She 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…
Author: John Olive
Review | Into The Woods: ethereal and powerful
You might could call Stephen Sondheim‘s exquisite and delicate Into The Woods a “problem play.” Like Shakespeare’s problem plays (one thinks of A Winter’s Tale) to call Into The Woods problematic is in no way to criticize. Rather, it’s to…
Review | benevolence: scary-powerful
Difficult. Difficult, and presented with unrelieved intensity. This is an apt description of benevolence (playing at Penumbra Theatre Company through March 10). If you’re looking for feel-good entertainment, a sweet and undemanding play to watch while you digest a rich…
Review | She Loves Me: sweet and tuneful
Whenever I attend the Artistry Theater, I’m struck by what a play-going bargain it is. The commodious parking lot is filled with free parking; the lobby is huge; there’s a wonderful and large room filled with pretty-good art. (The rest…
Review | A Little Night Music: the perfect show for a frigid winter night
Only the great Stephen Sondheim can do this: hunched over a (grand, naturally) piano, he plunks out a simple melody. One five-five-five. “Isn’t it rich? / Don’t you approve?” And suddenly – hey, presto! – Sondheim has created “Send In…
Review | Blackbird: powerful, creepy
The past, as the swamis never tire of telling us, is a meaningless abstraction. Ditto the future. There is only the ineffable Now, the shining wellspring of happiness and contentment. But what do you do when the past is the…
Review | Dr. Suess’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas: green holiday fun
Ready or not, the 2018 Christmas season has started. How do I know this? It’s because of the discombobulating rush of holiday shows: the big G begins (on Nov 13) its kazillionth production of A Christmas Carol; there’s the myriad…
The Great Society: a fascinating look at LBJ
Pearce Bunting plays Lyndon Baines Johnson in Robert Schenkkan‘s theatrical (and loud) The Great Society (History Theatre) with none of the crude charm, the country-boy excess, the rude physical bullying that I’ve come to associate with our former president. Bunting’s LBJ…
Is God Is: gorgeously nasty
“The fire keeps tryna come out.” Mixed Blood‘s wonderfully repellent and highly original Is God Is, written by Aleshea Harris, is a clutch-popper. Credit – definitely the right word, because this play zips along like a house afire and is…
Awake And Sing!: a 1930s era gem
“She’s so beautiful. She’s like French words.” “Life shouldn’t be printed on one dollar bills.” “I got a yen for her, and that ain’t Chinese coins.” Can a play containing gems like this ever really be bad? Not really, and…