Theater
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Page 235
"Language Rooms' at the Wilma (2nd review)
The questioners and the questioned
Language Rooms takes place in the hermetic world of a private contractor whose job is to interrogate terrorist suspects, but which might be next door. The play invites us to ask Theater of the Absurd questions about ourselves but undercuts its own mise en scène with a drama-within-the-drama about immigrant acculturation that clearly belongs somewhere else.
Language Rooms. By Yussef El Guindi; directed by Blanka Zizka (world premiere). Through April 4, 2010 at Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. (at Spruce). (215) 546-7824 or www.wilmatheater.org.
Articles
5 minute read
"The Gnädiges Fräulein' by Tennessee Williams
Southern comfort, taken to extremes
In The Gnädiges Fräulein, Tennessee Williams serves up an absurd exaggeration of the kind of Southern myths that Williams himself popularized.
Articles
3 minute read
Beckett's "Waiting For Godot,' by EgoPo
New life for Beckett's hobos
Careful, astute direction by Brenna Geffers of EgoPo Productions resurrects the bones of Beckett's existential classic, Waiting For Godot, into a drama that's fresher and more exciting than the raft of “new” plays currently on Philadelphia stages.
Articles
4 minute read
"The Book of Grace' in New York
An absence of grace
Suzan-Lori Parks's new play, The Book of Grace, is determined to bludgeon every shred of hope, optimism and cheerfulness out of us until we succumb to her grim view of human beings, event outcomes and life generally.
Articles
3 minute read
Straight talk about "Romeo and Juliet' (2nd review)
Overblown emotions? Surely. A great love story? Give me a break
I wish I could tear up over Romeo and Juliet like everyone else. And I have— when I was 14. But a more adult perspective on partnership has squelched my enjoyment. Why have we enshrined the fickle, maudlin, airheaded young Romeo as the ultimate synonym for “lover”?
Romeo and Juliet. By William Shakespeare; directed by Matt Pfeiffer. Through April 11, 2010 at Arden Theatre, 40 N. Second St. (215) 922-1122 or www.ardentheatre.org.
Articles
5 minute read
"Language Rooms' at the Wilma (1st review)
Immigrant angst: The sorrow and the comedy
Language Rooms, Yussef El Guindi's fierce comic fantasy, tackles many realities of Arab”“American life. It would be funnier if it moved faster.
Articles
4 minute read
Mary Martello's "Happily Ever After'
Sleeping Beauty snores!
The charming Mary Martello's cute idea— what happens to fairy-tale heroines after they find their charming princes?— is undermined by a weak script that's too often repetitive and obvious.
Articles
2 minute read
"Romeo and Juliet' at the Arden (1st review)
Romeo and Juliet: The dream and the nightmare
Matt Pfeiffer's direction of the Arden's Romeo and Juliet bathes us in emotional intensity. He also strips the young lovers' tragedy of any romance in order to cast a disapproving glare on Shakespeare's text itself.
Romeo and Juliet. By William Shakespeare; directed by Matt Pfeiffer. Through April 11, 2010 at Arden Theatre, 40 N. Second St. (215) 922-1122 or www.ardentheatre.org.
Articles
3 minute read
Bill Cain's "Equivocation,' Off-Broadway
Playwright's predicament
No equivocating about Equivocation: This superb Off-Broadway production of Bill Cain's smart, complex play, directed by the brilliant Garry Hynes, satisfies on every level— emotional, intellectual, theatrical. It's funny, too.
Articles
3 minute read
"A Behanding in Spokane' on Broadway
Watered-down lunacy, saved by Chris Walken
A Behanding in Spokane is less provocative and less political than Martin McDonagh's previous brand of Irish lunacy. But with the wildly unsettling presence of Christopher Walken, it's a great show.
Articles
2 minute read