Master Class ★★★★ Through Sunday, Aug. 19 Kennedy Theatre, Raleigh “You’re a monstre sacré now. We’re both monstres sacrés,” the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis says to Maria Callas in Master Class, currently running at Kennedy Theatre. He might be right. There is something monstrous in the figure director Ray Dooley and actor Judy McLane present […]
Byron Woods
Bio: Byron Woods is the INDY's theater and dance critic.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/byronwoods
Posted inTheater
A Successful Raleigh Theater Family Plays a Famous Historical One, the Kellers, in Seed Art Share’s Immersive The Miracle Worker
THE MIRACLE WORKER Friday, Aug. 10–Sunday, Aug. 12, 7 p.m. nightly/2 p.m. Sat., $22 The Borden Building, Raleigh www.seedraleigh.org It’s part of the magic of theater that bands of strangers come together and convince us, after a few weeks of rehearsals, that they’re families with lifelong backstories and relationships. But Seed Art Share’s immersive production […]
Posted inTheater
Burn This Entombs a Sparkless Power Couple and Other Urban Vampires in Downtown New York Lofts
Burn This Through Sunday, Aug. 19 Sonorous Road Theatre, Raleigh www.sonorousroad.com “We don’t like to hear the word ‘vampire’ around here,” William S. Burroughs groused about the downtown New York art scene in 1986. “Trying to change our public image.” The quote came to mind early in Sonorous Road’s repertory production of Burn This. Director […]
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In James Baldwin’s Rarely Staged The Amen Corner, a Spiritual Leader’s Fall Is All but Preordained
THE AMEN CORNER Through Sunday, Aug. 5 NCCU University Theatre, Durham www.agapetheatreproject.com Mid-song, actor Joshua Johnson wipes his brow, closes his eyes, and shouts, “I’m a soldier!” Immediately, the chorus in the congregation backs him up: “In the army of the Lord!” That’s all it takes, at the start of The Amen Corner, to serve […]
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If You Make It Through a Misfiring First Half, a Rewarding Home Stretch Awaits in Revived Short-Play Festival NC 10 by 10
NC 10 by 10 Through Jul. 28 The Cary Theater, Cary www.thecarytheater.com It’s understandable if the theater community thought twice before reviving 10 by 10, an annual festival of ten-minute plays, when it went dark in 2016 after a fifteen-year run at The ArtsCenter. As we reported at the time, founder Lynden Harris and longtime […]
Posted inCulture
ADF Review: Heady Deconstructionist Tere O’Connor’s Long Run Is More Engaging in Theory than Practice
Tere O’Connor ★★ Jul. 10 & 11 Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham Something is amiss when a choreographer’s theories prove more engaging than the work that embodies them. This was the case with Long Run, Tere O’Connor’s newest work, commissioned by the American Dance Festival. Critics and audiences have long celebrated the specificity of the choreographer’s […]
Posted inCulture
Theater Review: Innovative Direction and Fine Performances Add Intimacy and Impact to Theatre Raleigh’s Big Fish
Big Fish★★★★ Through Sunday, Jul. 22 Kennedy Theatre, Raleigh When James McMurtry sings, “Life and legend are an awkward pair,” we take it that the son of Old West novelist Larry McMurtry is voicing a truth that’s close to home. Playwright John August explores similar terrain in this prismatic musical stage adaptation of Big Fish, […]
Posted inArt
Manbites Dog Theater Vets Regroup as Bulldog Ensemble Theater to Carry on the Company’s Legacy. But First, They Have to Find a Play.
After Manbites Dog Theater announced its impending closure last fall, it didn’t take long for strong mixed emotions to arise among the artists and technicians who’d found a theatrical home there. Dramaturge and actor Akiva Fox doesn’t think he was alone in his first reactionextreme gratitude to cofounders Ed Hunt and Jeff Storer for their […]
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Goblin Market Is the Most Difficult, Ambitious, and Successful Women’s Theatre Festival Production Yet
Through Sunday, Jul. 22 Burning Coal Theatre, Raleigh www.womenstheatrefestival.com It’s worth pulling out that old Norton Anthology again to remember Christina Rossetti’s 1862 poem, “Goblin Market,” a fantastical story of Victorian-era sisters tempted by literally forbidden fruits and the fate that befalls them when one succumbs. Scholars have noted the sexual and corporate metaphors Rossetti […]
Posted inCulture
ADF Review: In an Era of Tested Faith, the Buoyancy of Rosie Herrera’s Belief Might Just See Us Through
Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre: Make Believe ★★★★ Friday, Jul. 6 & Saturday, Jul. 7 Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham Choreographer Rosie Herrera still has the power to astonish us. If she retains her usual ability to effectively edit her own work, then Make Believe, which had its world premiere Friday night at the American Dance Festival, […]