"Merchant of Venice' at Temple

While the current production at Temple’s Tomlinson Theater is unexceptional, all the ingredients are still there: the tension of the pound-of-flesh drama, the glorious poetry, the story of the three caskets. And the anti-Semitism.

The Merchant of Venice. By William Shakespeare; directed by Dan Kern. Temple Theaters production through March 29, 2008 at Tomlinson Theater, 1301 W. Norris St. (215) 204-8414 or

Rathe Miller

Mar 25, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

Philadelphia as "Premiere City'

Here is an exciting answer to those urbanologists who worry that Philadelphia no longer makes anything. We can make new plays, every year, just the way we used to make railroad engines and Stetson hats.

Armen Pandola

Mar 11, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

What Spitzer could learn from Shakespeare

New York’s moralistic Governor Eliot Spitzer turns out to have been a customer of a high-priced prostitution ring. How could that be? You’ll find the answer in Measure For Measure, not to mention Pig Iron's recent production of Isabella.

Jim Rutter

Mar 11, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

EgoPo's "Something Cloudy, Something Clear'

Even the usually resourceful EgoPo stage company can’t rescue Tennessee Williams’s last, lugubrious play from its defects: wooden characters, a sluggish plot and— worst of all for one of the theater’s great modern poets— pedestrian dialogue.

Something Cloudy, Something Clear. By Tennessee Williams; directed by Brenna Geffers. EgoPo production through March 22, 2008 at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. (215) 552-8773 or &nbsp

Robert Zaller

Mar 04, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

EgoPo's "Something Cloudy' (2nd review)

Something Cloudy, Something Clear is a dream-like memory play that was experimental for its time. Critics savaged it in 1981 and again during this revival. But pay attention. Williams still has something to tell us.

Something Cloudy, Something Clear. By Tennessee Williams; directed by Brenna Geffers. EgoPo production through March 22, 2008 at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. (215) 552-8773 or

Steve Cohen

Mar 04, 2008 · Articles · 6 minute read

Stoppard and the Wilma

Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n Roll represents his most ambitious effort to confront the Czech Communist suppression of free expression that he lived through in the 1970s. Next year this ultimate dissident's play will be brought to the Wilma Theater, whose founders lived through it too. I can’t wait to see how the Zizkas stage it.

Rock ‘n Roll. By Tom Stoppard. Royal Court Theatre London production through March 9, 2008 at Bernard Jacobs Thea

Jim Rutter

Mar 01, 2008 · Articles · 6 minute read

Jiri Zizka and Wilma's "Ying Tong'

Three of the last four plays directed by Jiri Zizka have dealt with artists who suffer for their art. Is this a coincidence? Or is the Wilma Theater’s co-founder, consciously or not, trying to tell us something?

Ying Tong: A Walk With the Goons. By Roy Smiles; directed by Jiri Zizka. Through March 16, 2008 at Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. (at Spruce. 215.546.STAGE or www.wilmatheater.org.

Jim Rutter

Feb 23, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

"The Glass Menagerie' at People's Light

After 63 years, is The Glass Menagerie still relevant? Under Ken Marini’s expert direction, Tennessee Williams’s breakthrough play turns out to be dated only in terms of its decade and century.

The Glass Menagerie. By Tennessee Williams; directed by Ken Marini. Through March 22, 2008 at People’s Light & Theatre Co., 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern. (610) 644-3500 or www.peopleslight.org

Anne R. Fabbri

Feb 19, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

InterAct Theatre's "Black Gold'

Seth Rozin’s political satire about a black Detroit homeowner who strikes oil in his back yard is less polemical and more playful than, say, the work of Bertolt Brecht. Rozin uses comedy to make serious points.

Black Gold. Written and directed by Seth Rozin. InterAct Theatre Company production through February 24, 2008 at Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom St. (215) 568-8079 or www.interacttheatre.org.

Steve Cohen

Feb 16, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

Lantern Theater's "Skylight' (1st review)

Can an old flame be reignited in the midst of a dreary London winter? David Hare’s Skylight asks us to buy into a plot that strains credulity while rehashing the political storms of yesteryear.

Skylight. By David Hare; directed by Dan Kern. Lantern Theater Co. production through March 2, 2008 at St. Stephen’s Theater, 10th and Ludlow Streets. (215) 829-0395 or www.lanterntheater.org.

Robert Zaller

Feb 09, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read