All the world's a stage Archives - Page 30 of 30 - Capital Critics' Circle / Le cercle des critiques de la capitale

The Color of Rose: A world premiere by Kathrine Bates

By Jane Baldwin | February 1, 2011

L.to R. Judith Roberts, Theresa Masse, Karen MacDonald. Photo:Paul Marrot

ArtsEmerson’s Irish festival of three plays opened on January 30 with the world premiere of The Color of Rose, by Kathrine Bates. While not an Irish work, it celebrates the life of Boston’s historically most prominent Irish-American woman, Rose Kennedy. Structurally reminiscent of Edward Albee’s 1994 Three Tall Women, the play portrays Rose at three different ages, as played by three different actresses. All remain on stage throughout, interacting with each other. As the elderly Rose prepares for a television interview, she reflects on her life, discussing and sometimes arguing about its facts and meaning with her younger selves.

…

Read More Read More

Psy: A production of Les 7 doigts de la main in Boston

By Jane Baldwin | January 28, 2011

Photo: Davis Poulin

Psy, a creation of Montreal’s les 7 doigts de la main (the 7 fingers of the hand), is a performance unlike any I have ever seen, despite my fondness for the modern circus. The young multi-talented hyper energetic company combines athleticism, dance, and acting to create a storyline that explores psychological disorders through the trained circus body. Each of the performers develops a character with a particular syndrome: They include manic-depression, multiple personality disorder, hypochondria, amnesia, and paranoia. The show avoids grimness through humor, although an underlying menace is ever-present.

…

Read More Read More

The Understudy , Boston premiere of the play by Theresa Rebeck.

By Jane Baldwin | January 5, 2011

The New Year ushered in the Boston premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s The Understudy at the Lyric Stage. A presence in the city for more than thirty years, the Lyric Stage has been under the leadership of artistic director Spiro Veloudos since 1997. A 240 seat space with a thrust stage, the Lyric is located on the second floor of a YMCA in Boston’s Back Bay

The Lyric makes it a point to cast local professional actors, keep ticket prices moderate (which can mean low production values), and draw its repertory mainly from contemporary American drama and musicals, with the occasional bow to British works such as its memorable production of Caryl Churchill’s A Number.

…

Read More Read More

ArtsEmerson, A Boston Version of the Festsival TransAmérique. Interview with Director Rob Orchard.

By Jane Baldwin | November 3, 2010

ArtsEmerson, the most exciting and creative theatre project Boston has seen in years, opened in the fall of 2010 under the leadership of executive director Robert Orchard. Orchard met with me to discuss its development. Years in the making, the venture grew out of a partnership between Emerson College – a school of communication and the arts – and the city. Emerson needed to expand;

Boston wanted to rehabilitate a decaying downtown area. That the area included two run-down theatres – candidates for demolition, but architectural landmarks in their day – was a windfall for Emerson. A deal was struck whereby Emerson would sell off its buildings, scattered through a high end residential section, and buy real estate in or near the infamous Combat Zone, Boston’s “adult entertainment” district.

…

Read More Read More

The Laramie Project Ten Years Later. A long process that gained the admiration of the whole community.

By Jane Baldwin | October 18, 2010

ArtsEmerson, a new and exciting theatre project has come to Boston. Emerson College, a school of the arts and communication, which has acquired and renovated four downtown theatre spaces, inaugurated an annual season of American and international productions – seventeen in all for 2010-2011. The series began in September with the Tectonic Theater’s The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.

…

Read More Read More

Fela : un hommage brillant au musicien, compositeur et activiste indépendantiste nigérien.

By Alvina Ruprecht | January 20, 2010

Mise en scène et chorégraphie de Bill T. Jones.

La création de FELA, qui a eu lieu à New York en 2009 a pris fin le 2 janvier 2011, la veille de l’ouverture de la production britannique au National Theatre de London. Pourtant tout continue comme avant. Le chorégraphe Bill T. Jones continue sa direction de l’ensemble, le même acteur assure le rôle principal, beaucoup de danseurs et musiciens ont traversé la mer pour poursuivre cette aventure artistique en Angleterre.

Le spectacle, un hommage au musicien, compositeur et activiste indépendantiste nigérien Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, mort en 1997, est d’une beauté extraordinaire mais il est beaucoup plus que beau et divertissant. Il renouvelle le genre musical en le rapprochant de la danse moderne et de l’opéra populaire, un peu à la manière d’une œuvre de Brecht illuminée par les Orishas du Panthéon Yoruba, le Jazz moderne, la musique de Bob Marley, les rythmes traditionnels africains et un récit politique violente et tragique. Fela est tout cela…et encore.

…

Read More Read More

Julius Caesar , directed by Arthur Nauzyciel at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge.

By Jane Baldwin | November 5, 2008

In February of 2008 the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts presented Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar directed by Arthur Nauzyciel. For those unfamiliar with the American Repertory Theatre, a brief description is in order.

As its acronym ART indicates, it is a noncommercial theatre dedicated to art. The kind of art the theatre produces and its worth has been a question since the ART’s arrival in Cambridge in 1980. For most of that time, its artistic director was Robert Brustein who was at once conservative and experimental in his tastes. Under his helm, the ART presented classics old and modern, generally those familiar to his public, as well as the occasional new work. Debut plays were often relegated to a second stage where their performances were given lower production values. On the main stage, Ibsen, Shaw, Pirandello, Strindberg, Beckett and other stalwarts of the modern drama anthology reigned supreme. Shakespeare and Molière were the most frequent representatives of the older classical repertoire.

…

Read More Read More