Reviews Archives

Bon Appétit! My Dinner with André: Harbor Stage Again Delivers Magic

July 15, 2024

The setting is French bistro: dark red wallpaper, ornate mirrors, not-too-bright sconces, and an intimate table for two. It could feel claustrophobic, using just this one small part of the stage; but it doesn’t—the ideas exchanged in the Harbor Stage...

It’s One Toke Over the Line at WHAT with Reefer Madness: The Musical

July 8, 2024

Before it became an iconic cult hit, Reefer Madness was a well-intentioned (and unintentionally hilarious) cautionary tale entitled Tell Your Children that had its début as a film in 1936. Or… sort-of well-intentioned. Re-examining it in 2024 with the...

Finding Your Way Home: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

July 6, 2024

It’s the lights you notice, first. Finding your seat in Fishermen Hall in Provincetown for Peregrine Theatre’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, you immediately feel part of the set: bright stage lights are rotating, à la police-cruiser strobes,...

Passion & Provocation: Selected Poems by Judith Partelow

June 30, 2024

I don’t often review books of poetry—even though themes are deliberately called out or emerge when reading, I’m always trapped by the individuality of each poem itself and find it difficult to speak of the work as a whole. So it’s with that caveat in...

Betrayed Again! Pinter at the Harbor Stage Company

June 16, 2024

It was tempting to think, “Oh, I saw this last year already, I know what to expect from Betrayal.” And indeed last fall, the play was staged at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater as an inaugural co-production between WHAT and the Harbor Stage Company....

“Smart” at WHAT: Beautifully Chilling and Brilliantly Provocative

June 9, 2024

At a time when there are almost-daily reports of new and different ways artificial intelligence can change—and challenge—the way we live, I looked forward to the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater’s new production of Mary Hamilton’s Smart to issue a wry...

Angels in America at the Provincetown Theater is Beyond Heavenly

May 10, 2024

It may be ironic that a play essentially about death—framed in both the opening and final scenes—can feel so vital and filled with life and energy; but that’s the case with the new production of Angels in America now playing at the Provincetown Theater...

Our Town at Cape Rep is Strange… and Wonderful

May 7, 2024

You’ve probably seen Our Town before, if only as a—yikes— high-school production. Forget all that. Director Maura Hanlon’s version, which just opened at Cape Rep Theatre, is nothing like you’ve ever seen. And it’s absolutely fantastic. Our Town is...

Book review: Worth Fighting for (John Pavlovitz)

March 20, 2024

Like many other progressives, I’m finding it difficult these days to be optimistic, much less at peace, about the state of the world and of the country I live in. Everywhere I look, cruelty is on display. (And what is it, anyway, about cruelty that it seems...

Who Counts in America? “What the Constitution Means to Me” at the Provincetown Theater

November 17, 2023

I don’t usually tell you what to do. I am telling you now. Go see this play. If you need more reasons to vote, go see this play. If you care about the future of this country, go see this play. If you think you understand the United States, go see this play....