‘The Nature Plays’ Bring Mt. Auburn Cemetery to Life in a Spectacular Plein Air Tour de Force

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 michaelhoban2 Comments

‘The Nature Plays’ at Mt. Auburn Cemetery

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘The Nature Plays’ – Written by Patrick Gabridge; Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge. Through June 9

Mt. Auburn Cemetery and its rich, natural environment is a heaven-made set for playwright Patrick Gabridge’s spectacular first set of five site-specific one-act plays, collectively titled, “The Nature Plays.” Each ten-minute play touches on a topic germane to its particular setting in the 174-acre cemetery, which is also an arboretum and National Historic Landmark District. The plays run through June 9 with another series of five short plays, “The American Plays,” scheduled to run September 14-22.

A Brief History and Highlights of the IRNEs

June 3, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Beverly Creasey

1988 on: Precursor of the IRNEs: Activist/journalists in Boston have banded together and are intensifying their coverage of (a lack of) diversity in the arts. Papers large and small shine a light on institutions like the MFA. (The Gorilla Girls point out that the only way women are represented in museums is on a canvas and in the nude.) This small group of activist writers marches in support of the ICA when city counselor Albert ‘Dapper’ O’Neill threatens to close down the Mapplethorpe exhibit. There is a proliferation of new companies on the theater front and one member of the group, writing for the Journal Newspapers, realizes that these new companies are doing exceptional work and for the most part, are not being recognized. She forms another organization to honor their work, joining writers from the brand new, pioneering world of internet review sites (Theater Mirror and Aisle Say being the earliest of their ilk). Other papers join up. By the ‘90s they’re known as the “outer critics” to indicate that they do not write for the big papers. A confluence of events propels the group to its mission.

World Premiere of ‘Love and Other Fables’ – a Comic Gem

June 2, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Blake Hammond (King Croesus), Brian Sears (Aesop), Peter Saide (Philocalus) and the cast of the World Premiere of LOVE AND OTHER FABLES playing at Theatre By The Sea thru June 16, 2019. Photos by Steven Richard Photography.

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The world has been waiting thousands of years for this musical about Aesop and his friends, but fortunately it has taken only 86 years for a World Premiere to come to Bill Hanney’s Theatre by the Sea. The first show of this historic theatre’s 86th season is “Love and Other Fables” written by John McMahon and Jay Jeffries. This comic musical which is bawdy and burlesque-like is set in 600 B.C. on the island of Samos in Greece. Aesop who later in life becomes a famous writer, is still a slave in this show. He yearns to become famous, win the girl of his dreams (who doesn’t find him attractive), outwit the King of Egypt to obtain his freedom by solving three conundrums and become renowned for his spinning of his stories.

A.R.T.’s ‘We Live in Cairo’ Gives the Children of the Revolution a Voice

May 29, 2019May 29, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Cast of A.R.T.’s ‘We Live in Cairo’ – Photos: Evgenia Eliseeva)

by Mike Hoban

‘We Live in Cairo’ – Book, Music, and Lyrics by Daniel & Patrick Lazour. Directed by Taibi Magar. Choreography by Samar Haddad King; Music Direction by Madeline Smith. Presented by American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge, through June 16.

The American Repertory Theater’s engaging production of We Live in Cairo, a musical retelling of the Arab Spring protests that led to the end of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year reign, is further proof that convention-defying musicals can be lot more satisfying than some of the formulaic pablum being offered up on Broadway stages in recent years. This latest work continues a run of adventurous original musicals by the A.R.T., and follows up last year’s edgy jukebox musical Jagged Little Pill and the magnificent 2018-2019 season opener The Black Clown with an unconventional piece from newcomers Daniel & Patrick Lazour, a pair of twenty-somethings from Boylston, MA. And while Cairo lacks the blockbuster score (by Alanis Morrissette) of Jagged or the sheer artistry of Black Clown, it’s an ambitious and creative first effort.

FUN HOME at The Wilbury Theatre Group

May 28, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The Wilbury Theatre Group closes out their season with the Tony Award winning musical, “Fun Home” which opened off Broadway in 2013. This musical is based on the book by Alison Bechdel about her discovering her own sexuality. All these years she’s been wondering if her coming out caused her father’s death or was it his own demons that did it? The book was adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori. The current day Alison at 43 takes a look back at her life at three different stages: when she was nine and at 18 as a freshman at Oberlin College. It shows how her relationship with her father changed her as a person in many varied ways. The catalyst for her to examine her life and piece together her memories of the past in the family-owned funeral home was the death of her father and her finding out that he was gay. Director Josh Short helps his talented cast to mine the layers of this well written dramatic script that resonates with the audiences own and varied relationships with their own parents. His brilliant dissecting of each character shows in each and everyone’s performance. The musical direction of Tom Chace is right on the money with upbeat numbers to brighten the somber events as well as poignant and touching ballads that wrench your heart out. He and his eight piece orchestra are excellent with all the various numbers in the show. Choreographer Ali Kenner Brodsky also lightens the mood with terrific dance steps in “Come to the Fun Home” with the children and in “Raincoat of Love” with the whole cast trying to present an ideal family setting a la the Partridge Family. Their combined expertise is rewarded with a spontaneous standing ovation amid tears from the crowd, making this into a must see musical of this spring season.

