Muppet Gone Wild – Hijinx Theatre’s ‘Meet Fred’ is a Darkly Comic Gem

September 29, 2018September 29, 2018 michaelhoban1 Comment

‘Meet Fred’ – Performance by Hijinx Theatre; Presented by Puppet Showplace Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St., Boston.

It really makes no difference whether you’re a fan of puppetry or not. Hijinx Theatre’s wonderfully absurd Meet Fred is bound to be one of the funniest and most original productions you’ll see this year. Meet Fred tells the story of Fred, a puppet in search of his humanity. Operated by three puppeteers (one for the head and voice, one for legs, the other for arms) he embarks on a journey that takes him through life’s essentials – work, love, regrets and revelations – all in a tidy 80 minutes. Along the way we’re treated to laugh-out-loud comedy that is definitely not for the kiddies.

Abolition and Women’s Suffrage Leaders Fight for Rights in ‘The Agitators’ at Gloucester

September 28, 2018October 8, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, two-hour, two-person play, written by Mat Smart, directed by renowned playwright-actress-director Jacqui Parker, making its New England premiere through Oct. 7: Wednesday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; matinees, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m., 267 East Main St., Gloucester. $35-$45, discount tickets for senior citizens,18-year-olds and younger, and Cape Ann residents. 978-281-4433, gloucesterstage.com.

“I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.” – Susan B. Anthony

“I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.”

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons or property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass

GBSC’s ‘BEING EARNEST’ Adds 60’s Twist to Wilde Classic

September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: Two-act, two-hour musical comedic interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” by Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska, appearing through Oct. 7, at 395 Main St., Stoneham: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. (sold out) ; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.$50-$60; seniors, $45-$55; students with valid ID, $20. stoneham.greaterbostonstage.org, 781-279-2200.

Oscar Wilde’s social satiric comedy, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” takes a modernized, musical twist in Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska’s two-act, two-hour play, “Being Earnest, appearing through Sunday, at Greater Boston Stage Company.

Everyone Could Use a Pops to Protect Their Rent-Controlled Apartment, Legacy and Identity

September 27, 2018December 27, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Linda Chin Workman

‘Between Riverside and Crazy’ – Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis; Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene; Set Design: Erik D. Diaz; Costume Design: A.W. Nadine Grant; Lighting Design: Daisy Long; Sound Design: Nathan Leigh. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at the BCA Roberts’ Theater, 527 Tremont St., Boston through October 13

Between a riveting script and crazy talented actors, Speakeasy Stage Company’s production of Between Riverside and Crazy is a surefire hit. Upon entering the BCA’s Roberts’ Theater, you are transported to a spacious pre-war railroad flat on Manhattan’s west side with high ceilings and wood trim, furnishings that show generations of wear, and the clutter of daily urban life – handsomely and meticulously designed by Erik D. Diaz. This apartment is indeed full of character – and is inhabited by a cast of colorful characters – insightfully and delightfully directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene.

Political Comedy No Longer an Oxymoron with MRT’s ‘Native Gardens’

September 25, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

‘Native Gardens’ – Written by Karen Zacarías; Directed by Giovanna Sardelli; Scenic Design by Alexis Distler; Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Original Music & Sound Design by Ursula Kwong-Brown and Daniel Erdberg. Produced by the Merrimack Repertory Theater, 50 East Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA, through October 7.

Political comedy may be the most difficult of all of the genres to get right, even more so in these deeply divided times. Since many of us have lost the ability to even entertain the possibility that other points of view might have some validity, when politically charged issues are presented on stage, all too often good comic writing takes a back seat to caricature or cheap preaching-to-the-choir grandstanding.

ArtsEmerson Delivers a Compelling, Layered “Hamnet”

September 24, 2018September 25, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Photos by Gianmarco Bresadola

by Michele Markarian

“Hamnet” (Dead Centre) – Written and directed by Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd. Presented by ArtsEmerson: The World On Stage at The Emerson Paramount, 559 Washington Street, Boston through October 7.

“Look, there you are,” I said to my husband, pointing at a projection onstage, as he entered our row at the theater. This isn’t a play about audience reaction – you are only dimly aware of the audience projected when the lights go down – but the duality and point of view of two worlds, two perspectives, in this extraordinary production of grief, fatherhood, and the shadow of those we love and miss. It’s an imagining of the relationship that did – or didn’t – exist between Shakespeare and his son, Hamnet. Of his three children, only Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, died in childhood.

‘Truth Values’ Returns to the Central Square Theater

September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 michaelhoban2 Comments

by Deanna Dement Myers

‘Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze’ – Written and acted by Gioia De Cari: Directed by Joey Brenneman. Scenic Designer, Brian Freeland; Costume Designer, Heather Carey; Lighting Designer, Kate August; Sound Design, Andy Evan Cohen. Presented September 12-23, 2018 at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, (617) 576-9278.

What is truth?

This is the first question actor and playwright Gioia De Cari grapples with in her award-winning autobiographical play Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze. Returning to the Central Square Theater to be a part of this venue’s 10^th anniversary, Truth Values fills the stage with over 30 characters that tell the story of one woman’s time in the world of elite mathematics as she pursues a doctoral degree. De Cari uses humor to reveal the gender inequality of MIT and mathematics in general, something that resonates today as it did in the late 80s when she was a student.

GBSC’s “Being Earnest” Gives Wilde Classic a Superb Musical Reworking

September 16, 2018September 17, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by Tony Annicone

The 19th season opener of Greater Boston Stage is the East Coast premiere of “Being Earnest”, the musical version of “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde which was one of his most successful plays during his lifetime. The musical was written by Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska. The original show was a satirical drawing room comedy written in 1895 but the musical moves the time period up to 1965. The author explains that the social mores of 1965 (two years before the summer of love) were similar to those of the Victorian era. The fashion coming out on Carnaby Street in the 60’s was inspired by some of the fashion of the Victorian era. Gordon and Gruska adapted Wilde’s play and stayed true to its storyline, and added music with some of Wilde’s lines as lyrics for some of them.

“DEATHTRAP” The Players, Providence, RI

September 15, 2018October 17, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

The opening show of The Players’ 110th season is “Deathtrap”, a thriller by Ira Levin. Alan Hawkridge directs this show with keen insight to guide his five member cast with all the clever twists and turns of this script that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. This show takes place in the Westport, Connecticut home of famous playwright, Sidney Bruhl who is having a dry spell with his writing and is trying to write his current script. Unfortunately he has had a string of failures and is suffering from a shortage of funds.

‘Hamilton’ Rightfully Garners Thunderous Applause

September 15, 2018September 30, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: The national touring company of author-composer-lyricist Manuel Lin Miranda’s Broadway two-act, 2 1/2 hour musical through Nov. 18 at the Boston Opera House, 539 Washington St., Boston: Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2,8 p.m.; Sunday, 1, 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster, 800-982-2787, social media channels. Tickets, $84.50-$199.50, premium seats, if available, $569.50. HAM4HAM lottery, visit https://boston.broadway.com/HamiltonInformation/

While attending the second night of the national touring company of Manuel Lin Miranda’s Broadway two-act, 2 1/2 hour, trailblazing 11 Tony Award-winning, musical, “Hamilton,” at Boston’s Opera House, I heard several people remark excitedly, “I’ve waited two years to see this play!”