A musical about the darkest days of AIDS shows its student-effort roots, but provides a stirring score.
Author Archives: Justin Hayford
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The Spitfire Grill runs on corn
American Blues Theater’s production finds some honesty amid the musical cliches.
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Now and Then loses its place in time
The stakes are too low in this musical about the life span of a gay relationship.
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Ada and the Engine is more mechanical tool than finely calibrated dramatic device
The gears keep spinning, but we never get anywhere.
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The D&D-Shakespeare mash-up Love’s & Labour’s is raw, messy—and endearing
Odd’s Bodkins has created a highly idiosyncratic production steeped in quirky earnestness.
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In Life on Paper, Jackalope once again turns straw into gold.
Gus Menary’s ensemble transforms Kenneth Lin’s mechanical script into a warm, nuanced production.
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Bloomsday transcends its preposterous plot with nuanced musings on age and regret
It should be a trainwreck, but it’s not, just so long as you put your intellect on hold.
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Ionesco’s Killing Game gets too busy with the dying
There’s not enough room in this scattershot world for ideas to deepen.
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In Mad Hip Beat & Gone, two teens split Nebraska to find their bliss
Steven Dietz’s historical drama starts strong but gets “tangled up in roads.”
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The Gamergate-inspired drama Non-Player Character doesn’t bother to challenge audience assumptions
It provides all the answers to the central dilemma that you’d expect.
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Bright Star will try the patience of even the most tenderhearted romantic
Grief and villainy are no match for optimism, dumb luck, and a banjo.
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Refuge Theatre lifts Hands on a Hardbody out of complete banality
“If you want something,” they sing, “keep your hands on it.”
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Detour Guide isn’t sure where it’s going
Karim Nagi takes his audience on a tour of the Arab world beyond Aladdin.
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The final 15 minutes of Dutch Masters are devastating
But Greg Keller’s script takes way too long to get there.
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An Inspector Calls has all the nuance of a thermonuclear blast
Don’t worry, you won’t have any trouble following this one.