
John McDaid
John G. McDaid is an award-winning science fiction writer and freelance journalist from Portsmouth, RI. He grew up in NYC, where visits to Broadway sparked a life-long love of theater. He worked both on-stage and off during college — including as tech director on a national tour — before moving into a career in corporate communications. A graduate of New School University with an MFA in fiction from Salve Regina Univeristy, he did doctoral work in media ecology at NYU and is an adjunct professor of communications at Roger Williams University. He is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, and sees as many shows as he can in Rhode Island -- and beyond.
Learn More About John McDaid
First Show
Shenandoah (1975)Favorite Show
Sweeney Todd (1979) Lansbury/CariouFavorite Stories
- Review: GEM OF THE OCEAN at Trinity Rep - One of the awesome things about reviewing is sharing the news about a really great show, and this might have been the best I've seen in RI.
- Review: TRUE WEST at Brown/Trinity MFA - This was a such a surprising, fresh production that it made this a fun review to write.
- Review: ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE Offers Splashy, Frothy Fun in Tour Debut at Providence Performing Arts Center - I had such a different take from the NY critics that my review was retweeted by Jimmy Buffett.
Most Popular Articles

Review: A DELIGHTFUL 'INTO THE WOODS' at Contemporary Theater Company
July 8, 2026
A DELIGHTFUL 'INTO THE WOODS' at Contemporary Theater Company

Review: A searing MEASURE FOR MEASURE at Burbage Theatre Co
May 18, 2026
A searing MEASURE FOR MEASURE.

Review: A FINE 'DINING ROOM' AT GRANITE THEATRE
May 8, 2026
he set immediately grabs you when you walk into the theatre: An intricately crafted dining room, set on a stage with a pronounced tilt, in front of which sits one of those little museum gallery cards in a frame: 'Dining Room.

Review: Trinity Rep's THE WINTER'S TALE Delivers Flashes of Pure Theater
March 2, 2026
Midway through Trinity Repertory Company’s production of The Winter’s Tale, a handful of courtiers gather scattered objects from the stage — a painter’s palette, a bodhrán, a pair of tambourines — and begin, slowly, to move together.

Review: THT REP'S SHARP, SHIMMERING MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
February 1, 2026
THT REP'S SHARP, SHIMMERING MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM.

Review: Crisp, Bracing 'OCTET' at Wilbury Theatre Group
December 9, 2025
CRISP, BRACING 'OCTET' AT THE WILBURY at Wilbury Theatre Group?Crisp, Bracing 'OCTET' at Wilbury Theatre Group: Quirky a cappella musical takes on our digital obsessions

Review: WITCHING HOUR SOCIAL CLUB at Burbage Theatre Co
October 20, 2025
Horror, they say, is a mood rather than a genre.

Review: POWERFUL 'DANCING AT LUGHNASA' at The Players
September 27, 2025
Powerful 'DANCING AT LUGHNASA' at The Players in Providence.

Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL Lands at PPAC
June 11, 2025
BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL lands at Providence Performing Arts Center.

Review: TRINITY REP'S BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY ENCHANTS
June 6, 2025
Some plays are like clockwork: the lights come up in medias res, and we watch, fascinated, as the gears turn — the surprise and delight being the journey.

Review: SOME LIKE IT HOT SIZZLES ON TOUR at Providence Performing Arts Center
April 23, 2025
Some Like It Hot Sizzles on Tour at PPAC: Big band energy, tap-happy choreography, and sharp performances heat up the stage in this exuberant musical comedy

Review: A DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE AT AS220 by Through The Glass Theatre.
March 28, 2025
Sarah Ruhl’s plays walk a tightrope between the real and the surreal, often gazing into the absurd with disarming sincerity.

Review: Bearing Witness: SOMEONE WILL REMEMBER US at Trinity Rep
January 31, 2025
Bearing Witness: SOMEONE WILL REMEMBER US at Trinity Rep.

Review: ONE PROVIDENCE PLACE: A MALL MUSICAL at AS 220
September 20, 2024
It was only a matter of time before someone put the story of that secret apartment on stage.

Review: A Hilarious Caper Under the Stars: 'THE 39 STEPS' in Wilcox Park
August 1, 2024
Review: A HILARIOUS CAPER UNDER THE STARS: 'THE 39 STEPS' IN WILCOX PARK: Colonial Theatre mounts delightful spy thriller spoof

Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Contemporary Theater Company
July 15, 2024
Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Contemporary Theater Company offers charming summer Shakespeare on the Saugatucket

Review: AWAKENING OF SPRING at Reverie Theatre Group
May 31, 2024
For its first show in Rhode Island, the Reverie Theatre Group offers a superb — and sadly short — run of Frank Wedekind's challenging 1891 drama The Awakening of Spring.

Review: National Tour of 'COMPANY' at Providence Performing Arts Center
April 24, 2024
Review: NATIONAL TOUR OF 'COMPANY' at Providence Performing Arts Center: The innovative, gender-swapped version makes its Providence debut

Review: FENCES at Trinity Rep
March 28, 2024
FENCES at Trinity Rep: Crisp production of the August Wilson classic
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