The Book of Will at Big Idea Theatre

Review: THE BOOK OF WILL at Big Idea Theatre

John Heminges and Henry Condell aren’t names that are immediately recognizable, but they should be. Without them, some of our favorite titles would be lost to history. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet wouldn’t exist today. No one would know the name William Shakespeare. One of America’s most produced playwrights, Lauren Gunderson, has brought their story to the stage with a fascinating glimpse into 17th century England. The Book of Will is partially a history lesson and wholly entertaining, and Big Idea Theatre has brought together solid local talent to immerse us in the world of the King’s Men.

Review: See the Explosive AFTER THE BLAST at Big Idea Theatre

It wasn’t that long ago that novels like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road would have been considered farfetched.  A post-apocalyptic wasteland, previously only imaginable, now seems not only plausible but eventually probable. Zoe Kazan takes it a bit further with her stark rendering of the future of America in the smartly written After the Blast, where survivors don’t have the luxury of wandering a barren and dangerous landscape like McCarthy’s boy and his father. Instead, they are miles beneath the surface of the Earth and, generations later, have no first-hand memory of the world above.