Zoe Burke - Page 2

[...] 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.

Ironweed Productions celebrates its 15th anniversary and launches its 2020 Season with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker's comically off-beat and gently moving play, The Aliens, opening March 5th.

New Mexico Actors Lab founder Robert Benedetti announced today that co-Artistic Director Nicholas Ballas has been named the group's sole Artistic Director, and that Benedetti will now serve as Managing Director in concert with Mr. Ballas.

Blood and Water, the newest production playing at the Aux Dog Theatre (and a world premiere at that) is a strong new piece from Albuquerque based playwright Andy Mayo. Similar to the works of Sam Shepard in construction and tone, the dark comedy examines the relationship between two estranged brothers over one fateful Christmas.

In a hypothetical eternal court, Hitler is tried for his crimes against humanity. His defense? Martin Luther. The prosecutor? Anne Frank. So begins False Witness: The Trial of Humanity's Conscience by Robert Krakow, currently running at The Swan Theatre.

Ironweed Productions presents Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes as part of a collaboration with Teatro Paraguas and the Santa Fe Playhouse to bring her three-play cycle, The Elliot Trilogy, to Santa Fe. Ironweed's production, directed by Valli Marie Rivera, will run October 3rd through October 20th.

The Santa Fe Playhouse has been a cornerstone of Santa Fe's theater community for almost 100 years. In that time, there have been many Artistic Directors, each charged with moving this venerable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization forward. The baton of leadership is about to be passed once again.

The 2019 New Mexico Actors Lab season has been a very strong one, and the trend continues with their final production, 4,000 Miles. Amy Herzog's 2013 Pulitzer finalist is about, in large part, the relationship between 21 year old Leo and his 91 year old grandmother, dealing with themes of family, loss, responsibility, and love in a lovely, intimately staged fashion.

A review of the original 1998 production of Diana Son's Stop Kiss refers to the play as a 'small treasure' - not intended as a slight, but I think in reference to the beautifully, movingly simple nature of the script. I would use the same phrase to describe the New Mexico Actor's Lab production (currently running at Teatro Paraguas) - the play is full of small, gorgeous moments that are masterfully directed and acted, creating a lovely and impactful evening of theatre.

Teatro Paraguas, Santa Fe Playhouse, and Ironweed Productions present This fall, Teatro Paraguas, the Santa Fe Playhouse, and Ironweed Productions join forces -with a cast of 17 actors from Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and beyond-to bring Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes' masterful epic, The Elliot Trilogy, to Santa Fe. This powerful trilogy consists of Elliot: a Soldier's Fugue, Pulitzer Prize-winner Water by the Spoonful, and The Happiest Song Plays Last. The plays follow Elliot Ortiz from the battlegrounds of Iraq, to a Subway sandwich shop in his home of Philadelphia, to his roots in Puerto Rico, and back to the Middle East to confront a past that has haunted him since the war. The plays span four generations and over 60 years, grappling with the impacts of war and addiction on families and how redemption can be found within intergenerational care, compassion, and wisdom.