Rhode Island Theater Reviews

Review: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE at The Arctic Playhouse
by Christopher Verleger - April 24, 2024

The Arctic Playhouse in West Warwick dutifully pays tribute to mystery maven Agatha Christie with its sleek, suspenseful production of her renowned best seller and the basis of numerous stage, film, and television adaptations, ‘And Then There Were None.’...

Review: National Tour of 'COMPANY' at Providence Performing Arts Center
by John McDaid - April 24, 2024

Review: NATIONAL TOUR OF 'COMPANY' at Providence Performing Arts Center: The innovative, gender-swapped version makes its Providence debut...

Review: THE PROM at The Community Players
by Christopher Verleger - April 17, 2024

The Community Players concludes its 102nd season on the highest of notes with its energetic, spirited, emotionally charged production of the musical comedy, ‘The Prom.’...

Review: COLLECTIVE RAGE: A PLAY IN 5 BETTIES at Burbage Theatre Co.
by Charlotte Buecheler - April 04, 2024

What did our critic think of COLLECTIVE RAGE: A PLAY IN 5 BETTIES at Burbage Theatre Co.?...

Review: FENCES at Trinity Rep
by John McDaid - March 28, 2024

FENCES at Trinity Rep: Crisp production of the August Wilson classic...

Review: WOLF PLAY at Wilbury Theatre Group
by Christopher Verleger - March 27, 2024

At the beginning of ‘Wolf Play,’ Hansol Jung’s gripping, intense drama, now playing at Wilbury Theatre Group, an individual casually walks on stage, faces the audience, and poses the question, “What if I said I am not what you think you see?” ...

Review: DELIGHTFUL 'TWELFTH NIGHT' AT GAMM THEATRE
by John McDaid - March 25, 2024

Twelfth Night is possibly Shakespeare's most brilliant comedy, packed with ribald wordplay, mistaken identities, and revenge, tied up in a tangled web of unrequited love. The slick, energetic production at the Gamm Theatre gets every bit of it. This is a dazzling show, stuffed with talent in every r...

Review: FROZEN at Providence Performing Arts Center
by Christopher Verleger - March 13, 2024

Providence Performing Arts Center presents ‘Frozen,’ the 2018 Broadway musical based on Disney’s top-grossing 2013 animated film, featuring the beloved Grammy and Academy-Award winning anthem, “Let It Go.”...

Review: THE BROTHERS GRIMM at The Arctic Playhouse
by Christopher Verleger - March 06, 2024

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Review: PLAYHOUSE CREATURES at Burbage Theatre Company
by Christopher Verleger - February 09, 2024

After last season’s splendid ‘The Oldest Profession,’ Burbage Theatre Company and WomensWork Theatre Collaborative join forces again for ‘Playhouse Creatures,’ April De Angelis’s fascinating portrait of five females from late 17th-century England who were able to pursue careers on stage after King C...

Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at the Providence Performing Arts Center
by Erica Cataldi-Roberts - February 07, 2024

Aaron Sorkin’s dramatic adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic novel, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, pulls no punches, showing how racial injustice and the attitudes and issues related to it are all still relevant to the modern day....

Review: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? at The Gamm Theatre
by Christopher Verleger - February 01, 2024

Early on in Edward Albee’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, husband George nonchalantly responds to his wife who has just insulted him with the declarative statement, “That’s not a very nice thing to say, Martha.” That sarcastic albeit loaded moment of seemingly civil interplay between the pair ma...

Review: LA BROA' (BROAD STREET) at Trinity Repertory Company
by Charlotte Buecheler - January 31, 2024

What did our critic think of LA BROA’ (BROAD STREET) AT TRINITY REPERTORY COMPANY at Trinity Repertory Company? Opening night for La Broa’ at Trinity Rep felt like a party, a long-awaited homecoming for a community represented both on and off the stage....

Review: AIN'T TOO PROUD at Providence Performing Arts Center
by Christopher Verleger - January 26, 2024

Providence Performing Arts Center celebrates the new year with the return of ‘Ain’t Too Proud,’ the stylish, spirited 2019 Tony-winning musical about the unparalleled career and personal trials and tribulations of one of the most successful soul acts in history, The Temptations....

Review: HIR transfixes at The Wilbury Theatre Group
by Jessica Tabak - January 25, 2024

What did our critic think of HIR at The Wilbury Theatre Group? Before trans entered our vernacular as a standalone word, we used it mostly as a prefix to indicate something was being changed into another version of itself — be it energy into other energy (transduction), language into other language ...

Review: ANNUAL 24-HOUR PLAY FESTIVAL Dazzles Again at Contemporary Theater Company
by John McDaid - January 20, 2024

CTC'S ANNUAL 24-HOUR PLAY FESTIVAL DAZZLES AGAIN at Contemporary Theater Company. Written, produced, and performed in a day. Amazing....

Review: MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL Dazzles at PPAC
by Andria Tieman - December 21, 2023

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, debuted in Boston in 2018, and seems like an incredibly logical adaptation of a wildly successful musical film.  The stage version, showing at PPAC through December 31, hews very closely to the film in terms of plot and the bigger musical numbers, but also adds some new so...

Review: Wilbury Offers Compelling INDECENT
by John McDaid - December 17, 2023

The breathtaking production of Paula Vogel's Indecent at the Wilbury tackles this challenge head on, and the result is one of the most powerful theatrical experiences of the season. Top line: Go see this show before it closes on Dec. 23....

Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Attleboro Community Theatre
by Christopher Verleger - December 05, 2023

With the holiday season upon us, Attleboro Community Theatre (ACT)’s joyous, heartwarming production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is the quintessential reminder of what Christmas is all about—family, tradition, and generosity....

Review: DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! The Musical at Providence Performing Arts Center
by Jay Pateakos - November 29, 2023

What did our critic think of DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! THE MUSICAL at Providence Performing Arts Center?...

Review: BLKS at Burbage Theatre Company
by John McDaid - November 21, 2023

Burbage mounts captivating RI premiere of Barnes' intense slice-of-life comedy...

Review: BIG, THE MUSICAL at The Community Players
by Christopher Verleger - November 15, 2023

The Community Players kicks off its 102nd season with a lively, endearing, production of “Big, The Musical,” based on the beloved 1988 film, directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks....

Review: ONE FLEA SPARE at Brown / Trinity Rep (MFA)
by Jessica Tabak - November 08, 2023

What did our critic think of ONE FLEA SPARE at Brown / Trinity Rep (MFA)?...

Review: TRUE WEST at Brown/Trinity MFA
by John McDaid - November 06, 2023

As written—and as typically performed—Sam Shepard's 1980 dark comedy True West can feel like it skates around some of the troubling issues lurking beneath America's self image. Its vision of a dichotomous West of freedom and constraint, open range and suburb, can seem a naive gloss over questions of...

Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at Contemporary Theater Company
by Christopher Verleger - October 27, 2023

Contemporary Theater Company (CTC) revisits the Prohibition Era with its enchanting, sumptuous production of William Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy, ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’...