The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) returns for its 29th season of Free For All, with a classic tragedy, Hamlet. Each summer, with the support of community sponsors, the STC is able to present two weeks of ABSOLUTELY FREE exemplary Shakespeare.
The Second City’s politically charged tour of America; It’s Complicated!, proves the age-old adage, we laugh so as not to cry.
The Oresteia shows us that the trials and tribulations faced by the ancient Greeks still maintain relevance to our moral and political dilemmas today, and that much can still be learned from these historic texts.
In addition to being Michael Kahn’s piece de resistance after an accomplished 33 year career with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, this performance is the world premier of Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation of The Oresteia, three Greek tragedies by Aeschylus. Aeschylus’ Oresteia include Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides, and tell the story of the ill-fated House of Atreus following the Trojan War.
Love’s Labor’s Lost is is a hilarious and raucous romantic comedy of errors, deception, and wit.
It’s the tale of the King of Navarre and his fellow scholars who have taken a vow to distance themselves from women and other bodily pleasures for three years during their course of study. This vow is immediately put to the test when the Princess of France arrives at the academy with her very female entourage.
While we’re all still crying ugly tears that Matt Smith (my first Doctor) didn’t make it to Awesome Con this year as originally planned, I’m here to tell you that there is so much more to this Con than the big name celebrities. Here’s my secret sauce to a great convention that isn’t the Main Stage programming:
STOMP, a New York and London-based percussive dance troupe, uses everyday objects, literally including the kitchen sink, to create harmony, melody, and comedy. The bangs of broomsticks, swishes of sand, and clangs of cans are transformed into complex syncopated rhythms that rival full symphony orchestras. The beats ranged from so loud that you could feel them in your chest to subtle clicks of lighters that had the audience holding their breath.
I kicked off celebrations for Women’s History Month by hearing from an inspirational and trailblazing woman: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and only the third woman to hold that title out of the 111 Supreme Court Justices in U.S. history.
In September, Justice Sotomayor published two books for young audiences, TURNING PAGES: My Life Story and THE BELOVED WORLD OF SONIA SOTOMAYOR, both also available in Spanish. The event itself was a family-friendly one, with a bulk of the audience made up of school-aged children and those of Latino heritage.
Nell Gwynn is the tale of one of the first female actresses in Shakespearean times, and her journey from orange seller, to actress, to mistress of King Charles II, and back to the theater. It’s a lighthearted, feel good performance, that’ll have you laughing out loud while celebrating the eponymous heroine.
I started School of Rock wondering if they could turn down the volume, and perhaps if I’m a bit too old for this rock and roll (get off my lawn!). But by the end of the show, I was in the audience at the Battle of the Bands, yelling for an encore and whooping after the solo riffs – all on a school night.
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Cinderella causes us to question what makes a Cinderella story. Is it the evil step family, and subsequent escape from a life of servitude? Is it the fairy godmother that sends Cinderella to the Ball? Or is it the glass slipper that reunites Cinderella with her Prince?
What if a story has all those characteristics, but it’s not integral to the storytelling?
