The Hope and Despair of ‘Witch’

October 23, 2021October 26, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Javier David Padi*lla, *Nick Sulfaro, Barzin Akhavan, and Gina Fonseca in Huntington Theatre’s ‘Witch’*

by Michele Markarian

“Witch” – Written by Jen Silverman. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, through November 14^h.

Jen Silverman is my new favorite playwright. Their voice is unique, yet the way their plays are layered with deeper meaning and intent underneath some very smart, very funny dialogue is reminiscent of Edward Albee. Witch, aided by a strong cast, lively direction and excellent production values is no exception.

“I’m not arguing for the end of the world – but then again, maybe I am”, Elizabeth Sawyer (Lyndsay Allyn Cox) tells us in her opening monologue. Elizabeth is a lonely, friendless woman, who has, for reasons unbeknownst to her, been labeled a “witch” by the local villagers. In the same village, a devil named Scratch (Michael Underhill) is granting townspeople wishes in exchange for their souls. Two surrender easily – Cuddy (Nick Sulfaro), the effeminate son of local bigwig Sir Arthur Banks (Barzin Akhavan) and Frank Thorney (Javier David Padilla), an ambitious farmer’s son whose easy masculinity has compelled Sir Arthur to take him under his wing. Frank Thorney possesses a secret childhood girlfriend, Winifred (Gina Fonseca), who has sacrificed her dignity to work as a maid in Sir Arthur’s home to be near her beloved. She is in love with Frank, Cuddy is in love with Frank, and Frank is in love with himself.

ISLE Theater Company’s ‘DO NOT MOVE STONES’ Goes Global with a Digital Premiere

October 20, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Linda Chin

DO NOT MOVE STONES – Performed live at the Settlement Quarry, Deer Isle, Maine in August 2021. Anna Fitzgerald and Marvin Merritt IV, Co-writers and Co-Directors, Lemmons, Composer, Angie Stemp, Costume Designer, Alexander Turanski, Set Designer, Oliver Randall, Videographer, Jay Michaud, Audio Engineer, Ian Cust, Audio Technician.

In the last nineteen months, theater companies across the country have been beleaguered by the parallel pandemics of coronavirus and structural racism. Theatres cancelled performances and painfully pivoted into unfamiliar virtual territory, furloughed staff and filled out applications for relief funds, crafted COVID safety compliance and diversity, inclusion and equity plans. Sadly, the casualties have started to mount; Watertown MA’s New Repertory Theatre suspended operations for the 2021-22 season, and NYC’s The Lark Theatre, a leader in incubating new plays and championing playwrights of color, is closing after 25 years. For many theater artists the lack of employment opportunities, increased responsibilities on the home front, and weight of everything going on in the world has resulted in creative pauses.

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre Excavates the Past with “Lorena: a Tabloid Epic”

October 20, 2021October 20, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of “Lorena: A Tabloid Epic” at Boston Playwright’s Theatre*. *Photos by Stratton McCrady*

by James Wilkinson

Lorena: a Tabloid Epic – Written by Eliana Pipes. Directed by Erica Terpening-Romeo. Scenic Design: Meg McGuigan. Lighting Design: Amanda Fallon. Sound Design: Sean A. Doyle. Costume Design: Emma George. Properties Design: Steven Doucette. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre at 949 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215 through October 24, 2021

Because I’m the kind of person that likes theatre to be a social occasion, I brought a friend with me to see Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s Lorena: a Tabloid Epic. When the final applause died down and the house lights came on, the two of us left our seats with a very heavy silence between us. We both appeared on the verge of saying something though neither of us seemed confident about what that something would be. So there it hung in the air between us and there it stayed until about two blocks away from the building when I decided to take the plunge and ask her the delicate question, “So what did you think of the show?”

Moonbox Productions’ Brings ‘Light in the Darkness’ with ‘Rocky Horror’

October 18, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of Moonbox Productions’ ‘Rocky Horror Show’. Photos by* *Molly Shoemaker*

by Mike Hoban

‘The Rocky Horror Show’ – Directed by David Lucey; Music Directed by Mindy Cimini; Assistant Director/Associate Choreographer, Joy Clark; Scenic Design/Prop Design, Cameron McEachern; Sound Design, James Cannon; Lighting Design, Samuel J. Biondolillo; Choreographer, Daniel Forest Sullivan; Assistant Choreographer, Janis Hudson; Costume Design, David Lucey. Presented by Moonbox Productions at 25 Brattle St. Cambridge through October 31st.

