BOSTON THEATER REVIEWS

Simple Machine Theatre stages Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of Henry James' Gothic thriller at two historic Boston houses, providing an extra dose of authenticity. Under the direction of M. Bevin O'Gara, Stephen Libby and Anna Waldron give spellbinding performances that will scare the bejeezers out o...

A celebration of Caryl Churchill kicks off with THE AFTER-DINNER JOKE, written for BBC television in 1978. Five actors take on more than sixty characters in this satire of the politics of charity....

The wonderful trick of the Gare St Lazare Players of Ireland's mesmerizing production of Samuel Beckett's classic WAITING FOR GODOT (at ArtsEmerson in Boston through this weekend only) is that it inspires hope even as it suggests life is hopeless....

In Stephen Belber's new play 'The Power of Duff' a lonely newsman seeks redemption by inadvertently turning his anchor desk into a pulpit, working miracles for strangers while still failing to communicate at home....

Quiara Alegria Hudes' Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'Water by the Spoonful' leaves us thirsty for more substance in the Lyric Stage's competent but ultimately listless production about lost souls seeking redemption and human connection....

Boston Playwrights' Theatre continues its season of new works with award-winning Boston playwright Steven Barkhimer's WINDOWMEN, a coming-of-age comedy set in Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market. Brett Marks directs an ensemble of five Equity actors who bring to life the characters from Barkhimer's...

A host of characters are desperately seeking human connection in 'Splendor,' 'Water by the Spoonful,' and 'The Power of Duff,' three new plays currently making their Boston premieres....

Boston Theater Company, a newly established production company, just closed their season opener of Romeo and Juliet, which took a modern approach that incorporated political parties, drug abuse, and the harsh eye of the media....

Sometimes I wish I could still see things through the eyes of a child. I miss the days when a pillow fort could be a dark and endless cave, when a stuffed animal could be a very real, very talkative playmate, and when anyone in costume was automatically magical and mystical. A kid can believe anythi...

National New Play Network rolling premiere of Steven Dietz's 'Rancho Mirage' comes to New Repertory Theatre in Watertown as aimless as tumbleweed tumbling in from the prairie....

On a 40-city tour to promote his new book LET'S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS, David Sedaris makes a whistle stop at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester for one night only. His low-key, relaxed delivery draws lots of laughs and an occasional tear as he shares stories that are personal, profound, and punny...

'Baritones UnBound' makes a delightful world premiere at the Paramount Center Mainstage at ArtsEmerson in Boston, giving splendid voice to a cavalcade of songs for the common man....

Music soars in Mary Zimmerman stage adaptation of "The Jungle Book" entering its final week at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, but this new theatrical version based on the Kipling and Disney classics is ultimately unfulfilling, needing more depth and heart....

Theatre on Fire opens its ninth season at the Charlestown Working Theater with Lauren Gunderson's "revenge comedy" that attacks the serious issue of spousal abuse from a feminist perspective. It's dark, it's funny, and absolutely on point....

On one fateful winter evening, a few weeks before Christmas in 1956, producer Sam Phillips managed to get all of his stars in one room. The recording session of Carl Perkins and Jerry Le Lewis soon turned into an impromptu jam session when Johnny Cash and breakout star Elvis Presley showed up too. T...

The Emmy Award-winning star of 'Breaking Bad' brings his considerable acting heft to the role of President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the American Repertory Theatre's exciting new production of 'All the Way' now through October 12 only....

Cagelles are a kick but romance suffers from weak singing leads in 'La Cage Aux Folles' at North Shore Music Theatre...

Sound and silence are powerful forces in the Boston area premiere of Nina Raine's 2012 Drama Desk Award-winning play TRIBES now at the SpeakEasy Stage through October 19...

Playwright Ginger Lazarus set out to write a lesbian version of Rostand's CYRANO DE BERGERAC and ended up taking on the United States Army and its sorry history of abusing and harassing gays in the era of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." An intimate and intense evening of theater, BURNING at Boston Playwrig...

Unlike 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' there is no simple lesson to be drawn from Clybourne Park, only the realization that racial reconciliation in America still has a long way to go....

Fast pace and smart performances fuel Boston area premiere of "Seminar," Theresa Rebeck's latest Broadway comedy now getting laughs at Stoneham Theatre in Stoneham, Massachusetts...

Outstanding performances make 'The Elephant Man' worthwhile in an elegant but often austere production at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, Mass....

Jeff loves Harry Potter and wants to provide an entertaining, yet accurate, recap of all seven of the novels. Dan, who is moderately aware that Harry Potter exists at best, just wants to have fun and play Quidditch. As the two bumble their way through the seven books, storytelling through puppetry, ...

Bridge Repertory Theater opens its first full season, in collaboration with Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company of NYC, with an ambitious production of Stephen Jeffreys' play about the life of 17th century poet John Wilmot. The complex story is overweight, but the acting is topnotch, as are the cost...

The Other Place by Sharr White, presented by the Underground Railroad Theater and the Nora Theatre Company at the Central Square Theater is about a middle-aged scientist faced with a crumbling marriage, an estranged daughter, and a mystery illness that she is trying to self-diagnose. The story is de...