Boston

A PRESSURE COOKER OF A PRODUCTION A thriller that examines the effects of social media Josephine Moshiri Elwood (Jane) and Dennis Trainor Jr. (Loyd) pull out all the stops in Job, an 80-minute intermission-free exploration of the effects of social media on those who produce it and those who consume it. Jane has been sent…

NO LYIN’ ABOUT THIS ADORABLE LION A story about rules and when it is right to break them The four-year-old I took to the Adam Theater production of Library Lion at the Calderwood Pavilion in the Boston Center for the Arts was terrified when he saw the picture of the lion’s large and expressive face…

WONDER OF WONDERS! A musical that refuses pity and earns its hope American Repertory Theater’s world premiere of the musical adaptation of R. J. Palacio’s best-selling Wonder and the eponymous 2017 film, is, indeed, filled with wonders. The children’s novel is not only the story of a boy with a facial difference, though that is…

GO TELL IT! There are many ways to celebrate the holiday season on Boston-area stages, ranging from dance interpretations of The Nutcracker to performances and revisions of Dickens, to the ever-new traditional Revels and shows that use the Christmas season as a backdrop for stories of joy and even hilarity. None get so deeply to…

AN OMINOUS AND DISORIENTING THRILLER A meticulously staged interrogation that tightens its grip minute by minute In theater and in life, some risks are worth taking. Others may not be worth the cost. Reality Winner, a U.S. Air Force veteran and a contractor for the National Security Agency, took a risk in May of 2017…

WELCOME YULE! In keeping with its Scandinavian theme, this year’s Midwinter Revels presents a smorgasbord of stories, songs, and dances in Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. The very foundation of the Revels experience is something of a smorgasbord, in fact. Revels has evolved from the Christmas Revels to the Midwinter Revels since its founding in 1971….

DICKENS IN AN IRISH PUB ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The New England premiere of An Irish Carol by playwright Matthew Keenan offers a fresh take on Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, a familiar and much-performed holiday classic that holds out, again and again, a secular interpretation of the renewal…

TRIED AND TRUE ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Annie is an excellent choice for Boston University Wheelock Family Theatre’s holiday offering this year. True to the mission of Wheelock Family Theatre (to create professional theatre and educational experiences for artists and audiences of all ages), the audience last night included…

MORE NAUGHTY THAN NICE, WITH PLENTY OF SPICE ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ As they have for the past thirty years, Ryan Landry’s Gold Dust Orphans honor the saturnalian origins of Christmas with a holiday burlesque. This time the target of the spoofing crew of shamelessly talented punsters, dancers, singers,…

THE KEYS OF KNOWLEDGE What can I say about a show that offers one moment of delight after another while holding the anguish of parental narcissism, the joy of discovering one’s own identity, and the power of creative expression to transform grief? One thing I can say is this: anyone within commuting distance of downtown…

A TRAGEDY FORETOLD — AND STILL SHOCKING Blood Brothers exposes the cruel divide of class and destiny I walked into the BCA Plaza Theatre in the South End neighborhood of Boston — and left shaken. To start, the lights come up to reveal two bodies lying before me, so close I could reach out and…

A BRIDGE TO UNDERSTANDING There may have been, at some point in human history, an evolutionary advantage to sorting other people into “us” and “them.” But with modern weapons technology, whatever benefit that old reflex once offered has long vanished. Since the development of nuclear arms, in fact, that instinct to classify entire groups as…

A HOLIDAY CAROL THAT HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES If you’re looking for a holiday treat, look no further than the delightful production of A Sherlock Carol at the Lyric Stage. Brilliantly directed by Ilyse Robbins, this mash-up of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes combines wonderful performances with…

WOMEN ON THE VERGE Central Square Theater’s lovely production of playwright David Auburn’s (Proof) Summer, 1976 offers a story of two women who find an unexpected friendship at a tipping point in both their lives. It’s an especially fitting choice for Central Square Theater, the oldest female-led theater company in Boston. Central Square’s mission includes…

GUNNING FOR PUERTO RICO Stephen Sondheim chose an unlikely topic for his 1990 Assassins, a musical that portrays assassinating or attempting to assassinate a president is as American as popular music. I can’t say whether or not playwright Matthew Barbot was inspired by Sondheim’s musical, but Barbot certainly fills a hole in Sondheim’s line-up of…