"Ethel' at Walnut's Independence Studio

Her cup was half-empty

There's a hostile element in Terry Burrell's representation of Ethel Waters that doesn't quite ring true to the beatific soul I remember.

Jackie Schifalacqua

Feb 28, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

"Big River' at the Arts Bank

And you thought the Civil War was over

Big River, an adaptation of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, paradoxically shows how Americans can be entertained while being completely humiliated by our nation's history.

Marshall A. Ledger

Feb 25, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Time Stands Still' in Ambler

Bearing witness vs. getting involved

What's a journalist's first duty— to report the atrocities she witnesses, or to try to prevent them? At a time when journalists are dying in Syria, it's a timely question. It's also relevant even for theater critics.

Steve Cohen

Feb 25, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Of Mice and Men' at People's Light

Ties that bind

In this excellent revival, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men reminds us again that there are worse things than poverty— loneliness, for example.

Bill Murphy

Feb 21, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Fugard's 'Blood Knot' in New York

Black and white, joined at the hip

After Athol Fugard's racial drama Blood Knot was first performed in South Africa in 1961, he was arrested and his play was banned. To revisit this seminal work today, 18 years after the end of apartheid, is a doubly moving and meaningful experience.

Carol Rocamora

Feb 19, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Charlotte's Web' at the Arden (2nd review)

What hath ‘Sesame Street' wrought?

Children's theater has become the tail that wags the dog for some astute theater companies, like the Arden. Worse things could happen.

Dan Rottenberg

Feb 14, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Tina Howe's "Museum' at Villanova

Please touch

Tina Howe's Museum, her first play, still has legs in Villanova's revival, smartly and effectively staged by Joanna Rotté. If anything, this witty satire is even more relevant to America's commercialized art culture today, especially in Philadelphia. Museum. By Tina Howe; Joanne Rotté directed. Through February 19, 2012 at the Villanova Theatre, Vasey Hall, Villanova University. (610) 519-7474 or www.villanovatheatre.org.

Robert Zaller

Feb 12, 2012 · Articles · 7 minute read

Anthony Lawton's "The Great Divorce' (2nd review)

Ticket to heaven

Anthony Lawton reprises his one-man tour de force adaptation of C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce, which explains to a highly misguided world the right way to get to heaven.

Marshall A. Ledger

Feb 11, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Anthony Lawton's "The Great Divorce' (1st review)

Throw away that Bible and study Emily Post instead

In Anthony Lawton's vision, heaven welcomes even murderers as long as they display good manners at the pearly gates. Is this really what C.S. Lewis had in mind?

Jackie Schifalacqua

Feb 11, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Clybourne Park' at the Arden (2nd review)

Bring on the clichés

Clybourne Park deals with changing racial attitudes in a Chicago neighborhood. Unfortunately, playwright Bruce Norris opts for easy wit over genuine substance— and his wit isn't all that witty.

Alaina Johns

Feb 07, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read