Poster for Hoarding Michael Bérubé’s new play Hoarding premiered at Tempest Productions, directed by Cynthia Mazzant (who also starred). The performances were and the script is an emotionally powerful journey through a difficult mother-daughter relationship, strained by both physical and emotional distances and by the traumas and tribulations each character has experienced. The play focuses …
Tag: American Drama
Kari Williamson and Stefanie Austin’s Cutthroat Christmas—4 Dec. 2024
The playbill for the Cutthroat Christmas staged reading This performance was a staged reading of Kari Williamson and Stefanie Austin’s play Cutthroat Christmas, as a kind of prelude to the upcoming sequel Cutthroat Christmas: Deadly Deals. This original script had received a full production two years ago, and this read through was basically done so …
Continue reading Kari Williamson and Stefanie Austin’s Cutthroat Christmas—4 Dec. 2024
Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain—16 and 19 Oct. 2024
The playbill for John Proctor is the Villain Going into Penn State Theatre’s production of John Proctor is the Villain the first time, I was concerned that a play born out of the #MeToo movement might become didactic—basically an essay on stage. But I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity and passion with which Kimberly …
Continue reading Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain—16 and 19 Oct. 2024
Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot—13 Sept. 2024
State College Community Theatre’s production of Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot, directed by Kerry Clancy-Burns, had some strengths as a production, though overall it was not the best show I’ve ever seen. There were many positive aspects—especially individual performances, most of which were excellent. But there were some technical issues that undercut the show. To …
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Back to the Future: The Musical—27 June 2024
Back to the Future: The Musical Show Poster I’m not really a musicals person, especially in the West End/Broadway style of musical, so Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future: The Musical (with music and lyrics by Allan Silvestri and Glen Ballard) is not normally the kind of show I would seek out. …
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The Good Body, by Eve Ensler—17 May 2024
Eve Ensler's The Good Body Program Sock & Buskin’s recent charity performance of Eve Ensler’s The Good Body—benefiting Centre Safe—was a great performance of a generally powerful play about the psychological and physical difficulties women experience in their own bodies. Stephanie Whitesell’s directorial debut was a triumph, and the performers were each amazing. Ensler’s most …
The Will to Kill, by Sock & Buskin—23 Mar. 2024
Sock & Buskin’s The Will to Kill was a new one for my partner and I, because we had never attended one of the company’s murder mystery parties before. Part performance, part cocktail party, part whodunit, the murder mystery party is an interesting, interactive, hybrid genre. Unlike most theatre, the majority of the action is carried out between “audience members” and the performers, rather than amongst performers themselves.
The Final Rose, by Stefanie Austin—10 Feb. 2024
The program of The Final Rose It’s always a treat seeing Sock & Buskin perform, since the company consistently produces high quality community theatre for central PA. Seeing their production of Stefanie Austin’s The Final Rose was particularly interesting for me, because—by way of full disclosure—I participated in a late stage readthrough of the script …
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Bonnets: How Ladies of Good Breeding are Induced to Murder, by Jen Silverman—1 Dec. 2023
The cover of the program for Bonnets Jen Silverman’s Bonnets: How Ladies of Good Breeding are Induced to Murder was written as part of a Big Ten initiative to produce more plays by women and with strong roles for college age female actors. This is a really good initiative, not only for getting the work …
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, by Aaron Sorkin—14 June 2023
The big draw of the Rochester Broadway Theatre League’s production of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, by Aaron Sorkin, was undoubtedly Richard Thomas in the role of Atticus Finch. Thomas, famous as John-Boy in The Waltons, was certainly a big factor in my mother’s excitement to see the production—and considering that many of the …
Continue reading Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, by Aaron Sorkin—14 June 2023
Phillip Zapkin 