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…
Category: Reviews
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…
Review | The Book Of Mormon: singin’ and dancin’ racism
The Book Of Mormon is an energy packed and very funny show now playing at the downtown Orpheum Theatre until November 18th. Its pacing is tireless, starting at the opening song “Hello†when we meet Elder Price, (Kevin Clay) a…
Review | The Clean House: clean, but not clean-cut
Theatre Unbound’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House (Theatre Unbound,performing at the Gremlin Theater until November 18) is only one of at least ten productions of this play in the country over the next four months. Some reasons why…
Noises Off at the Guthrie Theater
Are you ‘bout ready for a good laugh? How about a couple hours of nonstop laughing? That’s what the Guthrie Theater delivers with Noises Off, by Michael Frayn, a classic modern farce (and there sure aren’t many of those!) If…
Review | The Tempest: spare and wondrous
Theatre Coup d’Etat heads into Halloween with spirits and spells in an absorbing and taut production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We sit in a square, empty room. Chairs in a circle – one row only. A few dramatic lights. Sound…
Review | Scapin: a servant of no masters
A director friend of mine once said, “A little stupid is funny; a lot of stupid is just stupid.†The Ten Thousand Things staging of Scapin is just the right amount of stupid and it is very funny. (Ten Thousand Things…
Review | I Come From Arizona: beautifully bilingual
What does “Global Perspectives†mean, anyway? Carlos Murillo’s I Come from Arizona (CTC) offers a few suggestions. In this bilingual play, 14-year old Mexican-American Gabi Castillo (Ayssette Muñoz), who, living on the South Side of Chicago, moves to the elite…
Review | Mary Poppins: timeless appeal
Mary Poppins may be returning to the silver screen with a new Disney film Mary Poppins Returns but the original movie starring Julie Andrews exudes a timeless essence that continues to enchant audiences today. You can relive the magic of Mary…
Two Degrees: timely and well-played
Watching Prime Productions’ staging of Two Degrees (the Guthrie‘s Dowling Stage) about a woman scientist asked to testify before a senate select committee on the effects of climate change, one might think that this play was birthed over the past weekend…