“Mrs. Krishnan’s Party” a Cascade of Color and Sound

March 29, 2024March 29, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

ArtsEmerson’s ‘Mrs. Krishnan’s Party’ Photos: Grabb for Image Excellence

Mrs. Krishnan’s Party. Written by Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis. Produced by Indian Ink Theatre Company. Presented by Arts Emerson, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, Emerson Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston through April 7.

By Michele Markarian

As you are heralded through a beaded curtain, James (the personable Justin Rogers, decked out in Indian costume) ushers you to your seat and encourages you to talk with your neighbors. The setting is a storeroom of an Indian grocery store; the occasion is a surprise Onam party for the store’s owner, Mrs. Krishnan (Kalyani Nagarajan). Mrs. Krishnan isn’t exactly a large party kind of woman; since her husband died, she allows herself very few pleasures, other than church and cooking for her architect son, Apo. James, a university student who boards with Mrs. Krishnan, is determined to put on a celebration. Colorful scarves and garlands are passed out, along with balloons. James plays Indian dance music and urges us to our feet. In spite of myself – I’m not a fan of audience participation and am seated in the section for Wallflowers – the mood is infectious, and I am on my feet.

”And So We Walked” is a Transformative and Spiritual Journey

April 28, 2023May 1, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

DeLanna Studi in “And So We Walked.” Photos by Patrick Weishampel/Blankeye

“And So We Walked”, by DeLanna Studi. Directed by Corey Madden. Produced by Octopus Theatricals. Presented by Arts Emerson, Emerson Paramount Center, 559 Washington Street, Boston through April 30.

by Michele Markarian

“A true story is dangerous. Even if you’re the best storyteller, you can’t run from the truth”. Thus begins DeLanna Studi’s moving and personal take on her and her father’s six-week sojourn on the Trail of Tears, following the footsteps of their Cherokee ancestors, who were forced into relocation during the 1830s. During the course of the two-and-a-half-hour show, many intimate and historical truths are revealed as Studi weaves her personal narrative alongside that of the Cherokee Nation.

With ‘The Orchard,’ Arlekin Players Theatre’s Igor Golyak Continues To Push The Artistic Envelope

November 6, 2022November 14, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘The Orchard’ at Emerson Paramount Center

‘The Orchard’ — Conceived and Directed by Igor Golyak, based on ‘The Cherry Orchard’ by Anton Chekhov. Anna Fedorova, Scenic Designer. Yuki Nakase Link, Lighting Designer. Oana Botez, Costume Designer. Alex Basco Koch, Projection Designer. Tei Blow, Sound Designer. Jakov Jakoulov, Composer. Tom Sepe, Robotics Designer. Presented by Groundswell Theatricals and Arlekin Players and its Zero Gravity Virtual Theater Lab, at Emerson Paramount Center, the Robert J Orchard Stage, 559 Washington St., Boston through November 13.

by Shelley A. Sackett

Anton Chekhov’s play, ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ opened at the Moscow Art Theatre on January 17, 1904, under the direction of the actor-director Konstantin Stanislavski. During rehearsals, the director rewrote Act Two, changing the play from Chekhov’s intended light and lively comedy into a tragedy. Chekhov is said to have disliked the Stanislavski production so much that he considered his play “ruined.”

One can’t help but wonder what the Russian playwright would make of ‘The Orchard,’ Igor Golyak’s creatively incomparable and technologically unparalleled reimagining of this iconic classic.

ArtsEmerson’s ‘American Moor’ Reimagines Black Performance

April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Nicholas Whittaker

‘American Moor’ – Written and performed by Keith Hamilton Cobb (with additional performance by Josh Tyson). Directed by Kim Weild. Set Designer: Wilson Chin. Lighting Designer: Alan C. Edwards. Sound Designer: Christian Frederickson. Stage Coordinator: Tareena D. Barbe. Presented by ArtsEmerson at the Emerson Paramount Center through April 21st.

Who is American Moor for? For what audience is it meant? This question becomes complicated in any work directly concerned with race and racism, which always involves at least two parties: the marginalized and those who marginalize, the victims of racism and its perpetrators. The question of audience is in this case, then, political. If a production on Blackness is meant for Black viewers, then we might say it presents Black viewers with too-scarce representation, but we might also worry that it does nothing the change the hearts and minds of non-Black folks. But if that Black artwork is meant for non-Black viewers, while we may laud its potential to heal racial strife, we also may worry that Black audiences are, once again, being deprived of art for their own sake.