Dangerous Corner
Garrick Theatre

 With An Inspector Calls so successful as refurbished with astonishing scene design and attention to social message, no wonder similar treatment is being lavished on J. B. Priestley's Dangerous Corner. Though neither the play nor the staging is as good, Priestley's experiment (for his day) with realism and time affords isn't bad to look at or listen to.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
February 2002
Dark Night Just Before The Woods, The

(see Criticopia International listing under "La Nuit Juste Avant Les Forets")

Desideri mortali
Teatro Mercadante

 The life of Giuseppe Tommasi, Prince of Lampedusa (1896-1959) and the semi-fictional characters from his most famous novel, "Il Gattopardo" (source for Visconti's "The Leopard") were the subject of Ruggero Cappuccio's evocative Desideri mortali. Among the more interesting creative talents currently on the Neapolitan scene, Mr. Cappuccio has set his "profane oratorio" in the shadowy world of Cappucine convent crypt in Palermo. Ghosts from Lampedusa's life and novels appear in Garibaldi-era garb and circulate in tightly-choreographed movement.

David Lipfert
Date Reviewed:
January 1997
Dining Room, The
Cour Florent

 Why the packed, hard-step seating in the stuffy black box? Maybe it's the urge to see what students of France's well-publicized, prestigious, private drama school are up to. (What they're actually down to is overdoing an annoying misinterpretation of a play in a language they don't understand.) Maybe this production of The Dining Room draws English-speaking residents or tourists who want to see, in between Paris' many language-neutral stage shows, a real play. Maybe its appeal is to students and teachers of the English language or of American lit.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
October 2000
Dinner Game, The
Sudden Theater

 Le Diner de Cons, boffo on the French stage since its Parisian opening in 1993 and still playing throughout Europe and in Argentina, repeated its success internationally as a movie. It took English expat Barbara Bray to translate and adapt it, and, with her plucky little troupe from Paris' English-language stage community, to finally produce Francis Veber's Theatre des Varietes hit in English. What the cast and presentation lack in expensive production elements they more than make up for in talent and enthusiasm.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
April 2001
Disgrace
Maidment Theater

 In the end - in the true end - there is only acceptance. One may resist the various inevitabilities of human existence, but time, death and historical change are indifferent to stubbornness.

David Steinhardt
Date Reviewed:
September 2005
Disposing Of The Body
Swiss Cottage Centre

 Best known for Pack of Lies (1983) and Breaking the Code (1986), Hugh Whitemore has followed up last year's A Letter of Resignation with the engrossing Disposing of the Body, having its premiere at the intimate, 174-seat Hampstead Theatre. It is a sort of companion to Pack of Lies, since both deal with the relationships of neighbors and with personal betrayal. Henry Preece, forced into early retirement, moves from London with his wife Angela to a country home in Gloucestershire, where his sister Kate lives.

Caldwell Titcomb
Date Reviewed:
July 1999
Don Carlos
RSC at Royal Shakespeare Theatre

 Here is the ultimate drama of courtly intrigue and kingly caprice, kissed with idealistic rhetoric and romantic political fervor. Best of all, it's played out down the block from the Royal Theatre at The Other Place, where you sit so close to the swift action you can see the spittle forming on the King's and Queen's lips as they deliver their impassioned speeches. At the center of this pressure cooker, set in the spring of 1568 at the palaces of Aranjuez and Madrid, is the crown prince Don Carlos, played by boyishly handsome Rupert Penry-Jones.

Perry Tannenbaum
Date Reviewed:
June 1999
Dr. Knock

 (see Criticopia International listing(s) under "Knock")

Dracula
Stratford Festival - Avon Theatre

 Dracula's seven cast members have terrific singing voices and make the rather mundane dialogue -- maintained from Bram Stoker's 19th century, melodramatic classic -- sound impressive. This, despite most playgoers over 40 being so familiar with Count Dracula's now-cliched lines, and with the campy bleatings of the other characters. It's made clear that the sexual fiend welcomes erotic feedings from either gender.

