'This is the Week That is' by 1812

An overdose of political irony

This is the Week That Is hits its political targets often, but they’re such easy targets. Or do you still get your jollies from jokes about McCain’s age, Obama’s slickness or Palin’s vapidity?

This Is the Week That Is. Conceived and directed by Jennifer Childs. Presented by 1812 Productions through November 2, 2008 at Plays and Players Theatre, 1724 Delancey Pl. (215) 592-9560 or www.1812productions.org.

Dan Rottenberg

Oct 19, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

A too-modern "Medea' in an Athens restroom

The ultimate Medea:
The actress who really murdered her children

I've seen my share of disturbing theater in Philadelphia over the past five years. And goodness knows stage nudity is no longer a big deal in the City of Brotherly Love. But nothing that I've seen in Philadelphia could have prepared me for what I watched in Athens the other night. Who in Philadelphia would have the courage to stage it?

Waterfront Wasteland/ Medea Material/ Landscape with Argonauts. Triptych by Heiner Müller. Asipka Theater Company production in Athens, Greece.

Jim Rutter

Oct 15, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

Luna Theatre's "Monster' (2nd review)

What the critics missed:
Frankenstein and the humiliation of aging

Luna Theatre Company’s production of Neal Bell’s Monster has evoked conflicting reviews from the Inquirer’s Toby Zinman (who found it shallow) and Broad Street Review’s Lesley Valdes (who called it “art on a shoestring”). Our resident philosopher suggests both of them missed the big picture.

Monster. By Neal Bell; adapted from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; directed by Gregory Scott Campbell. Luna Theatre Co. production through November 2, 2008 at Independence Studio on Three, 825 Walnut St. (215) 704-0033 or www.lunatheater.org.

Jim Rutter

Oct 15, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

R.I.P., Mum Puppettheatre

Does anyone miss Mum Puppettheatre?

For all Mum Puppettheatre’s unique creativity and intelligence, it just ceased to exist after 23 years— and, sadly, not many people seem to have noticed.

Bob Cronin

Oct 12, 2008 · Articles · 2 minute read

Luna Theater's "The Monster'

Frankenstein, told with contemporary wit

Luna Theater’s season opener, Neal Bell’s The Monster, plays fast and loose with the Frankenstein legend, but not so fast or loose that you won’t recognize its pathos or its moral scrutiny.

Monster. By Neal Bell; adapted from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; directed by Gregory Scott Campbell. Luna Theatre Co. production through November 2, 2008 at Independence Studio on Three, 825 Walnut St. (215) 704-0033 or www.lunatheater.org.

Lesley Valdes

Oct 12, 2008 · Articles · 2 minute read

"The Persians' at People's Light (2nd review)

What have we learned since Aeschylus?

Ellen McLaughlin’s version of Aeschylus’s The Persians is both timely and dated (it foretold our current quagmire in Iraq). Excellent staging sets this production apart, but the text partly weakens the original play, and the performers, while adequate, aren’t up to the tragic standard.

The Persians. By Ellen McLaughlin; directed by Jade King Carroll. Through October 19, 2008 at People's Light and Theatre Company, 39 Conestoga Rd, Malvern, Pa. (610) 644-3500 or www.peopleslight.org.

Robert Zaller

Oct 08, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

"Long Day's Journey' at Villanova

O'Neill's masterpiece:
A web without a spider

Villanova has opened its 50th drama season with a new production of Eugene O’Neill’s masterpiece, Long Day’s Journey into Night. The play opened the Vasey Hall stage forty years ago under Robert Hedley’s direction, and Hedley returned to bring it richly to life again.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night. By Eugene O’Neill; directed by Robert Hedley. Villanova Theatre production September 23-October 5, 2008 at Vasey Hall, Dougherty Drive, Villanova U. (610) 519-7474 or www.theatre.villanova.edu.

Robert Zaller

Oct 08, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

Jonathan Larson and "Rent'

Death before his time:
Rent and its creator

Jonathan Larson’s Rent— a musical based on Puccini’s La Bohème and set in New York’s East Village— has finished its Broadway run but continues to tour. But what of its creator, who died before Rent took off?

Rent continues to tour and will visit Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, February 3 through 8, 2009. (215) 893-1999 or www.kimmelcenter.org.

Steve Cohen

Oct 05, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

"Rock and Roll' at the Wilma

Stoppard, by way of Blanka Zizka

Perhaps because she’s a Soviet block refugee herself, the Wilma’s Blanka Zizka has made brilliant sense of Tom Stoppard’s incredibly ambitious though very disjointed take on the Cold War and its effects on individuals caught in ideological battles.

Rock and Roll. By Tom Stoppard; directed by Blanka Zizka. Through October 26, 2008 at Wilma Theater., 265 S. Broad St. (at Spruce). (215) 546-7824 or www.wilmatheater.org.

Jim Rutter

Oct 05, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

"The Persians' at People's Light

A 2,500-year-old play for all seasons

Ellen McLaughlin’s The Persians is a mesmerizing event for anyone interested in the constancy of human relationships and universal reactions to power.

The Persians. By Ellen McLaughlin; directed by Jade King Carroll. Through October 19, 2008 at People's Light and Theatre Company, 39 Conestoga Rd, Malvern, Pa. (610) 644-3500 or http://www.peopleslight.org.

Anne R. Fabbri

Sep 30, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read