Author Archives: Bill Hirschman
M Ensemble Sings the Harlem Blues for an Alabama Sky
If it’s possible to capture the depth and breadth of a tumultuous vibrant time and place by just focusing on the intersecting lives of five ordinary people, in this case Harlem in 1930, then Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky comes close, notably in this production by the M Ensemble Company.
Report From New York: Pitch Black Comedy ‘Hangmen’ Is Classic McDonough
Report From New York: When the playwright is Martin McDonough, it is a given that there will be pitch black darkness inside the drama and copious gallows humor (cheap pun intended in this Broadway production of Hangmen). Count the months before someone locally picks it up.
Report From New York: How I Learned to Drive Remains a Harrowing Trip 25 Years Later
The horror in the revival of How I Learned to Drive is only in the audience. The characters in this drama about child abuse almost never raise their voice, least of all the middle-aged victim/narrator recalling the arc Emotions of fear, guilt and regret remain buried inside their everyday existence. But they are discernible in superb performances.
Carbonells Seek Noms For New Vinnette Carroll Award; Zoetic Names Finstrom Winners
The Carbonells is soliciting nominations for the Vinnette Carroll Award that will be given out for the first time at the 45th annual ceremony in November, and Zoetic Stage has announced the four winners of its second annual Finstrom Festival of New Work whose plays will be presented in readings this month in Miami
Kim Ostrenko Gifts Benchmark Performance in The Sound Inside
Kim Ostrenko’s performance under the direction of Keith Garsson in Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside at Boca Stage is simply one of the most outstanding we’ve seen in this banner year of excellent theater.
Dark, Funny Rollercoaster Ride Through Adolescence In Zoetic’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord
Miami native Alexis Scheer’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, a stygian dark and terribly funny play about modern day adolescence executed by Zoetic Stage, is a stunning – a carefully chosen word – piece of pure theater. A scene can be downright hilarious then suddenly blood-chilling, and then, as the blood is still chilling, there are laugh lines.
Damaged Souls Seek Redemption in New City Players’ Water by the Spoonful
How do human beings in extreme pain provide compassion and support for each other when such connections risk even more pain alongside the possibility of resurrection? The answer is depicted in Quiara Alegriá Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful, receiving a strong, ultimately moving production from New City Players.
Cuban Vote Captures Essence of Miami Politics, People, Places
A fight-to-the-finish Miami-Dade mayoral campaign meets gentle romance, a bit of Shakespearean inspiration and lots of affectionate satire in The Cuban Vote by Carmen Peláez, commissioned by Miami New Drama,
Art is in the Eye of the Beholder in Empire Stage’s Production
A respectable production of an English language translation of the multi award-winning play, Art, is on stage through May 15 in Empire Stage’s extremely intimate playing space in Ft. Lauderdale.
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