charcthomas
Critical Response: “Over There” by Mark Ravenhill
“Over There” by Mark Ravenhill is an incredibly well crafted portrayal of the conflict in Germany between native Berliners after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Twin brothers, separated by the wall for years, reunite and attempt to live together, learning that despite having blood, parents, and a cosmic connection all in common, they are […]
Theatre and Autisim: How Social Skills Are Engraved In The Performing Arts
A close family friend of mine has Asperger’s Syndrome, a autism-spectrum disorder, which causes her great social anxiety and great difficulty communicating with people. I spent much of my young life with her, always mediating between the larger social spectrum and her anxiety, trying to come to an understanding for all parties. However, when I […]
Critical Response: Becoming Cuba by Melinda Lopez
The second-to-last show in the Huntington’s 2013-14 season is “Becoming Cuba”, a new play by Boston-based playwright Melinda Lopez. The play takes place in a pharmaceutical shop in 1897, while the Spanish and American tensions regarding the Cuban War of Independence rise, leading to the Spanish-American War. Lopez writes of two sisters running the pharmacy […]
Critical Response “The Flick”
Company One’s production of The Flick honored and illuminated Annie Baker’s story of three mismatched movie workers with great truth and passion. Baker’s fifth fully produced full-length play had its New England premiere at Company One this February, re-introducing me and the Boston Theatre Community to the powerful nature of Baker’s work. Company One is […]
Pina Bausch Syndrome-What We SHOULD Be Having
Pina Bausch’s dance company has done a magnificent thing since her passing in 2009: survived. In a recent article by The Telegraph, Sarah Crompton explores the past few years in the Tanztheater Wuppertal dance company and how the evolution of the company has not only continued, but thrived in bringing in young and new collaborators. […]
bomb.com
Okay, I know my blog title is cute, but really Bombsite and Bomb magazine are the best things that have come into my life as young artist. The brash and honest interviews, the flowing language, it all melds together into a powerful collage of contemporary theatre analysis. I was reading an article in which Richard […]
Giving Back To Your Artistic Upbringing (where the f**k am I moving?)
No mater where we start, the conversation of “where are you moving?” constantly works its way into conversation between my peers and I. As the Senior Class prepares to go out into the nation and become active theatre artists, I often find that I am torn between moving to some grand city (alright, lets be […]
How Far is Too Far In Creative License?
Tony Award winning playwright Brian Friel has something to say about Asolo Repertory Theatre‘s production of his play Philadelphia, Here I Come. Well not too much to say, more of a resounding “No.” Asolo Repertory Theatre of Saratosa, Florida is producing Philadelphia, Here I Come as one of their eight plays being produced between January […]
David Mamet
Almost every website I visit that has some sort of Arts News or Arts Information pannel is talking about Mamet. It seems as if the theatre world has somehow just turned so shine a spotlight on the playwright, whose production of “The Anarchist” is closing on Broadway, having only had around 30 previews and a […]
Why Marathon Plays Work
I have never seen a marathon play, like ART’s “The Lily’s Revenge” or even gotten to go to a day where 3 or so plays in a cycle play in a row. I didn’t get to see “Einstein on the Beach” when it played this summer in New York; I actually think the longest play […]
The Actor as the Dramaturg
I stumbled upon a short article in the New York Times this week called “Lee Pace Researches Bellini’s Sicily for ‘Golden Age,’” and proceeded to find an important link between the roles of the actor and the dramaturg. The article itself simply describes how Pace, an actor in the upcoming Terrence McNally play “Golden Age,” […]
The Los Angeles Small Theatre Scene
To be honest, I didn’t even think Los Angeles had a small theatre scene. I think Hollywood and Universal Studios before I think new works and 99-seat theatres, but I recently read a LA Times Article by Charles McNulty that helped inform me of the diverse and active theatre world of Los Angeles. This article […]
Writing Dialogue for the Next Generation
On Sunday, I had the pleasure of seeing Richard Schotter’s “The Suessman Variations” at Boston Playwright’s Theatre. This play featured two of my peers (one of whom, Lauren Thomas, wrote an interesting post about the process of being in the rehearsal space), as well as many talented individuals from the Boston theatre community. I was […]
The Dramaturg and the New Play (minimal scripts)
The Bush Theatre in London is one with a specific set of standards for new playwrights: no adaptations, no paper substitutions, and, now, a new literary policy. This new policy is extremely interesting to me, because instead of just sending in a script, the playwright is encouraged to develop a dialogue with the theatre in […]
Communication, Arts, and Politics
On Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to perform Shakespeare’s Henry V at Boston University’s School of Management. It was an abridged version of the play, and afterward there was a talk back where the students got to ask us questions about how to work in a large ensemble and what conflict resolution and such was […]
“Bro” Theatre
TheatreMania recently published a review of Edmund Rostand’s “Cyrano De Bergerac” which reflected the reviewers view of the acting, writing, and design choices. However, unlike your “typical” review, this review was done by TheatreMania’s resident “bro”, Josh. Josh is into sports and match.com, and TheatreMania hired him to see the New York Revival of Cyrano. […]
Woyzeck: It Never Gets Old
Or maybe it does. A Chicago Tribune article recently discussed the Handspring Puppet Company of Cape Town‘s production of Woyzeck that was in Chicago for simply a weekend. As one could guess, the company uses puppets to tell the story of Georg Buchner’s unfinished and timeless play that examines a man, Woyzeck, so beaten down […]
Using Our Media Positivley
I wanted to take a moment and point out this current issue that connects two broader ideas for me. In this video, news anchor Jennifer Livingston on WKBT calls out a man who sent her a letter bullying her about her weight. Take a look: Bully Calls News Anchor Fat This video is hyper illuminating […]
The Original 99%
Looking back on our one year anniversary with Occupy Wall Street (traditionally it’s appropriate to give someone paper on your one year anniversary-how befitting for a movement that so utilizes social media to connect), The New Yorker has revived some of their cartoons from the Great Depression that mirror the state of the 99% now. […]
Theatrical Justice
Along with much of America, I am a crime-show junkie. I love “Bones,” “Life,” “CSI”–if you show me the clip of the first 5 minutes of a “Law and Order: Special Victims” episode, I can tell you who did it. I’ve seen them all at least 4 times. It is because of this that I […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 