Gloria: A Life at American Repertory Theatre

CSC and the Coolidge to Present SHAKESPEARE REIMAGINED: A MIDWINTER'S TALE This Month

February 11, 2024

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Coolidge Corner Theatre present Shakespeare Reimagined: A MIDWINTER’S TALE, a new production written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. This article provides details about the upcoming performance on Thursday, February 29 at 7 PM.

Gloucester Stage to Present the World Premiere of TALL TALES FROM BLACKBURN TAVERN

August 26, 2023

Gloucester Stage Company has announced the world premiere of TALL TALES FROM BLACKBURN TAVERN, written by John Minigan and directed by Bryn Boice. The production will open on Friday, September 1, and run through September 24 at Gloucester Stage Company's historic waterfront theater.

Video: Watch a Sneak Peek of FABULATION OR, THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE at Lyric Stage Company Of Boston

October 04, 2022

Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage is playing at Lyric Stage Company Of Boston through Sunday, October 9. Watch a sneak peek here!

Lyric Stage Company Of Boston Presents FABULATION OR, THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE

August 24, 2022

​​​​​​​Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage and directed by Dawn M. Simmons kicks off Lyric Stage's 2022/23 season with a universal story about trying to make a life of your own while reconciling and making peace with your past, your family, and the perception of the place you hold in the world.

BWW Review: DETROIT RED at ArtsEmerson

February 07, 2020

In David Mamet's book On Directing Film, he breaks down the way a linear narrative can be conveyed by placing images in direct contrast to each other. a?oeThe dream and the film are the juxtaposition of images in order to answer a question.a?? Certainly, with a majority of the action taking place upstage of a scrim and the fusion of filmed and live material, ArtsEmerson's Detroit Red, an original play by Will Power about Malcolm X's early adult life in Roxbury, leaves one feeling more as though one has watched a movie or woken from a dream than sat through a performance. Recently, I also saw Gloria: A Life, which is playing at the American Repertory Theatre. While I admittedly found the show to be trite and pandering, it obtusely fused projection effects with live performance in a way that felt cheap, gimmicky, and more like a new SnapChat filter than anything else. Contrast that with Ari Herzig's film work for Detroit Red, which snaps the audience effectively between viewpoints in black and white and splays broad images across the haziness of Adam Rigg's nondescript set. The success of the production lies in the success of the filmed elements, which establish a framing device, pinpointing the action to an exact moment in time. Additionally, the projections act as effective abstractions, allowing the actors to waver between realism and poetry as photos of their faces appear as oversized watermarks in space. Lighting designer Alan Edwards equally contributes to the cinematic feel of the piece. Sharp shafts of light slice through open space and act, ingeniously, as the camera lens might in film, focusing our attention on specifics and the relevant details. Aside from a few extraneous hat changes for the three actors who take on all the roles in the piece, between the work of Herzig, Rigg, and Edwards, the performance seems to be a study in the logistics of jump-cuts or cross-fades in real time. Adding to the film-instead-of-theatre feeling in the space, the performance actively roused and engaged the audience, which had a huge swathe of Boston school groups present. The crowd felt comfortable verbalizing responses, in part, because of our physical separation from the action presented to us, and to be able to laugh, cheer, gasp, and grimace in solidarity with those around you is a rare treat.

The Best Cyber Monday Theater Ticket Deals in Boston

December 02, 2019

Let's face it: You probably have enough stuff. While deals on vacuums and toothbrushes can feel satisfying in the moment, wouldn't you rather get tickets to an unforgettable theatrical experience? That's where we come in. This Cyber Monday (i.e. today!) deals on theater tix are so good they feel like a steal. Whether it's a show you've been planning to see forever, or a deal that's just too good to pass up, today's the day to buy those tickets.