Theater
2688 results
Page 209
Black domestics on stage
You've come a long way, Mammy
Hattie McDaniel said she'd rather make $700 a week playing a maid than $7 a week being one. Today actresses like Opal Alladin enjoy the luxury of portraying maids with genuine character.
Articles
3 minute read
Two "Much Ados' in London
Shakespeare, straight and schlocky
Two delicious and hilarious productions of Much Ado About Nothing are currently playing in London: one at the Globe, where “original practices” rule, and one on the West End, where high profiles, schlock and schtick are the order of the day.
Articles
5 minute read
"Playing Leni,' by Madhouse Theater
The doyenne of denial
Playing Leni, a drama about a power-hungry filmmaker willing to walk over bodies, encourages the American audience to discover not only some of the inner workings of a Third Reich mind, but also our own.
Articles
5 minute read
Taking liberties with Chekhov
Who (did you say) wrote that play?
Why would the Royal National Theatre mount a “version” of The Cherry Orchard laced with lines Chekhov never would have written, rather than a faithful translation? What is meant by a “version,” anyway? As a Chekhov translator, I wonder: Who would hang a "version" of Monet?
Articles
5 minute read
Simon's "Lost in Yonkers' at Plays & Players
A different take on ‘coming of age'
In an age that's overrun with “coming of age” stories, Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers takes a different tack, examining the coming-of-age of an entire dysfunctional family. A superb production expertly navigates the journey.
Articles
3 minute read
Lynn Nottage's "Ruined,' by PTC
Sunshine among the ashes
Lynn Nottage's Ruined, set in a bar during the Congolese civil war, demonstrates how people create community and happiness even in the midst of devastation. But how to reverse the world's endless cycle of civil warfare? For the answer to that question, you must search elsewhere.
Articles
4 minute read
"In a Daughter's Eyes,' by InterAct (2nd review)
Daughters without fathers
The shadows of Mumia and MOVE haunt the stage of InterAct Theatre's world premiere production of A. Zell Williams' In a Daughter's Eyes, as they do Philadelphia itself. The play sheds more heat than light, though, as its two characters grope in a world of pain in which neither can truly find the other.
In a Daughter's Eyes. By A. Zell Williams; Rebecca Wright directed. InterAct Theatre production through June 19, 2011 at Adrienne mainstage, 2030 Sansom St. (215) 568-8077 or www.interacttheatre.org.
Articles
6 minute read
"In A Daughter's Eyes,' by InterAct (1st review)
Mumia, and the ignorance of certainty
What if Officer Daniel Faulkner's widow and Mumia Abu-Jamal's wife had to hang out together in a setting that required them to acknowledge their common humanity? That's the intriguing premise of this new play, which unfortunately suffers from superficial execution.
Articles
5 minute read
Directors vs. Critics: BSR's debate (2nd comment)
Who critiques the critics?
Who will hold theater critics accountable? Other critics, for one. But the Internet offers an even more effective solution.
Articles
3 minute read
Directors vs. critics: BSR's debate (1st comment)
Theaters, critics and delusions of injustice
At Broad Street Review's debate on theater criticism, three Philadelphia directors largely ignored the panel's Internet-based critics and mostly complained instead about the Inquirer. Earth to directors: Hip theatergoers no longer care about, much less read, the Inquirer.
Articles
3 minute read