Berkshire on Stage

Corinna May and John Woodson revolve slowly before you while their characters talk about life. An interesting, if mundane, play reviewed by Gail Burns.

With lots of “side-splitting hilarity and a touch of unconventional romance” writes Gail Burns, this prequel about the early life of Peter Pan is sending fans of that classic story into a state of ecstasy.

The 1950’s were a very different time. Our dueling critics, Burns and Cane, explain the pre-tech era in which “Bells Are Ringing” takes place, and Ethan Heard’s staging with Kate Baldwin and Graham Rowat in the leading roles.

“There is a huge audience for a good whodunit on a hot summer’s night,” says Gail Burns, who notes that while talky, “This is a cerebral mystery,…that keeps you guessing right up until Miss Marple does her magic in the final scene.”

Burns and Murray had decidedly different views on this Tony nominated play, with her thumb up, and his thumb down.

When Jeff McCarthy remakes himself with paste and whiskers into the aging squire/knight errant Don Quixote in front of our eyes, it is theatrical magic time. At that moment it was clear that this “Man of La Mancha” was going to be transformative .

Making sense of relationships and theories about reproductive biology unleash high emotions and zingy retorts in this unusual play about the reunion of a child put out for adoption and her birth mother.

Butler was no abolitionist, but what he did with the simple idea that slaves were contraband provided the Union free labor and ultimately changed the course of history.