Reviews
Island City Stage Challenges With Gripping Octopus
Sartre’s existentialism tips the iceberg of what Steve Yockey’s play Octopus takes on in its oddly dark comic and tumultuous story. . While it may leave some scratching their heads, there’s no doubt that what’s emerged is gripping good theater at Island City Stage.
Parade Productions’ Undo Charts Divorce By Replaying Wedding In Reverse
Undo’s premise – a Jewish divorce ceremony that rewinds a couple’s wedding day — sounds so much like a sitcom episode that you keep expecting it to slide into shallow farce. But it doesn’t. The script is shot through with mordant gallows humor, but Parade Productions’ edition keeps excavating the marrow of marital and familial relationships.
DreamCatcher’s Uneven Into The Woods Thrills And Disappoints
This Into The Woods by DreamCatcher Theatre and Theater Up Close is so heartbreakingly uneven that it may bring Sondheim lovers close to tears. Long stretches are so skillfully and lovingly executed that you want to cheer. Others fail to conquer this difficult work. But the misstep is the high-profile casting of Tituss Burgess in the linchpin role of the Witch.
McCraney’s Choir Boy Examines Individual Struggling With A Conformist Society
A gay teenager leading a religious choir at a regimented prep school for African-Americans is a perfect theatrical metaphor for an individualist struggling to square his uncompromising self into a society built upon conformity. Elevated by thrilling music performed in five-part harmony, a depiction of this difficult dance is the premise of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy in GableStage’s intriguing production.
Sultry Bonnie & Clyde Steams Up The Joint At Slow Burn Theatre
With Bonnie & Clyde, Slow Burn Theatre Company has found the strengths in a “troubled” work and forged an entertaining even intermittently thrilling work. It keeps nudging upward the level of quality and polish without sacrificing a commitment to tackling edgy, difficult work that few would attempt.
Carey Hart Delivers A Lovely Present To Audiences At M Ensemble’s The Gift Horse
M Ensemble’s production of The Gift Horse has praiseworthy virtues and crippling problems that make it a mixed experience. But it does give the audience a long-delayed gift in Carey Hart’s scintillating, poignant performance as a witty but troubled woman seeking true love.
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