Theater

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Page 194
Kitson, DaPonte: Broken promises, feverish dreams.

Tony Kushner's "A Dybbuk,' by EgoPo

Sympathy for our devils

Tony Kushner's adaptation of The Dybbuk concerns unrequited love among Hasidic Jews in Eastern Europe. But mysticism is only part of this tale: The story works for skeptics as well as for believers, and for non-Jews as well.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 4 minute read
Coon: Short-changing the 17th Century.

"Tulipomania' at the Arden (2nd review)

When the present interferes with the past

The intriguing story of Amsterdam's 17th-Century tulip mania somehow got subordinated within a fictitious story set in a present-day pot bar. Michael Ogborn should have let the audience draw its own comparisons.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 3 minute read
Braithwaite (left), Cella: A portent of John F. Kennedy?

"My Fair Lady' at Act II in Ambler

Henry Higgins, male chauvinist no more

Is it possible to improve on Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins? Tony Braithwaite has a youthful spring in his step that renders him more plausibly romantic.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 4 minute read
Exile to Elba taught him a lesson, didn't it?

Lantern's "The Island' (3rd comment)

Out of sight, out of mind: Why island prisons don't work

Island prisons like Robben Island and Guantánamo share one notable characteristic: They never solve the problems that created them.
Jackie Schifalacqua

Jackie Schifalacqua

Articles 3 minute read
Heller (left), Bustamante: In search of a quick fortune.

"Tulipomania' at the Arden (1st review)

A good investment

Tulipomania concerns greed, not as a deadly sin but as a by-product of market opportunity. For a musical about 17th-Century Holland, it sounds all too contemporary.

Marshall A. Ledger

Articles 6 minute read
U.R. (left) and Frank X: Sophocles, by contrast, had it easy.

Lantern's "The Island' (2nd review)

Which prisoner is the hero?

Since South African Apartheid no longer officially exists, this 1973 Athol Fugard work might seem merely historical. Yet The Island's relevance transcends its criticism of one particularly cruel and arbitrary state.

Marshall A. Ledger

Articles 5 minute read
McLenigan and puppets: The blood's the thing.

Shakespeare Theatre's "Titus Andronicus' (2nd review)

Time for dinner!

For once, an audience cheered a Shakespeare play not for its literary style but for its sheer blood-and-guts entertainment.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 3 minute read
Frank X (foreground) and U.R.: Antigone and apartheid on trial.

Lantern's "The Island' (1st review)

Profiles in courage

When The Island was first performed in South Africa in 1973, it represented a courageous attempt to capture the inhumanity of Apartheid. It's still compelling from the relative comfort of a theater seat in Philadelphia, but nothing like the real thing, as I can attest.
Alaina Johns

Alaina Johns

Articles 6 minute read
Lithgow as Alsop: Extinct breed of super-pundit.

"The Columnist' and "The Best Man' on Broadway

Wheeling and dealing, '60s style

Mitt Romney might well seek consolation in the theater these days, where the spring season seems to be imitating the current political one in terms of accusations and revelations. The stage candidates, of course, are far more colorful than the real ones.

Carol Rocamora

Articles 6 minute read
Bunting (left), Mitchell, Schoonover: Essence of America? (Photo: Paola Nogueras.)

"Behanding in Spokane' by Theatre Exile

Man with a mission

A Behanding in Spokane combines Martin McDonagh's trademark violence and humor. It's a 90-minute play that requires great performances to succeed. Fortunately, Theatre Exile provided them.
Steve Cohen

Steve Cohen

Articles 2 minute read