Review: Wilbury Offers Compelling INDECENTDecember 17, 2023The breathtaking production of Paula Vogel's Indecent at the Wilbury tackles this challenge head on, and the result is one of the most powerful theatrical experiences of the season. Top line: Go see this show before it closes on Dec. 23.
Review: TRUE WEST at Brown/Trinity MFANovember 6, 2023As written—and as typically performed—Sam Shepard's 1980 dark comedy True West can feel like it skates around some of the troubling issues lurking beneath America's self image. Its vision of a dichotomous West of freedom and constraint, open range and suburb, can seem a naive gloss over questions of dislocated Native American nations and the slave labor which drove the engine of nineteenth-century progress. Not so with the keenly visualized, expertly directed, and authentically acted production at Brown/Trinity MFA. This is a brilliant take on this classic that everyone should see. Even if you don't think you like Shepard. Seriously.
Review: THE TEMPEST at The Colonial TheatreAugust 1, 2023Shakespeare, late in his career, braided many of his preoccupations—love, the machinations of court, magic, low comedy, visual spectacle, theatre itself—into what may be his culminant work, 'The Tempest.' The Colonial Theatre production in Wilcox Park, Westerly, ticks all these boxes, offering a spectacular evening that will surprise and delight even long-time fans of the Bard's last solo play.
Review: SILHOUETTE OF A SILHOUETTE at Wilbury Theatre GroupOctober 3, 2022Rose Weaver has impeccable credentials: a highly respected actress, singer, and writer, whose star turn as Aunt Ester in last season's 'Gem of the Ocean' at Trinity was transcendent. Alas, the world premiere of her new play, 'Silhouette of a Silhouette' at the Wilbury aims high, but never quite soars.
Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at The Colonial TheatreAugust 11, 2022Over its 70-year history, Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' has been staged in many venues, but Colonial Theatre's current production offers a most congenial outdoor setting in Westerly's Wilcox Park. Combine that with stellar performances all around and deft, assured directorial choices, and you have a compelling evening worthy of the material.
Feature: Contemporary Theatre Company Cuts Ribbon On New SpaceJuly 28, 2022Wakefield's Contemporary Theater Company held a grand opening July 28 for a new theatrical space overlooking the Saugatucket River. The half-million dollar facility connects wieth their outdoor performance patio and comprises a new rehearsal room/classroom, a new lobby, outdoor audience balconies, and enhancements to the patio space.
BWW Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at The Gamm TheatreMay 17, 2022Shakespeare warns early in the first act of Midsummer Night's Dream that 'the course of true love never did run smooth.' In that warning lies the comedic core of the show, and the Gamm Theatre delivers a visually stunning, delightfully playful production that fully captures the Bard's vision. It's a thoroughly enjoyable, punchy take on the classic.