Moonbox Productions has emerged from the 18-month in-person theater blackout with an encore presentation of The Rocky Horror Show, a production that brings back all of the twisted fun of the movie version that ran at the Harvard Square theater for 28 years.

Rocky Horror combines 50’s science fiction, pre-slasher ‘B’ horror movies and a tale of sexual awakenings set to a rock n roll score to deliver musical theater lovers their first full-scale musical in Greater Boston since the pandemic. It’s a much-needed blast of full-throttle exuberance.

WAM Theatre’s ‘Kamloopa’ an Indigenous Matriarch Story

October 12, 2021October 26, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Sarah B. Denison, Jasmine Rochelle Goodspeed, and Ria Nez in WAM Theatre production of ‘Kamloopa’ at Shakespeare & Company. Photos by David Dashiell*

by Deanna Dement Myers

Kamloopa – Written by Kim Senklip Harvey. Directed by ESTEFANÍA FADUL, Lighting Design by EMMA DEANE, Sound Design by CAROLINE ENG, Dramaturgy by TATIANA GODFREY, Costume Design by LUX HAAC, Scenic Design by CALYPSO MICHELET, Props by JULIANA VON HAUBRICH, Production Stage Manager AMANDA NITA LUKE, Assistant Stage Manager KATHLEEN SOLTAN. Presented in collaboration with artists from various Indigenous Nations. Performance live on the ancestral homelands of the Mohican Tribe at The Elayne P. Bernstein Theater in Lenox, MA by WAM Theater October 7-24, 202. Streaming digitally November 1-7, 2021.

Remember our story; there is more out there than we have been told.

Kamloopa, by Kim Senklip Harvey, is WAM’s first live production since the Before Times and my first time back in a theater as well. The evening opens in a way true to the mission of WAM (Where Arts and Activism Meet) with a moving land acknowledgement by Shawn Stevens, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe. The Elayne P. Bernstein Theater is an intimate black-box space on the campus of Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA and is the perfect setting to explore what it means to be an indigenous person in this moment. Indeed, the play opens with a voice not speaking English, and not translated in any way, alerting the audience that if they don’t understand the language, then they are, if only for the length of the performance, the Other.

Rush Delivers Tour de Force Performance in “Queens Girl in the World” at Central Square

October 7, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Jasmine M. Ru*sh in ‘Queens Girl in the World’ at Central Square *Theatre*

by Michele Markarian

“Queens Girl in the World” – Written by Caleen Sinnette Jennings. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Co-produced by The Nora@Central Square Theater, The Front Porch Arts Collective, and The Hangar Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through October 31.

Jacqueline Marie Butler (Jasmine M. Rush) is a black girl living in Queens, the overprotected daughter of middle-class parents, a doctor from the Caribbean and his elegant wife, Grace. Her friend Persephone – “I hate Persephone Wilson when she’s not my best friend” – lives next door. Jacqueline Marie’s proper mother dispenses such as advice as “Once a lady lays down in the gutter, she can never be a lady again.” Once Jacqueline Marie is discovered in the company of Earl Waddlington, a boy she meets inadvertently through Persephone, Grace decides that Jacqueline Marie needs to associate with a different class of people. Instead of going to her local PS, Jacqueline finds herself taking the train into Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to attend the primarily Jewish Irwin School, where she is one of three black students. Nonetheless, she finds friendship, love, and care from the students and faculty there, even though, as she says, “I’m always afraid. Afraid of being the wrong me in the wrong place.” Manhattan Jacqueline is very different from Queens Jacqueline.

Lyric Stage’s ‘Be Here Now’ Asks: “What Price Happiness?”

