Alex Lonati

Happy Medium's production of DYING CITY by Christopher Shinn was the first hyper realistic piece I've seen in the private home of those performing.

Boston Public Works Theater Company's production of THREE, a new play by Emily Kaye Lazzaro

A review of Bridge Rep's JULIUS CAESAR, presented in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Boxer Shorts is a ninety-minute night consisting of four short plays from three classic 20th century playwrights (Beckett, Pinter, and Williams) and one contemporary playwright (Raznovich).

A dive into the haunting and kinetic production that was Brown Box Theatre Project's Echoes.

Actors Shakespeare Project's production of Phedre, which took place at the First Church of Boston, a highly descriptive and heightened diatribe of a play.

Review of Bad Habit Productions' THE REAL THING, a dry British comedy by Tom Stoppard

Craig Lucas's Blue Window, directed by emerging talent Anna Trachtman. The show, a speedy 75-minute whirlwind, concerns a group of young professionals before, during, and after a dinner party in the 80s.

Imaginary Beasts consistently puts out what they call 'adventurous' and I would call 'ludicrous' theatrical productions, pushing boundaries, disregarding conventions (gender bending is a staple of their shows), and twisting reality. Their most recent production was Knock, a devised premiere combining upwards of twenty-five plays, short stories, and poems by Russian author Daniil Kharms.

Translations, directed by M. Bevin O'Gara, takes place in 1833 rural Ireland, with most of the action occurring in a school whose adult students often discuss incorporating English into their studies and other methods of furthering themselves in a constantly changing world. Soon, British soldiers come on the scene with the intention of remapping the country, anglicizing the Gaelic city names, and more or less attempting to wipe out the Gaelic language entirely.

You don't go into a show called The Annotated History of the American Muskrat without some very specific preconceptions. While you may have no idea what the piece is actually going to be about, you know it's probably safe to say that it isn't about to be your standard Tennessee Williams drama. The Circuit Theatre Company's production of this brand new show, written for them by Boston playwright John Kuntz, certainly fulfilled the preconceived notions that filled my head.

The Hub Theatre Company of Boston is presenting The Complete Works of Shakespeare [Abridged], a hilarious, highly physical, wacky portrayal of all of the Bard's plays originally conceived by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield.

Telling the story of popular Japanese cartoon, Astro Boy, and his creator, Osamu Tezuka, the piece utilizes more mediums than I ever imagined possible for a stage piece. Not only were projections used, but controlled animation, live drawing, vocal effects, puppetry, and combinations of all of the above.

The Circuit Theatre Company has a summer season of three shows, two of which are currently running in rep at the Oberon Theatre in Cambridge. Last night, I had the pleasure of experiencing both: The Walk Across America for Mother Earth by Taylor Mac and Welcome to Arroyo's by Kristoffer Diaz.

This week is Pride Week in Boston and what better way to support and celebrate than with a festival of plays and theatrical pieces that feature appropriate and relevant themes. Sleeping Weazel's Doubles, Demons, and Dreamers spans two weekends, each of which has its own lineup of a solo performance and a full length play that all tell touching, absurdist, revolutionary, and surrealist tales.

This is the story of Dorothy Thompson, an American journalist and radio broadcaster during WWII who was known to some as the "First Lady of American Journalism". In Cassandra Speaks at the Nora Theatre Company at the Central Square Theater, we see her the morning of her third wedding, as she struggles to finish an article, looks back on her previous loves, and recounts her accomplishments and failures as a journalist in Europe and America.

Who says arts and academia cannot work hand in hand? Isn't theatre one of the best ways to reach large groups of people and enact change? So why not teach lessons about issues of science and environmental awareness within a theatrical piece?

In Imaginary Beasts's mission statement, they refer to the art they create as adventurous, non-traditional, and for an eclectic public. I have seen few shows that adhere to their company's mission statement better than this one. This weekend, I attended Imaginary's Beasts's production of Lovers' Quarrels, a fairly unknown Moliere piece, and have to say that adventurous and non-traditional hit the nail right on the head.

There are few things that speak to the resilience and hopefulness of mankind more than the history of Brundibar, currently being performed at the Central Square Theatre. It is an opera for children (which is ambitious in itself), but it was created by Jewish artists and performed in the Terezin concentration camps, in spite of all of the horror and pain being inflicted.