Theater
2725 results
Page 251
Walnut's "Streetcar Named Desire' (1st review)
Reality and delusion in the French Quarter
Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski have been going at it for more than 60 years now— and for good reason, as the Walnut's riveting revival of A Streetcar Named Desire reminded me: Given the human capacity for self-delusion, few of us are likely to recognize ourselves in Blanche and Stanley— but we'll surely recognize others we know.
Articles
4 minute read
Mauckingbird's lesbian "Hedda Gabler'
As if poor Hedda didn't have enough problems
Ibsen's reckless Hedda Gabler found herself shunned by proper 19th-Century society. In Mauckingbird's current adaptation, she's a lesbian as well— but strangely, nobody seems to mind.
Articles
4 minute read
Free speech vs. creativity at the Wilma
The ‘Wilma Papers': Free speech vs. the creative process
At the request of the Wilma Theater, Broad Street Review withdrew Jim Rutter's commentary about the reading of a work-in-progress. Did we do the right thing? Does a theater's need to control its creative product trump an audience's right to free expression? The full three-way correspondence file, reprinted here, may shed some light on these issues.
Articles
12 minute read
"In the Next Room' at the Wilma (reading)
A hot ticket: Reactionary post-feminism
Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room is a play that's almost entirely concerned with women's needs for intimacy, their jealousy, awkwardness about asking for what they want, and family neuroses. I loved it, but Ruhl's infantilization of women bears uncanny echoes of Ibsen.
Articles
5 minute read
Lantern's "The Great Divorce'
Anthony Lawton’s one-man, one-act adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s vision of the afterlife is as intelligent and provoking an evening as I’ve spent at the theater in a long time; it’s often devastatingly funny as well.
The Great Divorce. By Anthony Lawton, adapted from the novel by C.S. Lewis. Lantern Theater Co. production through January 4, 2009 at St. Stephen’s Theater, Tenth and Ludlow Sts. (215) 829-9002 or
The Great Divorce. By Anthony Lawton, adapted from the novel by C.S. Lewis. Lantern Theater Co. production through January 4, 2009 at St. Stephen’s Theater, Tenth and Ludlow Sts. (215) 829-9002 or
Articles
3 minute read
Bogosian's "Talk Radio' by New City Stage Co.
When good plays happen to green actors
Eric Bogosian's 1980s play about a radio talk-show host is as relevant as ever, even in the age of the blogosphere. But Paul Felder is simply too young for the central role.
Articles
3 minute read
"Schmucks' at the Wilma
Two comedians in search of a message
In a 1965 diner, Lenny Bruce debates Groucho Marx about the role of comedy in a free society. What emerges instead is a largely incoherent series of meandering, bloated conversations, better suited to a dissertation than an evening of theater.
Articles
4 minute read
"It's a Wonderful Life,' at the Prince
Back to Bedford Falls, one more time
It's a Wonderful Life, an exercise in postwar nostalgia set in a radio station, is a pleasant holiday diversion. It could have been more, even without Jimmy Stewart.
Articles
4 minute read
Lantern's "The Government Inspector'
Terror on the Steppe: When the Government Inspector Calls
Nikolai Gogol's 1836 farce, The Government Inspector, was the first satire of modern bureaucracy— a precursor of Kafka and Beckett. David O'Connor's edgy production, with a fine cast headed by a rather astonishing Luigi Sottile, keeps the laughter coming while chills tug at the spine too.
Articles
3 minute read
Theatre Exile's "dark play'
Fear and loathing on the Internet
Carlos Murillo’s dark play concerns the online manipulation of a fragile teenager. But the real abuses on the Internet are far more frightening than anything in Deborah Block’s tame production.
dark play, or stories for boys. By Carlos Murillo; directed by Deborah Block. Theatre Exile production through December 7, 20087 at Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, 2111 Sansom St. (215) 922-4462 or www.theatreexile.org.
dark play, or stories for boys. By Carlos Murillo; directed by Deborah Block. Theatre Exile production through December 7, 20087 at Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, 2111 Sansom St. (215) 922-4462 or www.theatreexile.org.
Articles
5 minute read