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Home

Author Archives: Justin Hayford

Posted inArts & Culture

All That He Was plucks the heartstrings

by Justin Hayford August 14, 2019August 18, 2021

A musical about the darkest days of AIDS shows its student-effort roots, but provides a stirring score.

Posted inArts & Culture

The Spitfire Grill runs on corn

by Justin Hayford July 24, 2019August 18, 2021

American Blues Theater’s production finds some honesty amid the musical cliches.

Posted inArts & Culture

Now and Then loses its place in time

by Justin Hayford July 24, 2019August 18, 2021

The stakes are too low in this musical about the life span of a gay relationship.

Posted inArts & Culture

Ada and the Engine is more mechanical tool than finely calibrated dramatic device

by Justin Hayford June 26, 2019August 18, 2021

The gears keep spinning, but we never get anywhere.

Posted inArts & Culture

The D&D-Shakespeare mash-up Love’s & Labour’s is raw, messy—and endearing

by Justin Hayford June 12, 2019August 18, 2021

Odd’s Bodkins has created a highly idiosyncratic production steeped in quirky earnestness.

Posted inArts & Culture

In Life on Paper, Jackalope once again turns straw into gold.

by Justin Hayford May 29, 2019August 18, 2021

Gus Menary’s ensemble transforms Kenneth Lin’s mechanical script into a warm, nuanced production.

Posted inArts & Culture

Bloomsday transcends its preposterous plot with nuanced musings on age and regret

by Justin Hayford May 22, 2019August 18, 2021

It should be a trainwreck, but it’s not, just so long as you put your intellect on hold.

Posted inArts & Culture

Ionesco’s Killing Game gets too busy with the dying

by Justin Hayford May 16, 2019August 18, 2021

There’s not enough room in this scattershot world for ideas to deepen.

Posted inArts & Culture

In Mad Hip Beat & Gone, two teens split Nebraska to find their bliss

by Justin Hayford May 8, 2019August 18, 2021

Steven Dietz’s historical drama starts strong but gets “tangled up in roads.”

Posted inArts & Culture

The Gamergate-inspired drama Non-Player Character doesn’t bother to challenge audience assumptions

by Justin Hayford April 25, 2019August 18, 2021

It provides all the answers to the central dilemma that you’d expect.

Posted inArts & Culture

Bright Star will try the patience of even the most tenderhearted romantic

by Justin Hayford March 28, 2019August 18, 2021

Grief and villainy are no match for optimism, dumb luck, and a banjo.

Posted inArts & Culture

Refuge Theatre lifts Hands on a Hardbody out of complete banality

by Justin Hayford March 22, 2019August 18, 2021

“If you want something,” they sing, “keep your hands on it.”

Posted inArts & Culture

Detour Guide isn’t sure where it’s going

by Justin Hayford March 22, 2019August 18, 2021

Karim Nagi takes his audience on a tour of the Arab world beyond Aladdin.

Posted inArts & Culture

The final 15 minutes of Dutch Masters are devastating

by Justin Hayford March 14, 2019August 18, 2021

But Greg Keller’s script takes way too long to get there.

Posted inArts & Culture

An Inspector Calls has all the nuance of a thermonuclear blast

by Justin Hayford February 27, 2019August 18, 2021

Don’t worry, you won’t have any trouble following this one.

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