The rift between those who believe in a punitive God — a God who insists on absolute obedience and condemns sensual delight — and those who see God as the apotheosis of love, joy and freedom runs through hundreds of years of history. It also shapes the politics of contemporary…
In some of the skits, the material is funnier than the execution; in others, the execution is better than the material. Overall, Red Scare is a hit-and-miss proposition — with mildly amusing moments alternating with laugh-yourself-silly scenes and a few out-and-out clunkers. Red Scare is a production of Chicago’s famed…
Frozen. It’s hard to deal with murder — particularly the rape, murder and dismemberment of a child — without being exploitative. It’s hard to explore the issue of forgiveness without sentimentality. But Bryony Lavery’s Frozen succeeds on both counts. The title of the three-character play — involving the child murderer,…
When critics review the work of August Wilson, the same words tend to recur. Rich. Musical. Textured. Multi-layered. And here are a few phrases that apply both to his entire output and specifically to Gem of the Ocean, now playing at the Denver Center: a titanic work; a grand vision,…
Okay, it’s a world premiere of a play by a local writer, but the question remains: Why is a company like Modern Muse, which in the past has demonstrated a certain level of integrity and artistic ambition, presenting a work as weak as The Raft? There’s one slightly original element:…
Bright Room Called Day. Tony Kushner, author of the brilliant Angels in America, clearly wrote A Bright Room Called Day in a state of agitation. Kushner sensed the blot of fascism spreading across America, and he drew an analogy — by no means original — between 1930s Germany and Reagan’s…
During intermission at Germinal Stage Denver a couple of years ago, Ed Baierlein was keeping watch over the lobby. “Look who’s here,” he said, his voice gentle. I turned and found Al Brooks standing behind me. Al smiled hugely, took my hand in both of his, and said something about…
A Bright Room Called Day. Tony Kushner, author of the brilliant Angels in America, clearly wrote A Bright Room Called Day in a state of agitation. Kushner sensed the blot of fascism spreading across America, and he drew an analogy — by no means original — between 1930s Germany and…
I was sitting in the Ricketson Theatre during the first half of Jesus Hates Me, reasonably engaged but thinking that Wayne Lemon’s play really wasn’t as funny as advertised — although it was sort of funny now and then, sometimes even startlingly and unexpectedly funny, the kind of funny that…
Somewhere in the 1970s, we learned that women could like each other, that female friendship was precious, and that society’s insistence that women’s concerns were inherently more trivial than the concerns of men was blind and stupid. Though she might pass much of her time shopping or in the kitchen,…
A Bright Room Called Day. Tony Kushner, author of the brilliant Angels in America, clearly wrote A Bright Room Called Day in a state of agitation. Kushner sensed the blot of fascism spreading across America, and he drew an analogy — by no means original — between 1930s Germany and…
It’s hard to deal with murder — particularly the rape, murder and dismemberment of a child — without being exploitative. It’s also hard to explore the issue of forgiveness without resorting to sentimentality. Bryony Lavery’s play Frozen, currently at Curious Theatre Company, succeeds on both counts. The three-character play involves…
Some people believe that artists are uniquely sensitive to their times and that their work can serve as a kind of canary in the coal mine, warning of danger. Tony Kushner, author of the brilliant and much-acclaimed Angels in America, clearly wrote A Bright Room Called Day in a state…
The King and I. Some of the problems with this production are inherent in the show itself. With its emphasis on strong women and abhorrence of anything resembling slavery, The King and I was progressive for its time, but no artist can entirely escape the myths and preconceptions of his…
When the Soviet Union fell on Christmas Day 1991, politicians and pundits in the West began insisting that Marxism was dead, that history had proved the theory was bankrupt and led inexorably to misery and oppression. From now on, they said, our world would be shaped by unfettered capitalism, and…
The King and I. Some of the problems with this production are inherent in the show itself. With its emphasis on strong women and abhorrence of anything resembling slavery, The King and I was progressive for its time, but no artist can entirely escape the myths and preconceptions of his…
The King and I. Some of the problems with this production are inherent in the show itself. With its emphasis on strong women and abhorrence of anything resembling slavery, The King and I was progressive for its time, but no artist can entirely escape the myths and preconceptions of his…
There are two things to be said about this production of Aida, a rock-pop version of the Verdi opera with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice. The first is that it’s a shlocky, sentimental piece of theater, with sappy music and idiotic book and lyrics. Almost all…
A Christmas Carol. Written by Richard Hellesen with music by David de Berry, this Christmas Carol has its strengths. It’s respectful of the novel, using much of Dickens’s original dialogue and description to tell the tale of the miserly businessman, Scrooge, and his conversion to kindness by the ghosts of…
Everyone knows the story of Scrooge’s conversion from hard-eyed businessman to philanthropist in A Christmas Carol. Tiny Tim’s incantation, “God bless us, every one,” has become a seasonal staple, right up there with twirling sugarplum fairies and twinkling-eyed Santas. But what if Dickens’s well-loved story ran off the rails? What…
The best scene in The Credeaux Canvas, the first offering of the new Identity Theatre Company, is an extended nude scene, in which a young woman poses for a painter. She is Amelia, a singer trying to make her way in New York; the painter is Winston, an art student,…
Bug. At the beginning, Bug seems hyper-realistic. We’re shown a drink- and drug-addled woman, Agnes, living in a motel room, which we learn is on the outskirts of Oklahoma City. We have been here before. It is — among other things — Sam Shepard country. A quiet young man, Peter,…
