Theater
2691 results
Page 243
Arden's "Something Intangible' (2nd review)
If it walks like a Disney and talks like a Disney….
By hewing too closely to the true story of Hollywood's Disney brothers, Bruce Graham distracts the audience from an otherwise generally entertaining play. Graham would do better to take his details from his own imagination rather than the historical record.
Articles
4 minute read
Schiller's "Mary Stuart' on Broadway
Dueling diva queens
The acclaimed London production of Mary Stuart arrived on Broadway with its two acclaimed English stars, Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter, supported by an able American cast. But the actors, dwarfed by the huge stage and vast distances between them, make the audience feel removed from these monumental events.
Articles
3 minute read
"Joe Turner's Come and Gone' in New York
Echoes of slavery, generations later
With Lincoln Center's magnificent production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, August Wilson has tapped us on the shoulder. In director Bartlett Sher's hands, Wilson's evocation of a bygone world filled with operatic longings and grudges mingles with the pots and pans of realism and provides an extraordinary theatrical experience.
Articles
3 minute read
"American Buffalo's "short-con' (3rd review)
American Buffalo's short-con (and the reviewers who fell for it)
Like innocent tourists at a sidewalk shell game, several critics have missed the “pea” in Theatre Exile's production of David Mamet's American Buffalo. If you look and listen closely, that “pea” is friendship and community.
American Buffalo. By David Mamet; directed by Matt Pfeiffer. Theater Exile production through May 3, 2009 at Plays & Players, 1714 Delancey St. (215) 218-4022 or www.theatreexile.org.
Articles
6 minute read
Lantern Theater's "Hamlet' (2nd review)
Why did Hamlet hesitate? (A reply to Robert Zaller)
In his review of Lantern Theater's Hamlet, Robert Zaller raises an interesting point: Why didn't the prince succeed to the throne of Denmark immediately upon his father's death? I have an answer.
Articles
4 minute read
Arden's "Something Intangible' (1st review)
The bad, the beautiful and the cartoonist
Bruce Graham brings a Hollywood insider's knowledge and a flair for dialogue to Something Intangible, now in its premiere production at the Arden. You can't treat Tinseltown without a touch of schmaltz— a trap Graham doesn't escape. But this play about Walt Disney and the making of Fantasia, though overwrought for its theme, provides a diverting two hours. Cast and production are excellent.
Articles
4 minute read
Theatre Exile's "American Buffalo' (1st review)
Testosterone for three
Theatre Exile's revival of David Mamet's breakthrough play, American Buffalo, is driven by Pete Pryor's brilliant performance as the testosterone-laced Teach. But while Teach's bullying behavior might have been considered borderline psychotic a generation ago, it's a reflection of daily life today.
Articles
5 minute read
InterAct's "Jihad Jones'
An Arab actor with a problem
A serious Arab actor gets a shot at fame and fortune; all he must do is perpetuate the worst possible Muslim terrorist stereotype. Yussef El Guindi has a fine idea for a 15-minute comedy skit, but its humor soon wears thin, especially given the play's flimsy underlying premise.
Articles
3 minute read
Theatre Exile's "American Buffalo' (2nd review)
Delusions of urban males
David Mamet is a master at capturing the euphemisms and rhetorical devices through which men rationalize and evade the cruelty of their words and deeds. But other writers handle this subject matter even better.
Articles
4 minute read
Lantern Theater's hyperactive "Hamlet' (1st review)
What's Shakespeare's real point? That is the question
The question in Hamlet may be less why the play's hero fails to avenge his father's murder than why he fails to claim his crown. The Lantern Theater's fast-paced production of the play treats it as an action drama but misses its darker drives and subtler shades of meaning.
Articles
7 minute read