Americans have an affinity for ghoulish comedies. Arsenic and Old Lace, recently revived by the Guthrie, has kept audiences laughing at two murderous old ladies for generations. Rocky Horror Picture Show is another more recent example of this peculiarly American…
Category: Theater
Liberty Falls 54321: a camp classic
What is theatrical camp? I pondered thith pithy question as I made my way down frozen Portland Avenue after the opening of The Moving Company‘s goofily effective Liberty Falls 54321 (a remount of a play originally done in 2015). I concluded:…
HWTS’s Top Shows Of 2016
With four theater reviewers, HowWasTheShow.com is covering more theater than ever. We herewith wrap up an excellent year with How Was the Show’s first ever annual favorites list. Some of the plays weren’t even reviewed! But when they were, helpful links…
FUN HOME is fun, tragic, intelligent, witty
A few years ago Lisa Kron wrote the book and lyrics for a musical based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. With the aid of composer Jeanine Tesori the result was the 2015 Tony Award winning,…
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, at the Orpheum
One of the great strengths of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is that is does not compromise its perspective, detailing the world through the eyes of a young autistic boy and demanding that…
The Lion In Winter at the Guthrie Theatre
When The Lion in Winter begins on the Guthrie‘s McGuire stage (playing through Dec 31), the great red-velvet curtain opens on a timbered, multileveled tower, topped with two tiers of flickering candles. The set, designed by Christopher Ash, deftly invokes the…
Orange at Mixed Blood Theatre
In Aditi Brennan Kapil‘s Orange (Mixed Blood, through Dec 4) Leela (the wonderful Annelyse Ahmad) is having an “adventure.” Her well-meaning albeit scattered and goofily irresponsible cousin (played by the even wonderfuller Lipica Shah) has taken her off into the…
Henry V by Theatre Pro Rata
In telling the story of a young king seeking to assert himself through violent conquest of his rivals and enlisting his country to risk their lives fighting for his cause, Henry VÂ (Theatre Pro Rata, performing at the Crane Theatre, through…
105 Proof, Or, The Killing Of Mack “The Silencer” Klein by Transatlantic Love Affair, performing in the Illusion Theatre
No doubt about it, Transatlantic Love Affair knows how to spin a ripping good yarn. Their newest effort 105 Proof or, The Killing of Mack “the Silencer†Klein is testament to their storytelling skill. Eight barefooted actors with no props…
The Oldest Boy at the Jungle Theater
In Sarah Ruhl‘s The Oldest Boy (at the Jungle, through Dec 18) culture and religion trump (Lord forgive me for using the t-word) the unselfishness, the pure life-focus, the power of parenthood. In the play, two friendly but very serious-minded…