by Dan Mayer Just on the heels of St. Patrick’s Day, Schenectady Civic Players feature award-winning Irish playwright Conor McPherson with their latest production. The Seafarer is a dark comedy about a struggling alcoholic with a guilty conscience surrounded by heavy drinkers at Christmastime, but there may be more dark…
by Dan Mayer In her director’s note, Albany’s own Benita Zahn describes Jen Silverman’s The Roommate as “a play about trust, change and crafting a life we want.” It’s also a play about a modern day Odd Couple with “women of a certain age,” but Albany Civic Theater‘s production has…
by Sierra Pasquale Schenectady Civic Players’ production of In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) approaches Sarah Ruhl’s quietly subversive comedy with clear affection for the text and a strong commitment to its period sensibilities. Set in the late nineteenth century at the dawn of modern gynecology, the play…
by Dan Mayer A play that aggravates spellcheckers and invites the question “Wait, what’s it called?”, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Fuddy Meers is an absurd comedy with a disturbing edge. Albany Civic Theater‘s production brings the off-the-wall characters to life with a fresh cast at the top of their game. The title…
by Dan Mayer The name Stephen Adly Guirgis may sound familiar to theatergoers in the capital region. He graduated from SUNY Albany, and Harbinger Theatre has recently produced two of his plays: the award-winning Between Riverside and Crazy this past July, and The Motherf**ker with the Hat in 2023. Albany…
by Dan Mayer Does anyone have the right to say what a writer can and can’t write about? The Pillowman doesn’t really answer this question, but it certainly plays with the idea. Albany Civic Theater showcases an outstanding production of a play that is challenging to watch. It needs to…
After opening its season with Maggie May in collaboration with Harbinger Theater, Albany Civic Theater’s 2024-2025 season continues with Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond. On Golden Pond tells the story of an aging couple at their summer home in Maine. At the beginning of the summer, the couple’s daughter comes…
by Jessica Hoffman I must admit I’m a sucker for a comedy–a Neil Simon comedy all the moreso. Schenectady Civic Players’ current production, Chapter Two, is neither Neil Simon’s funniest comedy nor his most profound drama, but it is nevertheless chock full of Simon’s witty repartee and true-to-life, laugh-out-loud humor.…
