I’ll say it again: Artistry offers one of the most pleasant and approachable play-going experiences around. Ticket prices are reasonable. The lobby is huge (and contains a very nice art gallery). The Schneider Theatre is comfortable and perfectly sized –…
Author: John Olive
Review | Journey’s End: long, but worthwhile
One of the first things to say about Gremlin Theatre‘s production of R.C. Sherriff‘s powerful Journey’s End (playing though Nov 10) is that it’s long: two hours and forty five minutes. Audiences back in the olden days (the play premiered…
Review | Chicago: loud, brassy, charming — and a great story
Veteran HWTS reviewers Janet Preus and John Olive attended the opening of Chicago (Theater Latté Da, performing in the old Ritz Theater, through Nov 3). They then went down the street for cold beverages and a discussion, which is excerpted…
Review | Hot Asian Doctor Husband: a hoot and a half
Leah Nanako Winkler‘s delicious Hot Asian Doctor Husband (Mu Performing Arts, performing at Mixed Blood Theater, through Sept 1) is a prime example of the hoary theatrical truism: when the actors have a good time, so does the audience. And…
Review | Stinkers: a giddy celebration of familial love
The jewelbox Jungle on a stinky, gruesomely hot summer evening: the gorgeous lobby, perfectly sized with actual comfy furniture; then the beautiful performing space, polished wood and rich lighting, small but substantial, highlighting the always wonderful set design, in this…
Review | Samuel J And K: a celebration of the unbreakable bonds of family
Mat Smart is, imo, an unsung master. His plays reveal astonishing diversity, of subject matter, and narrative intensity. Here are some Smart titles, many of which I would wager you’ve never heard: the deliciously funny The Royal Society of Antarctica;…
Review | To Let Go And Fall: an affecting study of love and aging
Cello music is, it has to be said, mournful, lugubrious and, well, a little creepy. “It’s not gloomy,” asserts the young son in A Little Night Music. “It’s profound.” IOW, ya gotta be in the mood and, luckily, at the…
Review | Small Mouth Sounds: meditative comedy
Six characters in search of an authorial presence. Bess Wohl‘s amusing Small Mouth Sounds (at the Jungle, through June 16) suffers from this. The primary problem with the play – essentially a portrait of six people at a wilderness (apparently;…
Review | The Sins Of Sor Juana: a nifty combination of religious and poetic fervor
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a gifted poet in Nueva España (as México was called in the olden days). Born a bit too late to be part of the Spanish Golden Age (Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes,…
Review | Cyrano de Bergerac: swashbuckling romance
The Guthrie‘s program for Edmond Rostand‘s ageless Cyrano de Bergerac lists, in a first for this reviewer, a credit for “Intimacy Consultant” (Lauren Keating). Oh boy, says I to myself. Intimacy. Tantalizing, erotic, pervading the play. Giving the play a…