Mary Zimmerman’s Argonautika straddles a number of boundaries—between ancient epic and modern drama, between comedy and tragedy, between poetry and theatre. Following the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, this modern adaptation based on the tale recounted in the Greek by Apollonius and in the Latin by Gaius Valerius Flaccus. But this is certainly no …
Continue reading Argonautika, by Mary Zimmerman–30 Oct. 2017
A.R. Gurney’s play Sylvia takes a unique look at the relationship between a man and his dog. And a man and his wife. And all the problems that can arise from trying to love both. The play is funny, touching, and occasionally disturbing, and West Virginia Public Theatre (in cooperation with the WVU College of …
Continue reading Sylvia Review: Great Performances of a Dysfunctional Trio–20 June 2017
Following a group of women headquartered in a beauty salon in Louisiana, Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias has much in common with the stereotypical Lifetime movie. But that being said, it’s really quite excellent, and MT Pockets put on an outstanding production, directed by Seret Cole, with amazing performances by all of the cast members. The …
Continue reading Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling–28 May 2017
A well-written comedy well performed makes for a delightful evening. And MT Pockets’ production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Kimberly Akimbo was a delightful evening. Under Christian Cox’s direction, the cast put on a very strong performance, working cohesively together to create a fantastic production of a very funny play. I’ve seen one of Lindsay-Abaire’s other plays—Rabbit …
Continue reading Kimberly Akimbo, by David Lindsay-Abaire–7 May 2017
Sam Shepard’s True West tells the story of two brothers, Austin, an educated and semi-successful screenwriter struggling to write a love story, and Lee, a robber who drifts through the desert Southwest and effortlessly makes up a movie storyline he lacks the skill and knowledge to write. These brothers clash over everything from their relative …
Shakespeare’s (and Wilkin’s) Pericles, Prince of Tyre is one of my favorite plays, but it doesn’t get performed that often, so it was an absolute treat to see the play not only done, but done fantastically well by West Virginia University’s Theatre Department. The production, directed by Cornel Gabara, was well acted, visually stunning, and …
Continue reading Pericles, Prince of Tyre, by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins–17 Mar. 2017
My disclaimer is that I normally don't go to children's theatre, so I don't have much of a reference for reviewing Carol Korty's Silly Soup, performed by MT Pockets. I suppose the performance quality of this production was probably pretty standard for a children's theatre performance, so I won't really discuss the performances. Instead, I'd …
Euripides’ The Trojan Women is widely regarded as one of the greatest anti-war plays of all time, and it seems unfortunately timely today. With wars raging in the Middle East, and with the largest refugee crisis since WWII is Syria, Euripides’ lamentation reaches across the millennia to admonish us to this day. This transhistorical element …
Continue reading The Trojan Women, by Euripides (adapted by Gwendolyn MacEwen)–6 Dec. 2016
Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive is a tough play because it takes on the unsettling subject of childhood sexual abuse. Despite the difficult subject matter, the Red Masquers—a theatre group at Duquesne University—gave an excellent performance, directed by Justin Sines, with really strong acting throughout. The protagonist and primary narrator of How I …
Continue reading How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel–14 Nov. 2016
This is the fourth, maybe fifth show I’ve seen the Rustic Mechanicals perform, and this is the first one I would say was really good. My major critique of the Mechanicals has been the tendency to painfully overact, but with this cast and for this show, they (largely) resisted that tendency. For the first time …
Continue reading The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare–9 Oct. 2016
Phillip Zapkin 