Alan Raeburn
Date Reviewed:
August 1999
Dreaming
Queen's Theatre

 Major stage works do not issue often from Peter Barnes' pen. He received acclaim for "The Ruling Class" (1968) and an Olivier Award for Red Noses (1985), but his last entry was Sunsets and Glories back in 1990. Now he has made up for lost time with Dreaming -- which, under his own direction, proves to be one of the most exciting, ebullient and enterprising endeavors in ages. That it has been drawing pitifully-tiny audiences is a scandal. The work is an epic that presents nearly three dozen characters, here played by a company of fifteen.

Caldwell Titcomb
Date Reviewed:
July 1999
Duchess of Malfi, The
Stratford Festival - Tom Patterson Theater

 There is certainly some high drama (to put it mildly) in John Webster's notorious script of The Duchess of Malfi, as well as startlingly vicious language and horrific revelations among all the admittedly impressive poetry. But this quintessentially bloody, perverse, horror story is also so outrageously melodramatic that one has to be in the mood for what can come perilously close to silliness. Ugly silliness, but it verges on the laughable nonetheless. Or perhaps it just evokes nervous laughter.

Herbert Simpson
Date Reviewed:
June 2006
Stepmother, The
Court House Theater

As part of its mandate to be devoted to George Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival has performed most of Shaw's plays, including some odd and obscure ones. It has also revived or unearthed a number of late nineteenth century or early twentieth century plays in affecting productions that amounted to discovery or rediscovery. Causally or not, several of those works have subsequently been produced by theaters in New York and London, which gained considerable favorable attention, even praise and awards for renewing interest in the lost treasures.

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Dial M For Murder
Poway Performing Arts Company

Alfred Hitchcock brought Frederick Knott's play, Dial M For Murder, to film, and it became an instant classic. The stage version, currently at Poway Performing Arts Center, under the direction Brent A. Stringfield, is even more fun. Designing the perfect murder has always been a mystery writer's greatest challenge, and developing the single fatal flaw his amusement. Tony Wendice (Christopher Armour), a retired tennis player, has developed the perfect plan to do away with his lovely and well-to-do wife. He enlists the aid of Captain Lesgate, a ne'er-do-well, to accomplish the task.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
August 2002
Dance, The

 (see Criticopia listing under "El Baile")

Dark Habits

 (see Criticopia Off-Broadway review of "Habitos Oscuros")

Cirque Dreams
Broadway Theater

Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy at the Broadway Theater, created and directed by Neil Goldberg, is a beautifully staged, world-class, fully satisfying audience pleaser. Comparisons with Cirque du Soleil are inevitable, but neither one is better than the other. They're only different.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
True Tale of Sleeping Beauty, The
Coronado Playhouse

The True Tale of Sleeping Beauty, set in 1465, achieves the difficult task of entertaining children and adults equally. Adriane Coros and Kate Barrett's delightful musical take-off on a children's classic is saturated with puns and language twists. Director Pamela Rotta and her family have been intimately involved in the show since its premiere in 2002.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Enter The Guardsman
Oregon Shakespeare Festival

 Oregon Shakespeare Festival's staging of classics draws most visitors to the quaint town of Ashland. However, most audience members prefer a bit of variety in their theatrical diet, and the OSF obliges with Enter the Guardsman, a light, witty confection of a musical comedy based on a Ferenc Molnar's 1910 boulevard comedy The Guardsman. The musical explores the nature of romance, as seen in the relationship between a pair of leading players. Married in real life, they fret when their affection begins to fade.

Anne Siegel
Date Reviewed:
August 2001
Moon for the Misbegotten, A
Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts - Cook Theater

Banyan Theater Company proves a small company can do great things with one of the great Eugene O'Neill's greatest plays, given three fine lead actors and outstanding tech support.

