Sure, ‘Hamilton’ Is a Game-Changer, But Whose Game?
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s subversive new hip-hop history musical richly deserves the acclaim. Here’s hoping it paves the way for more stories of, by and for the hip-hop generation.
Features
Humana Festival 2015 Stretched Plays, and Audiences, to Their Breaking Point
A collection of not-so-straight plays, an ensemble-devised work and an African-American living-room play made up the main slate at Actors Theatre’s annual new-play gathering.
Donald Margulies, Brooklyn Boy, Feted in William Inge’s Kansas Hometown
The playwright was this year’s honoree at the annual festival in Independence, which featured a generous sampling of his work, and Jen Silverman was the New Voices Award winner.
Debbie Devine and 24th Street Theatre’s Tightrope Act
Art or social service? That’s a false choice for this small but committed L.A. theatre, where theatrical excellence and community service are inextricably intertwined.
Playing Outside the Fusebox: a Texas Festival Expands Its Civic Vision
This year, in addition to its usual performance offerings, the festival partnered with thinkEAST to get site-specific with an Austin neighborhood.
Keith Hamilton Cobb Seeks the ‘American Moor’ in the Role of Othello
Whatever Shakespeare’s intentions, the actor/writer argues, the role now offers a chance to reflect on race as it’s lived now. But are we up for that?
‘Blues for an Alabama Sky’ Celebrates Its 20th Birthday at the Alliance Theatre
Playwright Pearl Cleage, for whom tales of the Harlem Renaissance were childhood bedtime stories, reflects on her 1995 period piece.
Afterimages of a Dear Departed Friend, in Triplicate
Richard Engling’s ‘Afterlife Trilogy,’ inspired by his late friend Fern Chertkow, includes two novels and a new play, ‘Anna in the Afterlife.’
Lyric Stage Sheds New Light on ‘Lady in the Dark’
The company’s landmark recreation of the Weill/Gershwin/Hart musical from 1941 sets out to recapture the show’s original glamour.
Humana 2015: Pig Iron Launches a Gay Space Opera
Inspired equally by ‘Star Wars’ and Charles Ludlam, the Philly troupe’s ‘I Promised Myself to Live Faster’ explores the intersection of tween sexual awakening and sci-fi fantasy.
