Tag Archives: Mcley Lafrance

City Theatre’s Summer Shorts Kicks It Up A Notch Once Again

Efforts by City Theatre staffers to improve the consistency of its offerings has paid off: This edition of Summer Shorts is not only lushly and imaginatively produced with a noticeable extra bit of polish, but is more consistently funny and entertaining than any edition in recent memory.

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Brothers Of The Dust Benefits From Strong New Writer’s Voice

Earth, fire and blood mix with resentments, loyalties, betrayals, secrets and love in M Ensemble’s Brothers of the Dust. The production and performances veer from moving to stilted. But nothing can dim the consistent underlying glow of the script by young playwright Darren Canady whose vision and voice are unusually promising.

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Summer Shorts Is, As Usual, A Daffy, Uneven, Goofy Smile

By Bill Hirschman Sometimes for actors, especially playing comedy, the only option is to jump off the cliff and see if you can fly. The miracle is that sometimes, as in City Theatre’s Summer Shorts, is that, indeed, they soar. …

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Playing A Dolphin, Dracula and Mothra In Same Show: Everyday Challenge At Summer Shorts

Imagine you’re Ken Clement in City Theatre’s Summer Shorts opening this week. One minute he’s a dolphin, a few minutes later he;s Dracula and still later he has to find his inner Mothra. Performing in the annual festival of short plays, a rite of summer now in its 18th edition, requires talents they don’t dwell on in drama school.

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Sirois/Alliance Off Center of Nowhere Is Funny Sit Com Hiding Serious Theme

On the surface, David Michael Sirois’ Off Center of Nowhere is what would result if the Neil Simon of the 1970s wrote a rollicking comedy about teen pregnancy, abortion and racism, laced with a lot of profanity. The Alliance Theatre Lab’s world premiere is sit-com funny until it intentionally slams the audience into a concrete wall that will leave most observers stunned. That’s when you realize Off Center is really about the limits of how far people can bend their moral for loved ones before breaking. How unconditional is unconditional love?

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