A constant moon hangs over the wooden bag-supported fence squeezing in the worn New England farm-shack that crusty old Phil Hogan rents from James Tyrone, Jr. Symbolically opposite the weathered porch, a tree spreads little-used shade over a well pump. But liquor primes the pump of the main players in a long night's journey into dawn.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Lea DeLaria: Who You Callin' Ho-Ho-Ho

 (see Criticopia Listing under "Who You Callin' Ho-Ho-Ho: A Very Lea Christmas")

Der Jasager

 (see listing in Criticopia Off-Broadway under "Taniko / Der Jasager")

Do They Know It's Christmas?

 (see Criticopia off-Broadway listing under "Kiki And Herb: Do They Know It's Christmas?")

Doubt
Manhattan Theater Club at City Center

 Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley, is a powerful play -- a peek into Catholic education; a conflict between a loving, compassionate priest and a severe nun who runs the school. The play is a brilliant dissection of the human soul, with a stunning performance by Cherry Jones, in which she totally invests herself into the character. It's one of the finest, most moving performances of the year. The rest of the cast of the four character play is quite good, especially Brian F. O'Byrne as the priest.

Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
December 2004
Imaginary Invalid, The
Shakespeare Theater - Lansburgh Theater

In their only slightly less elegant new theater, the Lansburgh, Washington's Shakespeare Theater Company is performing a splendid version of Moliere's The Imaginary Invalid, adapted by Alan Drury. Certainly not Moliere's funniest comedy, this rather formal satirical farce is a rather didactic attack on the pretensions and hypocrisy of the medical profession in its time. It is charming and entertaining but little like the slapstick farces that recent revivals of Moliere's more popular comedies have become.

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
June 2008
Fuente Ovejuna
Tom Patterson Theater

What a treat it is to see a first-rate performance of Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna on stage! Far more lovers of the drama know about this play than have ever seen it performed. And while Laurence Boswell's new version is not a perfect English rendition of Lope's poetry, nor is his direction as consistently captivating as it might be, it does present this remarkable play with clarity and punch.

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
July 2008
Hughie & Krapp's Last Tape
Stratford Festival - Studio Theater

Along with his beautiful classical delivery as an elegant King of France in Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well the night before, Brian Dennehy's strikingly contrasted performances in Hughie and Krapp's Last Tape made an impressively versatile Stratford debut.

Herbert M. Simpson
Date Reviewed:
July 2008
Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, The
First Unitarian Universalist Church

Prolific playwright Paul Rudnick has entertained audiences with Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet, "The Stepford Wives," and now The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. The current production, under the able direction of Geoffrey A. Cox, is a charming, albeit long, interpretation of the script.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2008
Fault Line - April Offering
Fault Line Theater

 Fault Line is back on line with four more one-acts.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
April 2005
Fault Line - Four One-Acts
Fault Line Theater

 Fault Line is one of the few theaters in town that give aspiring actors and playwrights their first exposure. In fact, scripts come all the way from an agent in New York for production and feedback to his clients. Most of their productions are multi-scene plays running around 30 minutes. It's an interesting form, allowing a full-length story to be told usually by short scenes - some, mere snippets - in the time period. It can also be disconcerting if scenes are too short.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2005
Fault Line - June One-Acts
Fault Line Theater

 This small, storefront theater, though a black box, adds new and flexible set pieces with each new run. Some of the young actors are in more than one production, giving us a chance to see their ability to take on new roles.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
July 2005
Fault Line - September/October Offering
Fault Line Theater

Debbie Fabiano's eternally yours [sic] explores the accidental deaths of Vincent and Susan Tarezzio (Ted Falagan and Alicia Wright) and their subsequent traditional Italian wake. The stereotypically squabbling couple and their dog Tippy, en route to a vacation destination, are more intent on arguing than watching the road. Micha Hamilton's Mama Tarezzio is right on, an authentic grieving Italian mom. Kevin Hettinger plays brother Dominic, dramatically overbearing and occasionally over projecting. Orrick Smith's off-stage voice booms with authority.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
September 2001
Fences
Ranch at Legler Benbough Theater at USIU

Troy Maxson speaks from his gut. Life has not been easy on him, nor has he been easy on life. His home is in a Pittsburgh ghetto, where he lives with his wife and youngest son. He is a sincere man, a driven man, and he rules his family with a heavy hand. He builds fences around his small plot of land, fences to keep people out and, quite possibly, to keep the family in.

