Author Archives: Bill Hirschman
Recreating A Family is Central to Larsen’s Dramedy “The Actors”
Savor an unqualified success with playwright-actor Ronnie Larsen’s The Actors. Copious laughs dominate a seemingly silly sit-com situation, but they recede (though never disappear) as the human angst underneath keeps poking toward the surface until it becomes the reason for the evening.
Bent’s Horrors Go Beyond Homicidal Homophobia; Asks What Would You Do If Targeted
Bent deserves honor for putting recognizable human beings amid Hitler’s decimation of homosexuals during the Holocaust – and re-reminding the public of this horror. But rising above the gender topicality of Sherman’s script in Empire Stage’s uneven, but ultimately scorching production are universal issues about the challenge of preserving yourself basic humanity in such times.
Can’t Tell You Why, But Savor ‘Now and Then’ When You Can
I am begging every critic colleague, everyone who has seen Actors’ Playhouse’s Now and Then to NOT give away anything! One of the many pleasures in this drama laced with humor is watching the story unfold bit by bit, knowing something is going on underneath but enjoying how layers are peeled away by a quartet of superb actors and director.
Diversity Inside Identity Is Central Issue In Fade At GableStage
Fade predictably indicts talent succumbing to ambition, but what’s special is how the verbally intense script infuses an insider’s incisive depiction of a diversity within modern Latinx life in a predominantly Anglo society.
Coconut Grove Playhouse Project Once Again ‘Full Steam Ahead,’ But Timeline and Ultimate Cost Unknown
Miami-Dade County’s long-aborning plan to resurrect the historic Coconut Grove Playhouse is once again underway at full throttle after navigating a complex maze of legal challenges that ended quietly in May. But the passage of time in the nine-year campaign means it’s not clear how much the project will cost or when it will open.
‘one in two’ is More Updated Report in the War on HIV/AIDS
More current than the classic AIDS plays written three decades ago, Donja R. Love’s ‘one in two’ examines the challenges of with HIV-positive when talk shows have ads for pills that make the virus “undetectable” and restore the freedom to have casual sex or make love.
Playwright-Actor Deray Tells of Real Inner Struggle in Premiere of Educating Asher
Eytan Deray’s courageous world premiere Educating Asher at Empire Stage – courageous not only because it has been drawn from the marrow of his being as playwright, but courageous because he also performs it, unreined and uninhibitedly without any self-serving censorship.
Main Street Players’ Facile Black Sheep a Surreal Struggle
Main Street Players struggles bravely to conquer Lee Blessing’s satire on race and privilege in Black Sheep, but stumbles on tonal uncertainty. and fails to reach the script’s potential.
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