John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Play Remains Relevant by Mary Lou Herlihy Before the play begins, I chat with the woman next to me. She shares a painful story about her local church where accusations of sexual improprieties resulted in the removal of two priests. In both cases, she believed them to be innocent….
Rotimi Agbabiaka Triumphs as Electric, Elegant Emcee by Barry David Horwitz If you see one musical this year, Center REP’s “Cabaret” would be the one. There’s no bigger thrill than seeing masterful Rotimi Agbabiaka dancing, singing, gyrating in brilliant costumes, playing the emcee in a 1931 Berlin café. He drains every note for its…
Stefano Massini’s World-Wide Hit Unmasks Capitalist Bravado by Barry David Horwitz With a magnificent rafter-reaching glass and steel revolving cube, “The Lehman Trilogy” depicts American capitalism from the Alabama cotton fields to high-rise Wall Street–right up to the Crash of 2008. Stefano Massini’s extraordinary novel, adapted by Ben Power, reveals a truth: the Lehman…
Lauren Gunderson Imagines a Play for Rich and Poor by Lynne Stevens The French Revolution is raging. We hear sounds of crowds, shots, and the woosh of Madame Guillotine outside a French woman’s room. Four women await their date with death on La Val’s miniscule underground stage. Playwright Olympe de Gouges struggles to write…