From a basement lab, a woman changed the world
WATERTOWN – One by one, the stories of women who loved science at a time when it didn’t love them back are being told. The women in question were heavily involved in some… Continue reading
Author Archive
Big voices bring light to a dark ‘Jekyll and Hyde’
BEVERLY – There are horses for courses. And there are singers for songs. No one really knew about a woman named Linda Eder until the musical “Jekyll & Hyde” premiered on Broadway, and… Continue reading
‘Hamnet’ may reflect on our own relationships
BOSTON – What a difference one letter can make. That’s what the title character in the ArtsEmerson production of “Hamnet” reminds us. It’s the difference, in his case, of the son of playwright… Continue reading
‘Hamilton’: A story that belongs to all of us
BOSTON – In almost 26 years of reviewing professional theatrical productions, I’ve seen many long-running hit shows. But until now I’ve never reviewed a work that in a few short years has become… Continue reading
At Speakeasy, a profane, passionate family drama
BOSTON – The playwright Stephen Adly Giurgis draws characters that are both profane and passionate, gritty, complicated, flawed but totally human and real. Very real. They often find themselves on the margins of… Continue reading
‘Being Earnest’: Wilde’s great wit is always in style
STONEHAM – Wit and wisdom travel well, and classic farce has staying power and is virtually ageless. And any show that starts with the wit and wisdom of the great Oscar Wilde is… Continue reading
‘The Niceties’: Should history be written in pencil?
BOSTON – It starts with a comma. A missing comma. But it quickly escalates into something that tears apart a campus. The Huntington Theatre Company production of “The Niceties” at the Calderwood Pavilion… Continue reading
Meaningless meandering slows ‘Straight White Men’
WATERTOWN – The conventional wisdom going in was that playwright Young Jean Lee was about to make a powerful statement about white privilege in her play “Straight White Men,” now being presented at… Continue reading
Unlikely love flowers in stirring ‘Spider Woman’
BOSTON – Yes, love can flower anywhere, even in a hellhole of a Latin American prison. The 1957 Manuel Puig book “The Kiss of the Spider Woman” was made into a 1985 movie… Continue reading
Hughes’ words ring out again in ‘The Black Clown’
CAMBRIDGE — Langston Hughes wrote his poem “The Black Clown” in 1931 but as with many other timeless works, the words sing forever, recalling various aspects of the black experience in this country,… Continue reading