‘Steve’ and the Search for Happiness

March 15, 2018March 16, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

Steve – Written by Mark Gerrard. Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company. Direction and scene design by David Miller. Costume Design: Elizabeth Cole Sheehan. Lighting Design: Michael Clark Wonson. Sound Design: Jay Mobley. Presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. through March 24, 2018.

I’m racking my brain, trying to think of a play that presents middle age in a positive light. (There must be at least one, right?) I seem to be unable to come up with a title. Every piece that tackles that period beyond the 18-35 demographic seems to paint it as a time of lost dreams, constant anxiety and the looming question, “Now what?” That question, “Now what?” is at the center of Mark Gerrard’s play, Steve, now being presented by Zeitgeist Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts’ Plaza Black Box Theatre. The characters in the piece are all asking themselves what comes next, leading them down a variety of different paths.

‘The Hotel Nepenthe’ is a Wild Ride Through Alternate Universes

March 14, 2018December 28, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

The Hotel Nepenthe – Written by John Kuntz; Directed by Alex Lonati; Presented by The Brown Box Theatre March 2-11 at Atlantic Wharf, 290 Congress St., Boston; March 15^th at Ella Fitzgerald Center for Performing Arts at U of Maryland at Eastern Shore; March 16^th at The Milton Theatre, 110 Union St., Milton, DE; and March 17-18 at the Ocean City Center for the Arts, Ocean City, MD.

If you weren’t able to catch Brown Box Theatre’s wildly entertaining production of John Kuntz’ The Hotel Nepenthe at the Atlantic Wharf space, perhaps you can escape the snow and drive to Maryland/Delaware area to catch its final four performances this weekend (see above). And if you’re a fan of absurd (but remarkably coherent) theater, it just might be worth the trip. Kuntz weaves a series of imaginative vignettes – loosely centered around the upscale hotel of the play’s title – into an intertwined whole, and the results are often awe-inspiring.

The Huntington Personalizes 2008 Economic Collapse with Gripping ‘Skeleton Crew’

March 12, 2018March 12, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Skeleton Crew – Written by Dominique Morisseau; Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian Scenic Design by Wilson Chin; Costume Design by Ari Fulton; Lighting Design by Adam Honoré; Sound Design by Nathan Leigh. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through March 31.

Most of us know what it is like to compromise our ideals to some degree in the workplace, whether we’re working in a boardroom for a large corporation or slinging burgers in a fast food joint. The nature of everyday workplace life often requires us to make ethical decisions that place job security and/or advancement above our personal ideals and dreams, and it only becomes more difficult to do the right thing when the stakes are raised to a level that will directly affect our ability to survive.

A Captivating ‘Saint Joan’ from Bedlam

March 12, 2018March 12, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Michele Markarian

Bedlam’s “Saint Joan” by George Bernard Shaw. Directed by Eric Tucker. Presented by Arts Emerson, Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St, Boston, MA through March 25.

The great thing about attending a Bedlam show – this is my fourth – is that you know you will never, ever be bored. This company’s take on the classics is so energizing and fresh that even when you think you know the script, you’ll find yourself in for some surprises. Saint Joan is no exception. Four characters play all of the roles, and they do it amazingly well.

Boston Playwrights’ “Brawler” Comes Looking for a Fight

March 8, 2018March 8, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Brawler’ – Written by Walt McGough. Produced by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in collaboration with Kitchen Theatre Company. Directed by M. Bevin O’Gara. Scenic Design: Christina Todesco. Lighting Design: Evey Connerty-Marin. Sound Design: Andrew Duncan Will. Costume Design: Penney Pinette. Movement and Fight Choreographer: Misha Shields. Presented by and at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre 949 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, through March 18

It all comes back to the Greeks. The culture that gave us the theatrical art form is perhaps also the one that had the noblest intentions with how that art form could be wielded. For the ancient Greeks, theater was a method for examining the societal problems of the day. Audiences of those original tragedies watched the kings and queens on stage making terrible decisions and dealing with the havoc that was then wrecked upon the community. Presenting these issues in a public sphere allowed the audience to ask, “If this is what can happen, then what do we do about it?”

