Hungry Women drew us in with a mysterious tea-table gathering, strong performances and cleverly revealing monologues. Its opening left us wanting more, but increasingly noisy later sections made it harder to stay connected. An intriguing premise and a memorable first act gave us plenty to discuss.
Danielle Allen's work-in-progress Lunaticus explores epilepsy, diagnosis, and missing time. Her account of finding herself clothed in bed with the shower still running stayed with us, while flickering lights and returning voices offered an intriguing teaser of the full production.
We went upstairs at IATI Theater but felt we had entered a basement laundry in 1917. Benevolent brings a tough story vividly to life through real washing, clever design and four girls whose growing friendship gives us plenty to care about. Sad, funny and thoroughly absorbing.
ISLA brings together an impressive mix of storytelling styles. Shadow puppetry, broomstick puppets, acting, singing, live music, recorded voices and family history all combine to tell the story of three Cuban sisters, their lives in Cuba and their eventual journey to the United States.
Seeing Les Misérables at Radio City Music Hall already felt like it was going to be a pretty special night. What we did not realize until afterwards was that we had also happened to catch Alfie Boe’s final performance as Jean Valjean, bringing to an end around 16 years of playing a role that has become so closely associated with him. That made an already spectacular production feel like we had witnessed a little piece of Les Mis history.
Going into ¡Violencia!, we were expecting something quite different based on the title. What we found instead was a funny, energetic and playful contemporary tragicomedy about heartbreak, mental health, family and all the different versions of ourselves that can end up fighting for control inside our heads.
There are still plenty of subjects that theatre rarely talks about openly, and perimenopause is certainly one of them. Perimenoparty tackles it head on with clowning, music, multimedia and plenty of humour, creating an hour that is as entertaining as it is thought provoking. Following an earlier run at the Hollywood Fringe, this latest work in progress continues to evolve, and after seeing it in its current form, we’re excited to see where it goes next.