"The Cherry Orchard' at Villanova

Comedy of the deadliest sort

In Harriet Power's fresh staging, Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard reveals itself as a startlingly modernist text that is in many ways the matrix of 20th-Century theater.

Robert Zaller

Feb 15, 2011 · Articles · 7 minute read

Chris Braak's "Red Emma' by Iron Age

Her glass was always half-empty

The Philadelphia playwright Chris Braak packs loads of information about the fiery anarchist Emma Goldman into little more than an hour, and Mary Tuonamen in the title role is suitably youthful and passionate. Left unanswered is this question: What made Emma tick? Red Emma. By Chris Braak; John Doyle directed. Iron Age Theatre production February 3-6, 2011 at Centre Theater, 208 DeKalb St., Norristown, Pa. To be performed again in Spring 2011 at an unannounced theater. (610) 279-1013 or ironagetheatre.org.

Steve Cohen

Feb 13, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Starving for art? Give me a break.

The La Bohème syndrome: Who is kidding whom?

Suffering for your art is as romantic as it is nihilistic. But continuing on this path as you get older is downright masochistic.

Jackie Schifalacqua

Feb 12, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Amadeus' at the Walnut

Too many words about too many notes

Mozart's music has survived for more than two centuries. After just 32 years, Peter Shaffer's Amadeus may have worn out its welcome.

Steve Cohen

Feb 12, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Jews and slavery: "The Whipping Man' in New York

When slaves in Egypt owned slaves in Virginia

How could Jews, of all people, have owned slaves in the antebellum South? Matthew Lopez's inspiring new play, The Whipping Man, uses one such family as a parable of faith, family, freedom and the brotherhood of man.

Carol Rocamora

Feb 08, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Finn's "A New Brain' at Plays and Players

Near-death experience: the musical

A musical comedy about undergoing brain surgery? Yes, and it works, too.

Steve Cohen

Feb 05, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

David Mamet's "Race' by PTC (3rd review)

David Mamet is angry. Should that concern us?

Where David Mamet's Oleanna provoked anger across gender lines, his Race attempts to evince terror, frustration and guilt along racial divisions. But Race reveals more about Mamet than about his ostensible subject matter.

Jim Rutter

Feb 05, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

InterAct's "Love Lessons From Abu Ghraib'

But enough about torture. Let's talk about me

Jennifer Schelter went overseas to perform yoga therapy on emotionally shattered Iraqi torture victims. Back home, her love life is a mess. Guess what she'd rather talk about?

Jim Rutter

Feb 01, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

McDonagh's "Skull in Connemara,' by the Lantern (1st review)

Welcome to Ireland. Are we having fun yet?

The playwright Martin McDonagh reigns supreme over contemporary Irish theater— so much so that his work has become a cliché. His formula is growing tiresome, and Lantern's production does little to pump new life into it.

Jim Rutter

Feb 01, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"The Milk Train' in New York

Olympia triumphant, Tennessee recumbent

The Milk Train may not be a great play or even a good one. But for Tennessee Williams fans, it has to be seen. And with the astonishing Olympia Dukakis in the central role, this is the production to see.

Toby Zinman

Feb 01, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read