Speakeasy’s ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ Is Simply Brilliant

March 8, 2018March 8, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

Every Brilliant Thing – Written by Duncan MacMillan; Directed by Marianna Bassham; Scenic and Lighting Design by Eric Levenson; Sound Design by Lee Schuna; Costume Design by Amanda Ostrow Mason (costumes). Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through March 31^st.

Every Brilliant Thing, now being given its Boston premiere by Speakeasy Stage Company, is brilliant alright, but much more so for its simplicity rather than as a work that presents BIG IDEAS. Performed by the (brilliant in her own right) Adrienne Krstansky, along with what seemed to be fully half of the audience, this seventy-minute piece is a sneakily moving comedy about that most mirthful of topics – suicidal depression.

Friendship and Politics Rumble in “Guards at the Taj”

March 7, 2018March 8, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Michele Markarian

“Guards at the Taj” – Written by Rajiv Joseph; Directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman. Presented by Underground Railway Theater at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge through April 1.

A few years ago I drove to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Words can’t begin to describe how magnificent it was – I wanted to live in its shimmering beauty and sleep in its shadow. Hard to imagine how brilliant the Taj must have looked at its unveiling in 1648, but luckily, we don’t have to – we can see it reflected on the faces of Humayun (Jacob Athyal) and Babur (Harsh J. Gagoomal) in Underground Railway’s fantastic, funny, and tragic production of Rajiv Joseph’s “Guards at the Taj”.

Lawton Shines in Lyric’s Gender Bending ‘Orlando’

March 6, 2018March 6, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

From the novel by Virginia Woolf; Adapted by Sarah Ruhl; Directed by A.Nora Long; Scenic Design by Richard Wadsworth Chambers; Lighting Design by Steven McIntosh; Costume Design by Steven McIntosh. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon St., Boston through March 25

At a time when the lines of gender identity are becoming increasingly blurred (in some corners anyway), the production of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando certainly seems like a natural choice for the Lyric Stage’s opener for the second half of the 2017-2018 season. Adapted by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl, who also wrote last season’s gut-busting Stage Kiss (also at the Lyric) – arguably the best comedy of last season on any Greater Boston stage – Orlando makes for an entertaining evening, thanks in part to the charms of its enchanting lead, Caroline Lawton.

The Underlings Theatre Co Sends Shakespeare Back to High School

March 2, 2018March 2, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by James Wilkinson

‘Romeo and Juliet’ Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Lelaina Vogel. Voice and Text Coaching: Daniel Thomas Blackwell. Scenic Design: Christine Williamson. Costume Design: Rachael Linker. Lighting Design: Evyn Newton. Sound Design: Joshua Garcia. Presented by Underlings Theatre Co. at Chelsea Theatre Works Black Box Theater through March 3.

Do I even need to provide a summary of the plot to Romeo and Juliet? The details of Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers has seemingly seeped down into the marrow of western civilization. Try as you might, you can’t escape it. Even if you managed to somehow get through high school without reading the original text, you would be forgiven for thinking you knew the story by seeing any of the hundreds of adaptations and riffs on the story in movies, books, operas, television, ballets, musicals, and just about every other form of media out there. The ubiquity of the story in popular culture creates an interesting problem for any theatre company that might decide to take a stab at staging the play. How do you present a play when everyone in attendance thinks that they already know everything? It’s a challenge that the recently formed Underlings Theatre Co has taken up with their new production of the classic play, now running at Chelsea Theatre Works.

ART’s ‘The White Card’ is Very White, Indeed

March 2, 2018March 2, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Michele Markarian

The White Card. Written by Claudia Rankine. Directed by Diane Paulus. The World Premiere of American Repertory Theater’s production, presented by ArtsEmerson , 559 Washington Street, Boston, MA through April 1.

Wealthy New Yorkers and avid art collectors Virginia and Charles (Patricia Kalember and Daniel Gerroll) have, through their colleague Eric (Jim Poulos), invited artist Charlotte (Karen Pittman), to dinner, in the hopes of purchasing some of her work for their illustrious collection. Charlotte, who is the only black person at the dinner, is making a name for herself creating photographic re-enactments of racist crimes. Charles and Virginia, well-intentioned white people, collect art on this very subject, thinking it the essence of the black experience.