Zoe Burke

What did our critic think of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Tri-M Productions?

Never shying away from a challenge, the Exodus Ensemble’s latest offering tackles what is regularly considered to be one of the cornerstones of the western canon and of high school senior English classes alike: Hamlet.

What did our critic think of PUEBLO REVOLT at Santa Fe Playhouse? Santa Fe Playhouse’s production of Pueblo Revolt, a new play by Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna, and Isleta Pueblo playwright Dillon Christopher Chitto and directed by Tara Moses, of the Seminole and Mvskoke nations, is a powerful and poignant work and well worth seeing.

Despite their existence in Santa Fe for several years (and glowing reviews from many theatremakers I highly respect), I had, until Friday night’s performance of Cyrano, not made it out to see an Exodus Ensemble show.

Musicals, once somewhat seldom produced in northern New Mexico, has within the past few years experienced something of a heyday in Santa Fe, thanks in part to the emergence of Tri-M (Millenial Music Makers) Productions.

Performance Santa Fe, a leading producer of world renowned theatre, music and dance, is thrilled to announce an extraordinary contest that gives aspiring singers the chance of a lifetime to perform a holiday song alongside Broadway sensation Jessica Vosk.

What did our critic think of THE REZ SISTERS at the Vortex Theatre?

What did our critic think of EVERYBODY at Santa Fe Playhouse?

New Mexico School for the Arts is no ordinary educational institution, and recently graduated senior Theo Kutsko is no ordinary student. Kutsko's ambitious and well executed senior project -- which has one more performance on Sunday, June 19th -- is a production of Falsettos, produced via Santa Fe Youth Collaborative Theatre.

The Effect, written by British playwright Lucy Prebble (American audience members might know her best as a co-producer and writer on HBO's Succession) and playing now at the Santa Fe Playhouse, is a beautifully styled, engaging evening of theatre that asks the audience to grapple with issues of free will, medication, mental health, consent, and what it means to love someone (with or without the assistance of chemical agents).

[...] this production of Hamlet is sharp -- incredibly so. Remarkably well paced and brilliantly edited, with so much more action, energy, and even humor than I’d known the play could hold, it is immediately accessible and clearly was directed [...] and performed by people who really know what they’re doing.

“[…]that season, billed as 'The Romans' - consisting of timely productions of Julius Caesar and Coriolanus - opened last weekend at the quad at Santa Fe Preparatory School (1101 Camino de Cruz Blanca), proving itself to be well worth the wait.“

At long last, the community of Rio Rancho has its own theatre company, with plans for a production of Thornton Wilder's American classic Our Town this fall. I had a brief chat with Mel Sussman, founder of the Rio Rancho Players Community Theatre, about his experience with the arts, his journey from Philadelphia to Rio Rancho, and why Our Town is such an impactful play in particular at this time in American history.

Theatre Santa Fe's annual Theatre Walk, which brought thespians and hundreds of theatre fans from all walks of life -- and even parts of northern New Mexico -- together, featured performances from dozens of local companies running concurrently over the course of one afternoon.

Ad Astra Theatre and &Sons Theatre present She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms, a thrilling new virtual adaptation of Qui Nguyen's widely popular play.

Innovative theatre makers across the country have risen to the challenge of creating safe art in the time of COVID - often via Zoom, Twitch, or other conferencing/streaming platforms. Red Bike, directed by Juliet Salazar and presented by Teatro Paraguas, took a different, and decidedly more cinematic route, resulting in an engrossing piece of socially distanced theatre.

As with virtually all performing arts programs across the nation, Santa Fe High School's theatre department found its programming interrupted by COVID-19. Prior to spring break, rehearsals had just started for the 2020 senior show, a production of These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich, featuring a cast of dedicated Santa Fe High School seniors. The production would have closed a season featuring William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Tina Howe's Museum, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The New Mexico Actors Lab announced today that they have received a matching grant for their August production of The Cradle Will Rock. This grant - provided by four anonymous donors - totals a fund of $12,500 that will match dollar-for-dollar any other donations they receive for The Cradle Will Rock up to the $25,000 budgeted for this show.

Augusto Boal once said, 'Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.' I cannot help but feel very fortunate that the Santa Fe theatre scene has been full of educational and transformative works in the past year; the latest being Hummingbird at Teatro Paraguas, which opened this last weekend and will run through the 23rd.

&Sons Theatre is Santa Fe's newest company, led by local actresses Ali Tallman and Mairi Chanel. Read on to hear a little bit about their mission, their thoughts on theatre, and their inaugural production: a reimagined, gender bent Macbeth.