Robert Hitchcox
Date Reviewed:
February 2001
Fences
Asolo Theater

 Like his weathered, old, wooden big-city house, Troy Maxson is stressed out. Death always seems to him ready for a confrontation. Years back, he'd become a near-pro baseball player in prison. As an ex-con African-American, his time to hit the big leagues hadn't come. It later passed him by. Damned if he's going to let his boy Cory play football in high school, even if that might lead him to college. He wouldn't have a chance at sports unless twice as good as white players.

Marie J. Kilker
Date Reviewed:
February 2007
Festival of Independent Theaters
Bath House Cultural Center

 The greatest drawback to the 4th annual Festival of Independent Theaters (FIT), now playing through August 3, 2002 at the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake, is that it is not juried, resulting in an anything-goes policy. With nine companies performing in blocks of twos and threes in repertory over four weekends, FIT, while hosting three wonderful productions, reflects the unevenness of material and directing and is not yet ready for prime time.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
July 2002
Festival of Independent Theaters - Evening 4
Bath House Cultural Center

 The sixth annual Festival of Independent Theaters (FIT), a group of 10 companies without a permanent venue, close their 24-day run August 5-7, 2004 at the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake. Events include eight one-act plays, two multi-media presentations, and numerous pre and post-show events. The cross-pollination among these companies could also make FIT an acronym for Festival of Incestuous Theaters, which can be a double-edged sword.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
August 2004
Festival of Independent Theaters - Evening 1
Bath House Cultural Center

The eighth annual Festival of Independent Theatres' (FIT) kicked off their opening weekend July 14, 2006 and presented many diverse offerings by five of the eight participating companies.

Theatergoers can always count on WingSpan Theater Company producer Susan Sargeant to come up with little-known, rarely staged, but always excellent scripts. She then hand picks her cast and director, which results in wonderfully staged work and top-notch talent. This year's FIT entry is no exception, Something Unspoken by Tennessee Williams, directed by Gail Cronauer.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
August 2006
Festival of Independent Theaters - Evening 2
Bath House Cultural Center

Second Thought Theater's production of Summer Evening in Des Moines by Charles Mee is a series of vignettes depicting wo/man's search for meaning. Underscored with great music, the play asks the universal question: How do people connect? Vignettes take the audience on a tour of forms of escape people use to make their lives meaningful. Edgar (Tom Parr IV) the puppeter, manipulates his puppets, Charlie (Erik Archilla) and Mortimer (Joel McDonald), his alter egos, with some very funny shtick.

Rita Faye Smith
Date Reviewed:
August 2006
Fever
Hennepin Center For The Arts

 Connie Evingson, an adept singer with a cool jazz style, is a popular Twin Cities performer. She premiered and developed her Peggy Lee homage at Illusion's Fresh Ink workshop series and then brought the show in for a regular commercial run. Evingson does not impersonate Lee, although her blonde looks and Scandinavian background would qualify her for that approach. Instead, she sings in her own style many of the songs identified with Lee and, in between numbers, narrates snippets of biographical material.

Michael Sander
Date Reviewed:
March 1999
Fever, The
Tsunami Bakery & Café (and other venues)

 This provocative, trenchant, one-person play by Wallace Shawn (who conceived it to be performed in homes and apartments, for groups of ten or twelve -- and who performed it himself in New York for many months), is set in a cheap hotel room in an unnamed country where the hero (Paul Mackley), a functionary for a human-rights organization, lies suffering from a malaria-like illness which gives him the fever of the title and triggers a stream-of disjointed-consciousness monologue.

Willard Manus
Date Reviewed:
December 1999

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