Susan Haubenstock
Susan Haubenstock has written theater criticism since 1989, first for the Stamford (CT) Advocate and then for the Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch. She has an MA in theater from the University of Illinois. She is a founding member of the Richmond Theater Critics Circle and a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, and she always goes to the theater hoping to be thrilled.
BWW Review: ELLA AND HER FELLA FRANK at Virginia Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: WAR IN PIECES at Firehouse Theatre
BWW Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Quill Theatre
BWW Review: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at Virginia Repertory Theatre
BWW Review: STRAIGHT WHITE MEN at Conciliation Lab
BWW Review: EVERY BRILLIANT THING at Illuminated Stage Theatre Company
BWW Review: THE BOTTOM SHOW at Quill TheatreBWW Review: STRAIGHT WHITE MEN at Conciliation Lab
December 6, 2021
Young Jean Lee's 2014 play made it to Broadway in 2018 and now afflicts the comfortable at Conciliation Lab.
BWW Review: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at Virginia Repertory Theatre
December 6, 2021
A sweet and sentimental Christmas play geared to fans of the classic movie
BWW Review: WINTER WONDERETTES at Swift Creek Mill Theatre
November 24, 2021
This crowd-pleaser is lightweight, fizzy fun—maybe not so much Champagne as sweet sparkling cider, but effervescent nonetheless.
BWW Review: SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS at The Illuminated Stage Company
November 30, 2021
Michael and Lily are an odd couple--they irritate each other, but this play's familiar plot signals that they'll be great friends.
BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS KADDISH at Richmond Triangle Players
November 22, 2021
For a change of pace, Richmond Triangle Players’ holiday offering is an original musical, “A Christmas Kaddish.” Using flashback elements from seasonal favorites like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol,” the show takes an unusually serious look at life, death and love.
BWW Review: PIPELINE at Virginia Rep
October 26, 2021
Dominique Morisseau's 2019 play--one of the most-produced plays of that year--hurls the audience into the emotions that surface when schoolteacher Nya's son Omari is threatened with being diverted from his private boarding school into the notorious school-to-prison pipeline.
BWW Review: THE NICETIES at The Conciliation Lab
October 3, 2021
'The Niceties' is Eleanor Burgess's 2018 drama in which a white professor and a Black undergraduate argue over provocative issues of race and history--an excellent choice for The Conciliation Lab's season opener.
BWW Review: WAR IN PIECES at Firehouse Theatre
September 30, 2021
Firehouse Theatre presents a program of four world-premiere one-act plays written by military veterans, taken from their lives in service in different eras.
BWW Review: VINCENT RIVER at Richmond Triangle Players
September 28, 2021
Philip Ridley's emotional two-character play confronts homophobia and searing loss.
BWW Review: EVERY BRILLIANT THING at Illuminated Stage Theatre Company
September 20, 2021
Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education presents Illuminated Stage Theatre Company's one-actor play, showcasing the new facility
BWW Review: I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE at Swift Creek Mill Theatre
September 20, 2021
The 1995 revue 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change' was to open four days before quarantine shuttered Swift Creek Mill Theatre in 2020, but it's the season opener for 2021.
BWW Review: THE PINK UNICORN at Richmond Triangle Players
August 12, 2021
Marie Lucas gives a lovely performance as the devoted mother of a genderqueer youth
BWW Review: THE BOTTOM SHOW at Quill Theatre
July 20, 2021
In true repertory fashion, nine of the ten actors who perform Quill's 'Twelfth Night' are also presenting 'The Bottom Show,' featuring the rude (in this case, very rude) mechanicals from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
BWW Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Quill Theatre
July 12, 2021
The reliable Shakespeare comedy is half of a summer repertory season, with a company of ten actors rotating between two plays.
BWW Review: ELLA AND HER FELLA FRANK at Virginia Repertory Theatre
July 12, 2021
Richmond favorites Desiree Roots and Scott Wichmann, as Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, swing audiences through a delightful selection of beloved songs.
BWW Review: WALLED IN at Firehouse Theatre
June 15, 2021
Richmond's Firehouse Theatre, which has presented live theater throughout the pandemic, now presents the world premiere of 'Walled In,' with material from Thoreau's 'Walden'
BWW Review: 4000 DAYS at Richmond Triangle Players
May 3, 2021
Richmond Triangle Players has had occasional live productions going through the pandemic, but its new '4000 Days' is the first in-person show for many newly vaccinated theatergoers. The socially distanced, masked patrons in the audience seemed happy to be in a theater at all, but '4000 Days' is only a mild inducement to come back.
BWW Review: KRAPP'S LAST TAPE at Firehouse Theatre
February 19, 2021
Firehouse Theatre's production of 'Krapp's Last Tape' brings thing too-rarely-produced masterwork to brilliant life with the collaboration of director James Ricks and actor Alan Sader.
