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Artscope Magazine | January/February 2020

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Theatre

SWEAT AT THE HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATER

// Artscope Online, Theatre, Visual Arts

by J. M. Belmont

“Sweat,” Lynn Nottage’s lauded 2015 play, is difficult — in the best possible ways — for two reasons. First is the adulation it garnered following its 2017 transfer from the Public Theater to the Broadway house Studio 54. The play was grasped onto as an answer for all the political uncertainty levied by the election of Donald J. Trump. It was seen, in some cases shallowly, as a “how-to” in understanding the disaffection of Midwestern working class white voters. It won the 2017 Pulitzer for drama. The second difficulty sits beyond the platitudes and awards: “Sweat” is a play about the alienation and distress inflicted on the majority of Americans whose annual income comes in under six figures. It is a small, specific tile that helps to complete an uncomfortable mosaic of similar struggles an incredibly large number of Americans face every day. In “Sweat,” Nottage guides us … [Read more...] about SWEAT AT THE HUNTINGTON AVENUE THEATER

Evan Turissini, Paul Melendy, David Keohane and Debra Wise (Photograph by Nile Scott Studios).

VANITY FAIR, AN (IM-)MORALITY PLAY AT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER

// Artscope Online, Review, Theatre

by James Foritano

For my money, the Underground Railway Theater’s presentation of “Vanity Fair, An (Im-)Morality Play,” at Central Square Theater through February 23, couldn’t be a more timely and engaging burlesque of the surplus of hypocrisy and disguised cruelty that runs just below even the most distinguished of civilizations. In this case, the narrative is based on novelist William Makepeace Thackery’s mid-19th century novel, “Vanity Fair," which, judging from this dramatic adaptation, looked minutely and scathingly at an England nearing the height of an empire so globally broad that upon it, “the sun never sets.” The directing and the acting were, in this reviewer’s perception, superb. It was a delight to see hypocrisy so fully inflated with its own pomposity it seemed to float like a gas-filled balloon across the narrow stage with only its tiny, well-shod feet showing — the more pleasure to … [Read more...] about VANITY FAIR, AN (IM-)MORALITY PLAY AT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER

DENIS O’HARE SHINES IN “AN ILIAD” ON EMERSON MAJESTIC’S ORCHARD STAGE

// Artscope Online, Theatre, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

In a near faultless production, actor and mime Denis O’Hare enacts, in a solo performance, the agony and ecstasy of Homer’s ancient epic of the Trojan War in a modern condensed and critiqued version on the Emerson Paramount Center’s Robert J. Orchard Stage. Homer’s epic poem, a recasting of oral fragments, come down through the ages to be, finally, written in the new Greek alphabet, a celebration and questioning of the fury of war and the heroic tradition that seems to perpetuate war beyond any rational goal. The genius of “An Iliad" lies in its modern focus on the futility of war whereas with Homer both the celebration and the questioning seem about equal. This was, after all, the heroic age of Greece, when the favorite sport of kings and heroes — and Gods, war, could be questioned only so far. O’Hare, though, is a Homer come down through the ages to present-day Boston. He … [Read more...] about DENIS O’HARE SHINES IN “AN ILIAD” ON EMERSON MAJESTIC’S ORCHARD STAGE

THE ARLEKIN PLAYERS PLAY CHEKHOV’S THE SEAGULL

// Artscope Online, Theatre

by James Foritano

Most of the Chekhov dramas I recall seeing on other stages were what I remember as ‘drawing room’ comedies where aristocratic Russians arrived in their own coaches to doff fur coats and silk wraps to deferential servants and fall into each other arms — their host presiding warmly. As I sit at my desk, my memory of the Arlekin Player’s guests is altogether different: gone are the furs and silk, the languorous embraces, the sips of champagne. Instead I’m remembering guests who relished undressing and then skinning their opposites while they clinked goblets of each other’s blood, grinning toothily. Oh, the stage directions stipulated a mansion in the countryside and woods surrounding a tranquil lake, but these directions were not interpreted literally. And who amongst those thirsty cannibals spared a glance at the lake, filled with (Ugh!) weak water, let alone wandered its … [Read more...] about THE ARLEKIN PLAYERS PLAY CHEKHOV’S THE SEAGULL

THEATER REVIEW: THE SEVEN FINGERS PRESENT PASSENGERS AT EMERSON CUTLER

// Artscope Online, Music, Theatre

by James Foritano

Once again, Arts Emerson has hosted “The Seven Fingers,” a perennial favorite from Canada, most recently for the United States premiere of “Passengers” at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. The Seven Fingers troupe must be named for the acrobatic finesse with which they navigate the on-stage ropes, wires and poles which the contemporary circus movement summons for small stage presentations — small stage, that is, in comparison to the “death-defying” heights of the traditional ‘Big-Top” circus tents of my youth. I didn’t much miss the dizzying heights of those days, since these performers were able to demonstrate their breath-taking expertise at more accommodating distances — almost eye-level in some acts. Looking at the cover of “Passengers” program I see again but still don’t quite believe how Conor Wild uses the Chinese pole so deftly for his acrobatics — levitating and … [Read more...] about THEATER REVIEW: THE SEVEN FINGERS PRESENT PASSENGERS AT EMERSON CUTLER

PRESCIENTLY MODERN RHAPSODY CLOSES BOSTON BALLET SEASON

// Artscope Online, Theatre, Visual Arts

by James Foritano

“Rhapsody”, which opened on May 16 and continues through June 9, is Boston Ballet’s end-of-the-season farewell to its fans and supporters before they return from the summer break. Appropriately, there is a looking-back quality to the selections from classical ballet as well as a jazzily modern ring to the centerpiece: “ELA, Rhapsody in Blue.” Leonid Yakobson, a 20th-century Soviet choreographer, who starts off the program, shares both neo-classical and modern qualities with his audience. His first piece, “Pas de Quatre,” leads off with four dancers who exude grace and stature in a sure-footed threesome that dance the whole short piece without ever unlinking hands which over arch all their movements. The unshakable grace is supremely classical. One could imagine the Russian Czar and his family watching a ballet such as “Pas de Quatre” and leaving re-affirmed in their belief … [Read more...] about PRESCIENTLY MODERN RHAPSODY CLOSES BOSTON BALLET SEASON