David MacDowell Blue

I can but applaud a resurgence of interest in the classics, especially those we don't see that often, as in this case Seneca's Hercules Insane. This production does something even more startling that the revival of an Ancient Roman tragedy (we more often see people do the Greeks--possibly in hopes of seeing ourselves as in a Golden Age) in a pretty close approximation of how it was originally staged! Actors wore masks, spoke in meter, permeated stylized movements in every moment, and never shie... full review

My favorite acting teacher once gave me words to live by. "Theatre" he said "is revolutionary in nature. It changes you. You are no longer the same person you were before seeing a play." I am of course paraphrasing since he said this in the 1980s. But this play makes a fine example of exactly his point. Just in terms of a weird, dreamlike situation--three strangers meeting for reasons never made totally clear in a graveyard--we the audience listen in on a fascinating, perplexing and unresol... full review

A woman. A grand piano (or any piano really, this one happened to be grand). Some songs. Such a simple, yet challenging premise. One Laura Jo Trexler meets with talent, passion and panache! In this case the conceit lies in the pov from each original song she performs. Each one has a female character from the works of Shakespeare, from Gertrude (in Hamlet) to the Dark Lady of the Sonnets and beyond. Along the way, we experience enough passion, humor, tragedy, silliness and the like for a fu... full review

Lights Out at the Hermit's Cave comes from a place of pure fun. An ensemble of very good performers demonstrate over-the-top means "good" if done well and in the right context. This company, The Hermit's Cave, stages in a dark room horror radio plays from the 1940s. Not as radio plays, but rather acted out all around you the audience, albeit with a foley artist and live musician to add ambiance. It works! It works delightfully, even in a simple meeting room with most of the lights turned off.... full review

Certainly the destruction of PanAm 103 certainly counts as a tragedy. But this play transforms it into a Tragedy (note the capital T), one of the most powerful I've ever seen. Its focus remains squarely not upon the event, which after all lies in the past, but in the aftermath--and by extension such for all the evils, all the pain in the world. Here, during an anniversary event in the Scottish lowlands village where so many died, a New Jersey housewife gives way to her grief. Her husband trie... full review

The High Captain feels not unlike a blend of Waiting for Godot and Gilligan's Island. And maybe a fairly political version of Alice in Wonderland. Maybe. Actually there's also more than a dash of Monty Python as well. The survivors of a tanker ship crashing onto a desert island somewhere in the Caribbean try to live out their lives. Not easy under the best of circumstances it is all made better and worse by the fact enough barrels of gas that send people high as a kite survived the crash to.... full review

This show has a simple but delicious conceit--adapting the hit action movie not only into a musical but a Christmas musical, taking music from a variety of holiday specials and movies. This alone works. Add to that a tiny mountain of pop references, easter eggs, wonderful theatrical flourishes worthy of farce and the recipe then waits only for a good production. Wisely, TU keeps changing up the cast each year, which helps keep in fresh--especially in terms of the villain Hans Gruber, as juicy ... full review

For those of you don't know (I did not at first) the title The Woman is Perfected comes from the very last poem by Sylvia Plath. That alone might well give you a notion at its feel. A young woman spends the length of this one person show talking pretty much non stop to her visiting mother. Although quite pretty, she remains obsessed about her looks, having just undergone a series of botox injections to "take away all the wrinkles." She notes she doesn't mind the pain. It fills and distracts ... full review

I loved the heart of this show. I loved the redemptive, healing and personal courage tale of personal acceptance through trials and tribulations. More than once I felt strongly during the show. But Snap, Honey! despite all its heart remains something of a technical mess. The blocking was terrible, the lights erratic, the set looked amateurish and honestly the script needed some major work. This even extended to the lead actor, who kept gesturing by putting her hands in front of her face (!) ... full review

Imagine if you will a nihilistic, time travel comedy that also qualifies (barely) as a rom-com. This describes pretty well what Moose and Darlene's Cosmic Do-Over tries to accomplish. Does it succeed? Well, not quite. The show has some real charm to it, poses an interesting situation and resolution, seeks to find humor in some truly dark situations (like committing multiple murders in hopes of saving the world by changing the timeline). All well and good! I loved The Hitchhikers' Guide to t... full review