One of the first things to say about Gremlin Theatre‘s production of R.C. Sherriff‘s powerful Journey’s End (playing though Nov 10) is that it’s long: two hours and forty five minutes. Audiences back in the olden days (the play premiered…
Author: John Olive
Review | Chicago: loud, brassy, charming — and a great story
Theater Latté Da, through November 3Veteran HWTS reviewers Janet Preus and John Olive attended the opening of Chicago (Theater Latté Da, performing in the old Ritz Theater, through Nov 3). They then went down the street for cold beverages and a discussion, which is excerpted…
Review | Hot Asian Doctor Husband: a hoot and a half
Mu Performing Arts, performing at Mixed Blood Theater, through Sept 1Leah Nanako Winkler‘s delicious Hot Asian Doctor Husband (Mu Performing Arts, performing at Mixed Blood Theater, through Sept 1) is a prime example of the hoary theatrical truism: when the actors have a good time, so does the audience. And…
Review | Stinkers: a giddy celebration of familial love
The Jungle, through Aug 18The jewelbox Jungle on a stinky, gruesomely hot summer evening: the gorgeous lobby, perfectly sized with actual comfy furniture; then the beautiful performing space, polished wood and rich lighting, small but substantial, highlighting the always wonderful set design, in this…
Review | Samuel J And K: a celebration of the unbreakable bonds of family
The Gremlin Theatre, through August 4Mat Smart is, imo, an unsung master. His plays reveal astonishing diversity, of subject matter, and narrative intensity. Here are some Smart titles, many of which I would wager you’ve never heard: the deliciously funny The Royal Society of Antarctica;…
Review | To Let Go And Fall: an affecting study of love and aging
Theater Latté Da, through June 30Cello music is, it has to be said, mournful, lugubrious and, well, a little creepy. “It’s not gloomy,” asserts the young son in A Little Night Music. “It’s profound.” IOW, ya gotta be in the mood and, luckily, at the…
Review | Small Mouth Sounds: meditative comedy
The Jungle Theater: through June 16Six characters in search of an authorial presence. Bess Wohl‘s amusing Small Mouth Sounds (at the Jungle, through June 16) suffers from this. The primary problem with the play – essentially a portrait of six people at a wilderness (apparently;…
Review | The Sins Of Sor Juana: a nifty combination of religious and poetic fervor
Ten Thousand Things Theater; various venues (check the TTT website), through June 9Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a gifted poet in Nueva España (as México was called in the olden days). Born a bit too late to be part of the Spanish Golden Age (Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes,…
Review | Cyrano de Bergerac: swashbuckling romance
The Guthrie Theater, through May 5The Guthrie‘s program for Edmond Rostand‘s ageless Cyrano de Bergerac lists, in a first for this reviewer, a credit for “Intimacy Consultant” (Lauren Keating). Oh boy, says I to myself. Intimacy. Tantalizing, erotic, pervading the play. Giving the play a…
Review | She Persists: challenging
Pillsbury House Theatre, though March 24She Persists (at Pillsbury House Theatre, through March 24) is a collection of 5 very short playlets which posits an America rent by a “great divide” – political, cultural, religious, racial. And maybe it is. Maybe those of us who…