Trinity Rep’s Gritty ‘Marisol’ a Cautionary Tale

May 22, 2019December 27, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Octavia Chavez-Richmond, Mia Ellis in Trinity Rep’s ‘Marisol’)

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Marisol – Written by Jose Rivera; Director Brian Mertes; Ashley Frith; Composer/Musical Director; Kei Soares Cobb, Composer; Orlando Pabotoy, Choreographer; Eugene Lee, Set Design; Cait O’Connor, Costume Design; Cha See, Lighting Design. Presented by Trinity Repertory Company at 201 Washington St, Providence, RI through June 16

Welcome to a very bleak and grim future in New York where things start going out of control and madness seems to have taken the reins. This is the gist of Marisol by Jose Rivera. It examines human relationships set in the chaos of a major upheaval, and is the closing play of Trinity Repertory Company’s 55th season. It centers on Marisol, a copy editor who becomes involved with the disintegration of New York City as it is being turned into a wasteland. It opens with the cast members singing “My Country Tis of Thee.” The show also takes a look at theology, paranoia, fear and sex as well as showing the dissolution of contemporary society and the battle of good versus evil. It shows how wayward angels try to take over society after they feel that God can no longer do so. They want to encourage people sometimes forcibly to help them achieve their goals. Will the angels convince the humans to help them achieve hope for the future or is everything just doom and gloom?

Morgan Maslow on ‘Vietgone,’ “You Don’t Have to go Crazy”

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Morgan Maslow discusses “Vietgone” in this video review.

On Instagram @theatermirror YouTube: Theater Mirror

Full review embedded in the YouTube link below.

“Vietgone” – Written by Qui Nguyen. Michelle Aguillon, Director. Presented by Company One at the BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St., Boston through May 25.

Audience member, Morgan Maslow discusses “Vietgone” in this video review, stating that the actors and producers are “trying really hard to make it good” and “it’s hard to put yourself out there.”

While recognizing that this romantic comedy about two people who meet in a refugee camp is “a very personal story,” Maslow feels that the rap songs don’t “give you too much insight into what the characters are feeling.”

“There’s not a plethora of Asian stories,” Maslow elucidates. “You don’t have to go crazy. You don’t have to put rap in it. You don’t have to have this narrative device where it goes back and forth through time. You can tell a simple story. And because it’s personal and it’s unique, it’s going to stand out and it’s going to be important.”

“Deep Themes;” Asha-Le Davis on ‘School Girls’

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Asha-Le Davis on “School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play”

On Instagram @theatermirror YouTube: Theater Mirror

“School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play” – Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Summer L. Williams, Director. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the BCA Roberts Studio Theater, 539 Tremont St., Boston through May 25.

In this video review, Asha-Le Davis assesses “School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play” as “extremely well put together” and full of “important” and “deep themes.”

“It touches on thing I know that I have dealt with,” says Davis, “even here in America.” She goes on to say, “To bring that to the stage is very bold and very needed.” In her opinion, the play addresses “what is a huge problem in our society, while also adding really awesome comedic elements throughout to keep it light and keep you interested.”

ArtsEmerson’s ‘See You Yesterday’ Examines Cambodian Genocide Through Circus Arts, Movement

May 18, 2019May 18, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘See You Yesterday’ – Presented by ArtsEmerson and the Global Arts Corps, at the Emerson Paramount Center Robert J. Orchard Stage through Sunday May 19

ArtsEmerson closes out its 2018/2019 season with a 65-minute circus arts/theatrical piece that uses the horrors of the Khmer Rouge genocide as a basis for its narrative, as told by second generation survivors. And while the results are a bit uneven (this is the U.S. premiere), the young artists deliver a vibrant and sometimes chilling performance, telling their story through movement, dance and of course, circus arts. While much of the piece features the prodigious acrobatic talents of the 19-person troupe, it is the episodes from the Cambodian Killing Fields – which claimed the lives of more than a million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime (although death totals for the four-year reign of Pol Pot were double that) – that give this production its real emotional weight.

SpeakEasy’s ‘School Girls’ Throw Shade

May 17, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Ireon Roach, Crystin Gilmore Veronica Byrd in School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play – Photos by Maggie Hall Photography)

by Linda Chin

‘School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play’ – Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Summer L. Williams. Scene design by Baron E. Pugh. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Devorah Kengmana. Sound Design by Allyssa Jones. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at 527 Tremont St. Boston through May 26

With the Kavanaugh hearings and Operation Varsity Blues offering a steady stream of live theatrics about people’s willingness to steal, blackmail, and cover up the truth to get themselves (or their children) ahead, a play about bad behavior at a boarding school might be dismissed as same old, same old. Set in the Aburi girls school in Ghana in 1986, SpeakEasy Stage’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh offers New England theatergoers a much needed respite, a refreshingly original take on the lengths that teens (and the adults they grow up to become) are willing to go in their desperateness to win, or to just fit in.