Christopher Plonka

It probably takes a certain level of masochism to spend part of a weekend at a play called LIFE SUCKS, but it's (probably) been proven that watching the struggles of other people makes us feel better about our own circumstances. In the case of this play, viewers can feel doubly smug because it's based on Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and therefore counts as high culture.  Playwright Aaron Posner is making a career of turning the classics on their head--Wilbury Theatre company recently produced Stupid F%&*ng Bird, a play of his based on The Seagull, and there is a lot in the production to enjoy and identify with, even for those not intimately familiar with the source material.

Epic Theatre Company is celebrating the holidays with the rowdiest bunch of Catholic school boys ever to grace the stage. The Boys of St. Matthew's are back-and this year, they're ready to turn Christmas upside down in one of the craziest Carols you'll ever see. BroadwayWorld has a first look at 'Jesus Christ! And Other Christmas Tales' below!

Epic Theatre Company is proud to present the first show in its Summer of Satire-3C by David Adjmi directed by Christopher Plonka.

Epic Theatre Company is proud to present the first show in its Summer of Satire-3C by David Adjmi directed by Christopher Plonka.

Epic Theatre Company is proud to present the first show in its Summer of Satire-3C by David Adjmi directed by Christopher Plonka.

As a theatre reviewer, I have the privilege of watching all kinds of productions. Everything from Shakespeare to locally-written original works is up for grabs. Occasionally, though, one needs to bring in an expert, which is what I opted to do for my review of The Final Voyage of X Minus One at AS220's Black Box theatre. It's not that this production is hard to understand, or less entertaining to those who are not intimately familiar with sci-fi, but genre works tend to have a lot of subtle nods and winks that may go over the layperson's head, and I was concerned about missing something important. So I brought in a ringer, in the form of my geeky husband Ryan Michney, and I've included his thoughts below.