Ann Lemons Pollack
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Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
2018 in St. Louis has been a year of serious theatre. What I’m talking about here is serious, as in not funny. Maybe it’s coincidence but for those who go to a lot of theatre or watch a lot of news, it’s been heavy going this calendar year. So when something lighter comes along, it’s
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Hamlet
It’s a rather different Hamlet that’s up and running at The Repertory Theatre St. Louis. It’s not weird – no Hamlet-on-Mars – but the pacing feels different, zippier, Hamlet is played differently and the visuals are anywhere from great to downright stunning. The oft-told tale is of a prince of Denmark whose father has died
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Cardenio
When I write or talk about food, I've often declared that I won't argue about barbecue or pizza. Let me immediately state that as someone who writes about theater, I will not discuss the authenticity of Shakespeare's plays. Any of them, not just Cardenio, which is closing up this weekend at the Ivory Theatre under
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Tuesdays with Morrie
Discomfort with serious illness: A dramatic subject if ever there was one. Certainly the person who is ill has their own emotional and intellectual battles. But the constellation of people around the patient – they’re equally interesting to the neutral observer. Pulling away? See it all the time. Anger? Oh, yeah. Frantic demanding of fixing
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Sweet Revenge
The title above says Sweet Revenge. But the full title of this version of a classic Polish comedy as translated by Upstream Theatre’s founding artistic director Phillip Boehm is Sweet Revenge as Performed by the Juliusz Stowacki Players, St. Louis, 1933. Zemsta, as it was called in Polish, was written in 1833, and soon became
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Spring Awakening
Several school districts in this vicinity are still battling sex education curriculum problems. The combatants probably should go see Spring Awakening at Stray Dog. It’s a fine example of what adult unease over saying facts out loud can lead to. Believing that adolescents won’t think about sex unless the adults bring it up is truly
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Lizzie
Lizzie. Shall I compare thee to The Student Prince, or even Oklahoma!? One of the great pleasures of theatre is the wide range of possibilities within a genre, and if Sigmund Romberg is at one side of the spectrum, heeeere’s Lizzie at the other side, strutting her stuff at New Line Theatre. Yes, it’s that
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The Feast
Let’s get this out of the way first thing: I can’t recall the last time I saw a toilet onstage. But there it is, upstage left, gleaming and tidy. Interestingly (said the former nurse, who’s heard them all), there aren’t many potty jokes in The Feast. St. Louis Actors’ Studio’s first production of the year
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Unsuspecting Susan
The new theatre kid in town is the Inevitable Theatre Company. (Who could resist the slogan, “Death. Taxes. Theatre. You Can’t Avoid the Inevitable!”?) Their maiden voyage into the St. Louis theatre waters is Unsuspecting Susan at The Chapel. Donna Weinsting is Susan Chester in this almost-one-woman show. She lives outside of London in a
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Pescadero, CA: Duarte’s Tavern
Years ago, Joe and I stopped for lunch at an oyster shack north of San Francisco. It was a quiet autumn weekday. Only one other couple were there enjoying the oysters and the weather. Eventually, the woman asked me where we were from and a pleasant, brief chat ensued. They lived just north of Los