Boston, MA, February 26, 2018 – The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) today announced the nominees for the 22nd Annual IRNE Awards, which honor the best of the previous year’s actors, directors, choreographers, designers and companies across the full spectrum of large, mid-size and fringe theater companies. The Huntington Theatre led all companies with 35 nominations spread across six plays and one musical, Merrily We Roll Along, which received a dozen nominations. Ragtime, which was presented by Ogunquit Playhouse, also earned a dozen nominations among the Ogunquit total of 18.

The winners will be announced on Monday, April 23th, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Brookline/Boston, just outside Kenmore Square. As always, admission will be free, courtesy of the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE).

“With so many outstanding productions last year, it was a difficult process to pare down the list of deserving nominees,” said IRNE co-founder Beverly Creasey, of the Boston Arts Review. “And unlike recent years, there doesn’t appear to be any dominating productions, so it should be a very competitive voting process in most of the categories.”

Joining Merrily We Roll Along and Ragtime in the category of Best Musical/Large Theater was Bullets Over Broadway, The Musical (also Ogunquit); Showboat and 42^nd St. (Reagle Music Theatre); and Evita (North Shore Music Theatre). In the Best Play category, Merrimack Repertory Theatre has a pair of contenders, Silent Sky and The Royale; the Huntington received two nominations for Ripcord and A Guide for the Homesick (which also garnered a nomination for Best New Play); while Trinity Repertory Company’s Death of a Salesman and the ART’s Night of the Iguana also earned nominations.

In the Mid-Size category, Speakeasy Stage Company earned 24 nominations dispersed among five productions (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Men in Boats, Hand to God, Grand Concourse, and The Bridges of Madison County, a musical), while Lyric Stage and Greater Boston Stage earned 14 apiece. In the Fringe category, Moonbox Productions earned 14 nominations, largely on the strength of the musical Barnum.

Read more “Nominations for 22nd Annual IRNE Awards Announced!!!!!!!!!!!”

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Director Jeff Church breathes new life into Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”, Burbage Theatre Company’s 7th season winter production, making it an irreverent romp. The show is set in Illyria and is about shipwrecked Viola who disguises herself as a man. She falls in love with her employer, Count Orsino and the beautiful Olivia falls in love with Cesario who is Viola in disguise. The comic subplot concerns her pompous servant Malvolio who insults her uncle, Sir Toby Belch and another would-be suitor, Andrew Aguecheek for too much revelry and they plot their revenge on him by making him think Olivia is in love with him. It also concerns Olivia’s jester, Feste and her servants, Maria and Fabian. Meanwhile, Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian has been rescued by Antonio and appears on the scene. Of course, Olivia mistakes him for Cesario asking him to marry her. However all’s well that ends well with all the loose ends being tied up by the end of this comic romp by Jeff’s clever and inventive direction. He provides many comic situations and much shtick in his theatre in the round with four entrances from the stormy ship wreck to the joyful finish by keeping the audience entertained all night long.

Read more “TWELFTH NIGHT (Burbage Theatre Company, Pawtucket, RI)”