Category: Reviews

Review || Bernarda Alba: percussive intensity

It’s a terrific idea: take the dense, lyrical prose of Federico Garcia Lorca‘s masterful The House Of Bernarda Alba and replace it with dense, semi-dissonant, percussive music (by Michael John LaChiusa). And it works! As long as you don’t expect…

Review | The Band’s Visit: subtle magic

The Band’s Visit, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Itamar Moses, breaks so many rules for writing musicals—not by being outrageous, but by being not outrageous. It is a musical built on subtleties, just bits and…

Review | Dog Act: post-apocalyptic rage

Liz Duffy Adams‘s intermittently amusing Dog Act (Fortune’s Fool Theatre performing in The Gremlin) brings to mind the work of a number of super-duper playwrights: Bertolt Brecht (Mother Courage), Samuel Beckett (Waiting For Godot), Caryl Churchill (The Skriker, produced a…

Review | All Is Calm: masterful

Across a dim stage, out of the (hypoallergenic) mist, a crystal-clear voice rings out, singing the old Scottish tune “Will ye go to Flanders.” The voice takes shape in a young soldier, flanked on either side by a small chorus…

Review | Fast Company: enjoyably confusing

Fast Company (Theater Mu performing at the Guthrie, through Nov 24) wants to be good. All the production elements are in place: a zippy pace, muscular direction (by whip smart Brian Balcom), excellent acting. The play has some tasty design (sets…

Review | A New Brain: breezy, sweet, tuneful, long

I’ll say it again: Artistry offers one of the most pleasant and approachable play-going experiences around. Ticket prices are reasonable. The lobby is huge (and contains a very nice art gallery). The Schneider Theatre is comfortable and perfectly sized –…