ARTES MAGAZINE

Sometimes it just all comes together, and when it does there’s magic on the stage. Such is the case with The Dining Room, A. R. Gurney’s nostalgic look back at a way of life—a way of thinking, a way of dining—currently on the boards at the Westport Country Playhouse. The production, under the sure directorial [...]

  There are those who say that the Yale Repertory Theatre often dabbles in post-modernistic-theater-of-the-absurd-nihilistic-surrealism, that those in charge of the venerable establishment conceive of their audience as a blend of the Marquis de Sade and Krafft-Ebing, that what is sometimes offered fulfills only the needs of those who dwell in dark attics reading Henry [...]

There is always a bit of an edge to any production at the A.R.T. and by extension its satellite Oberon. This is true of Beowulf—A Thousand Years of Baggage now at the Oberon. This version of the English/Danish epic poem uses song and silliness to tell the story of the hero and the blood-thirsty monster. [...]

  Talk about schizophrenic. Hartford Stage’s last offering was the engaging “Man in a Case,” a somewhat enigmatic, surreal re-working of two of Anton Chekhov’s short stories, light on plot and heavy on atmosphere and multi-media. Now, we have Beth Henley’s “Abundance,” (deftly directed by Jenn Thompson), an equally engaging, yet old-fashioned tale,of two women [...]

The Revisionist, which opened at the intimate Cherry Lane Theatre on February 28 for a limited run, has been extended through April 27, with great, good cause—a couple of times. In this case, the great, good cause is 76 year old Vanessa Redgrave at her incandescent best. Excellence, a plateau, is a goal that she, [...]

 How much do you know about John F. Kennedy, our 35th president? If little or nothing, then don’t read on, just go to Long Wharf Theatre and see “Ride the Tiger,” a dramatized history lesson (of sorts) with a little nudity thrown in for good measure. If, however, you were born, say, in the `50s [...]

Prescient in its expression, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is a masterpiece about the struggle for dignity over prejudice. Based upon her own family’s experience in suburban Chicago, it is not only a story of racism and housing discrimination, but it expresses a strong naturalistic Black voice as well as a Black consciousness. [...]

I’ve seen all sorts of Hamlets. I’ve seen morose Hamlets and intellectual Hamlets, flighty Hamlets and swash-buckling Hamlets (well, only one of those), but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a bratty Hamlet before, but that’s essentially what we have in Yale Repertory Theatre’s current production of one of the Bard’s greatest tragedies, a production [...]

Acting wisdom says don’t do a scene with an adorable kid or a puppy. Well, to that you can add stay away from any scene with a lamb, especially a lamb that seems to have an uncanny sense of timing when it comes to emitting “Baaas.” However, the cast of Sam Shepard’s Curse of the [...]

Now, don’t you know, the Yanks are in town and they’re makin’ a filllem. What’s it about, you’re askin’? Well, I don’t rightly know, but, Jaysus to Jaysus, they’re payin’ forty quid a day for us just to stand around lookin’ like the poor Irish sods we are, so if I was you, I’d get [...]