Stage Write

One of the highlights of this year‘s Bard Fest is the rarely-produced King John. There are whispers of other Shakespeare plays echoing in the heartbreaking history All the classics are there but presented in a show that’s often overlooked. There are warring families, devious brothers, and vindictive paranoid monarchs, all grasping at power with greedy fingers.    The show is produced in a new space for the festival. The Shelton Auditorium is breathtaking in its layout. Doug Powers’ direction takes advantage of the incredible facility to stretch the action up the stairs to create the fiction of a fortified city. The battles often happen off stage which keeps the snarky banter front and center. It is a verbally dense play rich with prose. Georgeanna Smith Wade is a revelation as Duchess Constance. Like so many of the other actors, she plays multiple characters, but it’s her turn as a grieving mother that is worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, her character disappe...

Mark your calendars! The dates and locations of this year's Bard Fest have been announced. The annual festival brings together multiple theatre companies and this year, multiple locations, to present Shakespeare's work. This year's selection includes three popular plays produced by the founding companies, plus a new treat, a youth production. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet                     The Merchant of Venice Directed by Zach Stonerock                                Directed by Doug Powers Catalyst Repertory                                                First Folio Productions Much Ado About Nothing                                ...

It’s fitting that the last main stage play at the current Phoenix Theatre was the Pulitzer-Prize-winning “Sweat”. It was full of gritty dialogue, realistic portrayals of regular life, a diverse cast, and had an ending that left you reeling long after the final bow. The show closed this past weekend but as the Phoenix wraps up its time at the old church theater and prepares for its move to its new home on Illinois, you have one more chance to see a play in a building that has held 30 years of great performances.  “Fairfield” opens this weekend on the intimate Basile stage. A grade school is thrown into chaos when a young white teacher decides use role playing to celebrate Black history month with her first grade class. Emotions run high and prejudices are revealed as the parents and superintendent get involved. The script is full of dark humor and is reminiscent of “Gods of Carnage”. The play’s conversations are all too familiar, but they’re approached in a way that uses humo...