Following the Cirque du Soleil concept, the performance at the State Fair actually begins before you even reach the main gate. A male dance troupe, uniformly costumed in gray shirts, black pants, buzz haircuts, helmets–and utility belts tricked out with revolvers, handcuffs and walkie-talkies–are seen performing at each gate. Milking that “audience participation” thing for […]
Byron Woods
Bio: Byron Woods is the INDY's theater and dance critic.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/byronwoods
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In benefits
Madeleine Pabis was in the Carrboro ArtsCenter crowd that got shut out from a late August performance of Doing More Than Time, an original, autobiographical theater work written and performed by inmates from Women’s Prison in Raleigh, under the aegis of the N.C. Women’s Prison Writing and Performance Project. So Pabis, who teaches drama and […]
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To stalk the King’s Men
A tall, thin man of years, whose short, wavy hair is nearly now the same shade as the granite of his eyes, looks from the corner as the judge carefully measures his words to the dangerous young man before him. “I just wanted you to know that about the governor,” the judge says. “That his […]
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The missing
When I began as a critic, British sex farce was this region’s most visible form of foreign theater. An equally shallow reading list covered most of our needs insofar as ethnic or multi-cultural programming went. Judging from community stages, Master Harold…and the Boys was the only work South African playwright Athol Fugard had ever written. […]
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The marathon begins
Eleven shows open this week in the region–without mentioning the one-day stands on tap for this weekend at downtown Durham’s CenterFest. The blur includes a number of revivals, like Raleigh Ensemble Players’ memorable Hedwig, with a carnivorous Glen Mathews in the title role, for a three-night benefit at downtown Raleigh’s Legends. We’ll also catch the […]
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William C. Brown
One thing’s certain: Bill Brown won’t be appearing on any regional stage this fall. Yet few individuals have more influence on what Triangle audiences actually see in theater and dance, at a number of prestigious venues and performances, in any given season. Been to Artsplosure, the International Festival or the Street Painting Festival in recent […]
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Backing our plays
Permit me to introduce Chapel Hill playwright Taylor Howard. Once regional artistic directors know he’s here, I doubt you’ll have the chance to forget the name. Howard took top honors at one of two surprisingly fun–and surprisingly well-attended–experiments in public play gestation last week, both at Carrboro’s ArtsCenter. In after-show sessions, The PlayFactory, an ongoing […]
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In slams
The Carrboro ArtsCenter proceeds into uncharted territory this Saturday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Slam It, North Carolina’s first audience participation slam for playwrights. Anyone can submit 2 3-minute scripts ahead of time–16 regional writers already have–and Saturday’s audience will tenderly vote on which ones make it into additional rounds. Folks with scripts can […]
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Here comes the neighborhood
Once, the thought of a company devoted to Jewish theater in this region was as remote a concept as a local company devoted to the theater of Africa. Now we have both. In one of those moments of serendipitous scheduling that underline an ongoing sea change in local live art, credible inaugural productions from Al […]
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The quality of mercy
It’s one of the funny things about being a theater critic. The topic of mercy rarely comes up in conversation. Still, in fairness, I doubt I’m the only one who seldom happens across–or uses–the term these days. Perhaps it was the “elections” of 2000 that put it seriously out of style, during which Gov. Bush […]