The Flu Season
The Flu Season, besides having nothing to do with the flu, is a play about the agony of writing a play. It is a deconstructed, non-linear drama that wants to be both a love story and a glimpse into the world of mental illness.
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La Tragedie De Carmen
Without the choruses, Brook’s Carmen depends on the strong vocals by Sandra Piques Eddy’s Carmen and the discovery of Noah Stewart, the mellow tenor who sings Don Jose. Together with Krenare Gashi’s Micaela and Michael Todd Simpson’s Escamillo, the cast reaches new heights of vocal acumen.
Rough Crossing
Rough Crossing focuses on two European playwrights who have nothing to do before their ship docks in New York except create and rehearse a new ending for their latest musical before the composer finds out the leading actress is cheating on him. What could be simpler!
Mark’s Gospel
The line between a sermon, a polemic and a one-person show has become muddled. McLean does put a human face on the New Testament but it isn’t enough to render the work more than a well performed sermon or recital.
Aura
It is rare that a playwright also doubles as the lead actor in his own work—but Tommy Lee Johnston is perfect as the eccentric man who can see color auras surrounding others. His talent or curse allows him to feel a person’s emotions whether their vitality or their imminent demise.
Remy Bumppo’s Old Times
Old Times is a memory play enriched with realistic dialogue filled with long silences, start and stop responses—just as we often speak in life. This gives power and credibility to the work.
The Grapes of Wrath
Certainly, the intimacy of the Raven Theatre provides wonderful immediacy. The audience becomes completely involved with the dispossessed Joad family, economic victims of the Great Depression, thrust from their homes in the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma and forced to board their makeshift truck to undertake a hard, tedious migration across the U.S.
Hollywood 360 4-25-2009
Tom Williams discusses the following stage plays: The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, The Overwhelming, Sunday in the Park With George, with host Carl Amari on the Radio Program Hollywood 360 on WIND 560 AM. April 25, 2009.
The History Boys
The History Boys covers the life of eight English boys prepping for their entrance exams designed to get them into Oxford or Cambridge. But playwright Alan Bennett has a much larger agenda than merely a coming of age story or a debate about the purpose and style of education. He tackles issues such as sexual identity, teen angst and the role of teachers as mentors to their students.
Of Mice and Men
Steppenwolf Theatre’s series for Young Adults mounts terrific theatre—period! Under the tight, flowing direction of Michael Patrick Thornton, Of Mice and Men left the high school students in the audience in tears. They strongly emphasize with both George and Lenny. Of Mice and Men is a compelling and unsentimental tale of friendship and loneliness.