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 …
The Witching Hour, by Kari Williamson and Nate Schierman—28 Oct. 2023
Kari Williamson and Nate Schierman’s The Witching Hour is a murder-mystery-comedy dinner theatre about a group of witches in Salem, MA, running a magic healing retreat. When their magic begins to go haywire, the sisters—Hazel, Athena, and Lorelei, along with their niece Miranda—have to find a way to save their business. Each of the sisters …
Continue reading The Witching Hour, by Kari Williamson and Nate Schierman—28 Oct. 2023
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
Jay Hopkins and John Hunter’s The Iliad, The Odyssey, And All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less—13 May 2023
Jay Hopkins and John Hunter’s The Iliad, The Odyssey, And All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less (IOGM from here on out) has to be an incredibly taxing play to perform, as each of the five actors plays a multitude of roles, each demanding its own character. The actor with the fewest number …
Moon Over Buffalo, by Ken Ludwig—29 Apr. 2023
The Sock & Buskin Theatre Company’s production of Ken Ludwig’s comedy Moon Over Buffalo was an enjoyable performance marked by excellent comic timing. Under the direction of Stefanie Austin—a co-founder of Sock & Buskin—the full force of the farce came to the fore through Ludwig’s trademark wit and series of happy accidents. Moon Over Buffalo …
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The Women of Trachis: New Jersey Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association, by Theater of War Productions—27 July 2022
Theater of War Productions is one of the most exciting companies in the performance of ancient Greek and Shakespearean plays because they tie each performance to a particular social issue and use the performances as a jumping off point for discussions of the issue. Their recent version of Sophocles’ The Women of Trachis was performed …
Sorting It Out, by Matteo Esposito—12 Apr. 2020
As I said in my review of Moonchild, Matteo Esposito had contacted me about watching and reviewing his plays. A reading of Sorting It Out is available from the Online Play Reading Group at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8fEDk32mh4. Like Moonchild, Esposito’s Sorting It Out is a piece of disability theatre, but I think this play is more thematically …
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Moonchild, by Matteo Esposito—12 Feb. 2022
I watched the video of a reading of Matteo Esposito’s Moonchild (available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FNkpDJ3ZV0) because Matteo had emailed me asking for a review of the play. Moonchild is a piece of disability theatre, focused specifically on the challenges faced by Harry, a boy with autism who wants to be a painter. The conflict facing Harry …
Sonnetfest ’21: 4th Annual Shakespeare on the Bluff Festival—23 July 2021
Sonnetfest ’21, directed by Kevin Wetmore, introduced Shakespeare’s sonnets as fourteen-line plays, and that promise was borne out. The performance consists of several sonnets read (not in numerical order) and acted out by Loyola Marymount University’s College of Communications and Fine Arts. I watched the final performance, which was streamed over YouTube-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsHyQUA0hK0 (this link …
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Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, by Moises Kaufman-2 May 2021
There are few subjects more fit for the stage than Oscar Wilde. He was a larger than life personality, who fundamentally changed the way many think about art, about society, and about sexuality. And of course he was best known in his lifetime as a playwright, so the stage is doubly appropriate. Moises Kaufman’s Gross …
Continue reading Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, by Moises Kaufman-2 May 2021
Phillip Zapkin 