John McDaid - Page 2

Over its 70-year history, Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' has been staged in many venues, but Colonial Theatre's current production offers a most congenial outdoor setting in Westerly's Wilcox Park. Combine that with stellar performances all around and deft, assured directorial choices, and you have a compelling evening worthy of the material.

Wakefield's Contemporary Theater Company held a grand opening July 28 for a new theatrical space overlooking the Saugatucket River. The half-million dollar facility connects wieth their outdoor performance patio and comprises a new rehearsal room/classroom, a new lobby, outdoor audience balconies, and enhancements to the patio space.

Shakespeare warns early in the first act of Midsummer Night's Dream that 'the course of true love never did run smooth.' In that warning lies the comedic core of the show, and the Gamm Theatre delivers a visually stunning, delightfully playful production that fully captures the Bard's vision. It's a thoroughly enjoyable, punchy take on the classic.

A show where all the characters are squirrels? Yes. Playwright Robert Askins puts a warning in the mouth of the scientist who opens the show: 'Buckle up, you discerning patron of the arts.' And you should. Because this cleverly written, brilliantly acted, and flawlessly executed production takes audiences on quite a wild ride.

The source material of Sueño may be 400 years old, but a brilliantly updated script, combined with the stunningly beautiful production currently onstage at Trinity Rep make this a fresh, relevant -- and darkly funny -- must-see experience.

The music needs no introduction: all the hits that made The Temptations a household name are represented in this energetic and enjoyable national tour of 'Ain't Too Proud.' But what this jukebox musical adds is the story behind the songs, told with deft, impressionistic touches that will resonate long after you leave the theater.

Playwright Shey Rivera Ríos has vividly refreshed this work as a story for our time and AntigonX, at the Wilbury Theatre, is vibrant and visually stunning.

It begins with a painted door labeled 'Here,' and a giant groaning ear spitting out the names of current conflict hotspots. For the next hour and a half, the iconic Bread and Puppet Theater combines spoken word, movement, music, banners -- and, of course, puppets -- in an evening of powerful, engaging, thought-provoking theater.

Down-on-their luck Broadway stars swoop down on an Indiana town to take up the cause of a high-school student who can't take her girlfriend to the prom. A promising premise, and this first national tour of the award-winning musical delivers all the laughs and spectacle with a knowing wink, while never losing sight of the poignant human story.

The multiverse is everywhere now, replete with comic-book heroes and supervillain finger snaps, but in 2014, when British playwright Nick Payne wrote 'Constellations,' it was still pretty edgy. The Brown/Trinity MFA production captures the exciting energy of his vision with two fine performances and highly creative staging.

Providence's Trinity Rep has come roaring back from a two-year pandemic hiatus with a stunning production of August Wilson's 'Gem of the Ocean.' Compelling performances from a cast that includes some of Rhode Island's finest actors at the top of their form make this the must-see theatrical event of the season.

If a tree falls in Brookline, does anybody laugh? That's the question asked by the world-premiere Community Players production of South County playwright David Christner's latest full-length comedy. Sadly, the answer on opening night was 'not very often.'

The Contemporary Theater Company has crafted a compelling outdoor production that is visually stunning, packed with beautiful musical motifs, and full of powerful performances.

The CTC delivers a perfect union of story and space in this finely polished 90-minutes of intersecting vignettes about an ill-fated park and the people who meet there.

Playwright Clare Barron has a keen eye and a gift for seamlessly blending the mundane and the weird. The Wilbury Theatre Group's stellar production of her 2015 Obie-winning play 'You Got Older' powerfully captures Barron's charming oddball pathos.

The Contemporary Theater Company has mounted a dazzling production of Shakespeare's tale of tragic retribution, with an outstanding cast, deft and innovative direction, and a stunning set. Get thee to Wakefield, and quickly, too, to see this brilliant show.

Ignore the New York reviews. 'Escape to Margaritaville,' the Jimmy Buffett musical which opened its national tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center this week, is two hours of wry, high-energy fun. The music, of course, is a delight, but the book is also full of clever moments and the cast -- of mostly newcomers -- sparkle.

The Spectrum Theatre Ensemble has mounted a vivid, stylish production of Dale Wasserman's play that captures the spirit of Ken Kesey's novel in a powerful evening of theater.

There are few musicals with as prominent a place in the American theatrical canon as 'Gypsy'*. It's a big musical, meant for a proscenium stage, and while the Contemporary has mounted a creditable production, their attempt to fit it into a smaller theatre has not been entirely successful.

In the forty years since its debut, Sam Shepard's 'True West' has been lauded for its stark portrayal of the duality of the American soul. The Gamm Theatre has mounted a visually compelling production with penetrating performances that slice to the heart of Shepard's darkly comedic vision.