Shapiro on Theater
New mothers ‘Cry It Out’ in perfect Simpatico Theatre production
The play offers characters who deliver their own points of view about being moms — ideas that illuminate the subject, then let you think for yourself.
5 years ago
Caught in a time warp ‘Among the Dead’ at Theatre Exile
This evocative play about a child of war features a complex story and a fine cast.
5 years ago
#MeToo: Art imitates life in Azuka’s ‘Boycott Esther’
“Boycott Esther” playwright Emily Acker creates an imperfect onstage drama out of her career setback because of Harvey Weinstein’s fall from grace.
5 years ago
‘Dionysus Was Such a Nice Man’ at the Wilma: It’s not your typical Greek myth
Playwright Kate Tarker offers up the absurdist tale of a shepherd, his wife and Oedipus, the son who left them.
5 years ago
‘For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday,’ at People’s Light
Sarah Ruhl wrote the play as a 70th birthday gift for her mother, who portrayed Pan as a teenager in Iowa.
5 years ago
A ‘Heartland’ in two disparate places, from InterAct Theatre
Afghanistan and Omaha are the settings for an alternately funny and sad drama about the meaning of struggle.
5 years ago
”Tis Pity She’s a Whore,’ controversial for almost 400 years, from Philadelphia Artists’ Collective
The play has been the object of scorn and disgust for its subject matter and even for its title. But this flawed presentation satisfies as a glimpse of theater history.
5 years ago
The Walnut’s engrossing ‘Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’
Movement may be more subtle in this Philadelphia production of the Broadway dazzler, but the result is striking and eloquent in its own right.
5 years ago
The many facets of ‘The Few,’ at Theatre Horizon
The ‘Few,’ by MacArthur “genius grant” fellow Samuel D. Hunter, strikes common chords about loneliness and connection and continues through April 7.
5 years ago
An off-season Fringe, with the spotlight on local successes
The new High Pressure Fire Service Festival, geared to locally based performers, runs through most of June, with a new show opening each month.
5 years ago
The production affirms Arden Theatre Company as the region's major producer of August Wilson's work.
5 years ago
From Theatre Exile: Is ‘An Oak Tree’ real or artificial?
Gimmickry overtakes a play bombarded by on-stage directions and a prescribed lack of rehearsal.
5 years ago
Saluting the ‘Broads’ who declared themselves in laughter, from 1812 Productions
Strong women take the microphone.
5 years ago
A sentimental journey over ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company
A photographer, a housewife and a show that doesn't know when to stop.
5 years ago
‘Box Clever’ and boxed in at life, from Inis Nua Theatre Company
A desperate single mother bares her soul, but not effectively until the play's very end.
5 years ago
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