BWW Review: THIS BITTER EARTH at Richmond Triangle Players
February 19, 2021
Harrison David Rivers' play focuses on a loving partners Neil, a white BLM activist, and Jesse, a black writer.
BWW Feature: VA REP NAMES CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
January 25, 2021
Experienced theater artists Katrinah Carol Lewis and Steve Perigard have been selected as co-artistic directors of Virginia Repertory Theatre for the next six months.
December 6, 2021
Young Jean Lee's 2014 play made it to Broadway in 2018 and now afflicts the comfortable at Conciliation Lab.
BWW Review: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at Virginia Repertory Theatre
December 6, 2021
A sweet and sentimental Christmas play geared to fans of the classic movie
BWW Review: WINTER WONDERETTES at Swift Creek Mill Theatre
November 24, 2021
This crowd-pleaser is lightweight, fizzy fun—maybe not so much Champagne as sweet sparkling cider, but effervescent nonetheless.
BWW Review: SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS at The Illuminated Stage Company
November 30, 2021
Michael and Lily are an odd couple--they irritate each other, but this play's familiar plot signals that they'll be great friends.
BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS KADDISH at Richmond Triangle Players
November 22, 2021
For a change of pace, Richmond Triangle Players’ holiday offering is an original musical, “A Christmas Kaddish.” Using flashback elements from seasonal favorites like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol,” the show takes an unusually serious look at life, death and love.
BWW Review: PIPELINE at Virginia Rep
October 26, 2021
Dominique Morisseau's 2019 play--one of the most-produced plays of that year--hurls the audience into the emotions that surface when schoolteacher Nya's son Omari is threatened with being diverted from his private boarding school into the notorious school-to-prison pipeline.
BWW Review: THE NICETIES at The Conciliation Lab
October 3, 2021
'The Niceties' is Eleanor Burgess's 2018 drama in which a white professor and a Black undergraduate argue over provocative issues of race and history--an excellent choice for The Conciliation Lab's season opener.
BWW Review: WAR IN PIECES at Firehouse Theatre
September 30, 2021
Firehouse Theatre presents a program of four world-premiere one-act plays written by military veterans, taken from their lives in service in different eras.
BWW Review: VINCENT RIVER at Richmond Triangle Players
September 28, 2021
Philip Ridley's emotional two-character play confronts homophobia and searing loss.
BWW Review: EVERY BRILLIANT THING at Illuminated Stage Theatre Company
September 20, 2021
Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education presents Illuminated Stage Theatre Company's one-actor play, showcasing the new facility
BWW Review: I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE at Swift Creek Mill Theatre
September 20, 2021
The 1995 revue 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change' was to open four days before quarantine shuttered Swift Creek Mill Theatre in 2020, but it's the season opener for 2021.
BWW Review: THE PINK UNICORN at Richmond Triangle Players
August 12, 2021
Marie Lucas gives a lovely performance as the devoted mother of a genderqueer youth
BWW Review: THE BOTTOM SHOW at Quill Theatre
July 20, 2021
In true repertory fashion, nine of the ten actors who perform Quill's 'Twelfth Night' are also presenting 'The Bottom Show,' featuring the rude (in this case, very rude) mechanicals from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
BWW Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Quill Theatre
July 12, 2021
The reliable Shakespeare comedy is half of a summer repertory season, with a company of ten actors rotating between two plays.
BWW Review: ELLA AND HER FELLA FRANK at Virginia Repertory Theatre
July 12, 2021
Richmond favorites Desiree Roots and Scott Wichmann, as Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, swing audiences through a delightful selection of beloved songs.
BWW Review: WALLED IN at Firehouse Theatre
June 15, 2021
Richmond's Firehouse Theatre, which has presented live theater throughout the pandemic, now presents the world premiere of 'Walled In,' with material from Thoreau's 'Walden'
BWW Review: 4000 DAYS at Richmond Triangle Players
May 3, 2021
Richmond Triangle Players has had occasional live productions going through the pandemic, but its new '4000 Days' is the first in-person show for many newly vaccinated theatergoers. The socially distanced, masked patrons in the audience seemed happy to be in a theater at all, but '4000 Days' is only a mild inducement to come back.
BWW Review: KRAPP'S LAST TAPE at Firehouse Theatre
February 19, 2021
Firehouse Theatre's production of 'Krapp's Last Tape' brings thing too-rarely-produced masterwork to brilliant life with the collaboration of director James Ricks and actor Alan Sader.
BWW Review: THIS BITTER EARTH at Richmond Triangle Players
February 19, 2021
Harrison David Rivers' play focuses on a loving partners Neil, a white BLM activist, and Jesse, a black writer.
BWW Feature: VA REP NAMES CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
January 25, 2021
Experienced theater artists Katrinah Carol Lewis and Steve Perigard have been selected as co-artistic directors of Virginia Repertory Theatre for the next six months.