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Katherine C. Shaver, Barlow Adamson, Samantha Richert and Shani Farrell in The Lyric Stage Company* ‘*s ‘Be Here Now’. Photos by Mark S. Howard*

‘Be Here Now — Written by Deborah Zoe Laufer. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Scenic Design by Janie E. Howland. Costume Design by Rachel Padula Shufelt. Lighting by Karen Perlow. Composition and Sound by Dewey Dellay. Starring Barlow Adamson, Shani Farrell, Samantha Richert and Katherine C. Shaver. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston at 140 Clarendon St. through October 17.

by Shelley A. Sackett

Deborah Zoe Laufer’s deceptively profound Be Here Now opens with an almost slapstick scene. Three women (Patty and Luanne Cooper and Bari) sit on yoga mats as the blissed-out disembodied voice coaches them to look inside themselves and “let go.” Patty (Shani Farrell) and Luanne (Katherine C. Shaver), dressed appropriately in latex, comply, closing their eyes and sinking into their mats. Bari (Samantha Richert) clearly marches to a different drummer. She is fully dressed (as in a midi dress and huge coat-sweater) and keeps her eyes defiantly open, widening them at each suggestion she close them. Her face portrays the furthest state from bliss possible. This woman is irredeemably and unapologetically miserable.

SpeakEasy Stage’s Impeccable ‘The Sound Inside’ Should Be Your First Stop for In-Person Theater

October 2, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Jennifer Rohn, Nathan Malin in Speakeasy Stage’s productio*n of ‘*The Sound Inside*‘

The Sound Inside’ – Written by Adam Rapp. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Design by Chistina Todesco. Costume Design by Becca Jewett. Lighting Design by Devorah Kengmana. Sound Design by David Remedios. Starring Jennifer Rohn and Nathan Malin. Presented by Speakeasy Stage in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts through Oct 16, 2021.

by Shelley A. Sackett

If your Covid Comfort Zone now includes attending indoor events, gallop on over to SpeakEasy Stage’s production of Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside, a trifecta of what makes for exalted theater: flawless script, acting and directing. This two-hander doesn’t just hit a home run over the Green Wall; it launches it into outer space.

That said, it still takes a leap of faith to believe it’s safe to be packed together as tightly as a fully booked economy cabin as long as everyone is fully vaccinated and masked. It took me several minutes before my anxiety leveled off and I could be entirely present for the play.

And what an extraordinary play it is.

‘The Sound Inside’ at Speakeasy Stage

October 2, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Jennifer Rohn in Speakeasy Stage’s productio*n of ‘*The Sound Inside*‘

by James Wilkinson

‘The Sound Inside’ – Written by Adam Rapp. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Design by Chistina Todesco. Costume Design by Becca Jewett. Lighting Design by Devorah Kengmana. Sound Design by David Remedios. Starring Jennifer Rohn and Nathan Malin. Presented by Speakeasy Stage in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts through Oct 16, 2021.

When the lights come up on Speakeasy’s production of The Sound Inside, it’s going to be hard to shake the impression that everyone involved is already dead. You don’t even need to wait for the lead character to reveal her cancer diagnosis before the dark thoughts start creeping in. The set design (by Christina Todesco) encases the action in a platform set adrift in a black void, practically turning the theater into a tomb. A translucent reflection of the actors is always visible in the plexiglass walls that tower over the performance space. It’s as if they’re in a constant state of being haunted by their undead doppelgangers. During the opening monologue the lighting (design by Devorah Kengmana) keeps shifting around that lead character, throwing shadows this way and that, preventing her from ever feeling truly solid. Then there’s that sound design, (by David Remedios) constantly needling at the back of our necks. It’s grim stuff.

A Magical Evening at A.R.T. with “Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic”

October 2, 2021October 4, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Anthony Morigerato, Amanda Castro, Ayodele Casel, John Manzari, and Kurt Csolak in Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic at American Repertory Theater through October 9. Photo Credits: Liza Vol*

by Michele Markarian

“Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic”. Created by Ayodele Casel. Directed by Torya Beard. Original Compositions and Music Direction: Crystal Monee Hall. Presented by American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, through October 9.

It’s hard to imagine a more apropos season opener for American Repertory Theater than the joyful exuberance and shared fellowship of “Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic”. During the 70-minute performance of tap dance, the audience was held sway by the energy of the artists and the selfless way in which they shared their work.

“I live among superheroes. Tap dancers are superheroes. Musicians are superheroes,” Ayodele tells us. Her energy is infectious; her respect for her fellow performers, as well as her audience, is palpable. She grew up adoring the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, thinking that the world of dance was beyond the grasp of a Black and Puerto Rican daughter of the Bronx. Then she discovered other tap artists – Dianne Walker, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover. The rest is herstory.