by Jess Hoffman If you, like me, were a child of the 90s, you may have grown up on the 1996 film Matilda. And if, like me, you were an avid reader with tastes leaning toward the sarcastic and subversive, you may have grown up with a deep love for…

by Jess Hoffman So far this year I have reviewed plays about such heavy topics as drug addiction, incest, revolution, and pedophilia. And yet none of those shows left me quite as disturbed as Schenectady Civic Player’s production of The Goat (or Who is Sylvia). This show put me in…

by Jess Hoffman Albany Civic Theater–a theater with a special place in my heart that has been central to my love of theater–is currently the space for Harbinger Theatre’s production of The Motherf**ker with the Hat. The Motherf**ker with the Hat is a gritty, no-holds-barred examination of life and love.…

by Jess Hoffman I’ve spoken to some theatergoers who tell me how tired they are of Boeing Boeing. It’s not that it isn’t a good play, they say, just that it is so overdone. To be sure, Boeing Boeing is a community theater favorite, but before you decide that we…

by Jess Hoffman The Nether originally premiered in 2013, but seems even more relevant today than it was then. The current production at the Ghent Playhouse makes it painfully obvious that we have only moved closer to the imagined future of The Nether in the last ten years. The Nether…

by Jess Hoffman The word “love” in the title Hoodoo Love might have some theatergoers mistakenly believing that it is a romantic play. This certainly crossed my mind when I went to see the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York’s production at The Rep, as I was unfamiliar with…

by Jess Hoffman When I sat down to see Bridge Street Theatre’s world premier of Rude Mechanics, I was immediately intrigued by the set. In the dimness of the unlit stage, there appeared to be a giant alligator head in the center of the stage and off to one side…

by Jess Hoffman It’s hard to think of a more fitting production for Women’s History Month than Schenectady Civic Players’ current offering. The Revolutionists is a re-imagining of the lives of four historical women in the French Revolution that is so apropos of our current moment that one can forget…