Theater/Film Reviews
-
The Way We Get By
St. Louis Actors’ Studio has had a relationship with playwright-screenwriter Neil LaBute for several years. They just finished a second year of taking their annual Neil LaBute New Theater Festival to New York for a four-week run. Each of those festivals included a brand-new LaBute short play. Now SLAS has opened Labute’s The Way We
-
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird has quietly become a universal American experience. Whether it’s read in school or viewed as a classic film, almost all of us have known – and in many ways, that word doesn’t need quotation marks around it – Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem, and their buddy Dill. The Repertory Theatre of
-
Something Rotten!
Screwball comedies from Hollywood were at their height during the Great Depression. Laughter and escape seemed worth spending a hard-earned dime on. (Especially on dish night, where attendees also got a piece of dinnerware.) Perhaps that’s why our appetite for laughter seems bigger lately. Satisfy that appetite – at least briefly – with a few
-
A Doll’s House
What becomes a legend most? Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House certainly is that. Its portrayal of a docile wife turned rebellious was scandalous when it opened in 1879, and remained so for many years. In 2006, the centennial of Ibsen’s birth, it was the most-performed play in the world. How has it aged? Stray Dog
-
The Year of the Bicycle
It’s pretty close to free-form theater at the current production from Upstream Theater. Joanna Evans’ The Year of the Bicycle shows some good stuff and some not-so-good stuff. This is the play’s American premiere from the South African author, who’s currently completing her MFA at New York University. Amelia (Megan Wiles), who’s white, and Andile
-
Yasmina’s Necklace
There’s a certain irony to the timeliness of Mustard Seed’s opening of Yasmina’s Necklace. The play deals with refugees from Iraq who arrived via Syria and the way they adapt to life in the United States. To see it hours after the news that immigration from both those countries as well as five others was
-
Little Thing, Big Thing
Plan on a little extra time to get to Little Thing, Big Thing, the current offering from The Midnight Company. It’s in a film studio near Jefferson and I-64, rather off the beaten path. This sort of thing drives some people crazy. Me, I like it. There’s a certain Insider feel to locations like this,
-
Intimate Apparel
Layer upon layer of the ingredients that make remarkable theater are on display at the New Jewish Theatre’s Intimate Apparel, which runs through February 12. Lynn Nottage’s concept and subsequent script, the acting, set, lighting and costumes all contribute to make the experience. Nottage began thinking about the play when she found a photograph of
-
Hell
There’s more ferment afoot on St. Louis stages. Theatre Nuevo is bringing us Hell. Not literally, of course. (And I promise not to make any ill-tempered remarks using that as a theme for reviewing.) Hell, the performance, is a combination of dance and skits on the obvious subject. It’s intimate in the venue of The
-
Constellations
Constellations opened at the Rep Studio this weekend. It may not be for everyone but much of it is fascinating. Theater has had pick-your-ending plays for quite a while. Constellations offers a variety of things that could happen over a story arc, from beginning to end. There’s no choosing on the part of the audience,