growing up black in the '50s

Norristown, once almost exclusively white, is today mostly African-American. Horizon's attractive new theater there has pitched its first production there to the new realities of the local audience. Pretty Fire, By Charlayne Woodard; James Ijames directed. Through November 18, 2012 at Theatre Horizon, 401 DeKalb St., Norristown, Pa. (610) 283-2230 or www.theatrehorizon.org.

Steve Cohen

Nov 06, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

"Freud's Last Session' at the Arden (1st review)

Christianity vs. psychiatry

When the Christian polemicist C.S. Lewis meets Sigmund Freud— who considered God an illusion— whom do you root for? Mark St. Germain's imagined meeting between two brilliant men crackles with the conflict of ideas and emotions and blessedly leaves us to decide where our sympathies lie.

Steve Cohen

Nov 03, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read