As we approach the last weekend of Merry Wives at Quill Theatre, I wanted to share my program note. “Why this play? Why now?” indeed. This is the Merry Wives summer. As we gather in Richmond, audiences are convening in Los Angeles, Bismarck, Atlanta, and countless other cities to experience the same slapstick romp. Shakespeare’s […]
This is about a play that deals with suicide. It’s okay if you don’t want to read it. I went to Staunton yesterday afternoon to see Ginna Hoben perform Every Brilliant Thing. For those who aren’t familiar with it, this is a one-person show by Duncan McMillan and Jonny Donahoe, about a person whose mother […]
Can we just stop saying these things? Please?
We moved our rehearsals over to Agecroft Hall and Gardens, where we’ll be performing, this past week. Even though working outdoors has been challenging (to say the least—a windstorm took out our sound tent and knocked over the walls!), it’s also an absolutely magical place. Anne Kenny-Urban, the executive director of Agecroft, took us on […]
I keep thinking about this article from the SDC Journal, by the brilliant Sara Holdren. It’s the genre of article we’ve all read a thousand times and are kind of sick of: “How does the theater look after pandemic?” kind of thing. But it’s smart, funny, compelling. It’s what all those other articles are trying […]
My son and I have been obsessed with Hadestown since the soundtrack was released. He’s memorized Workin’ on a Song. We quote it in our day-to-day conversation. So when Broadway was reopening, I knew this was the show we needed to prioritize. The tickets were our family Christmas present, but we didn’t actually see the […]
It’s been a long time, and I can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that it’s happening, but… I’m directing Merry Wives of Windsor at Quill Theatre for the Richmond Shakespeare Festival! We’ll be performing in the gardens at Agecroft Hall. This is going to be super fun! I know not everyone loves Merry […]
After 700 days, the high school did a fully-mounted musical this spring. I’m so grateful that I got to see it. I’ve seen a few shows here and there, but I’m still overwhelmed every time the lights go up. I wonder if I will ever stop tearing up at the reminder to silence our cell […]
I’m post-dating this so that it will be hidden until after the meeting to decide invited productions for the Region 2 festival. I saw these shows from October 30-November 7. One cool think that the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival does is to send professors and professional theater people out to see university shows […]
I took a whirlwind trip to west Michigan to see my friends at the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company perform my favorite Shakespearean comedy in one of my favorite venues—the Rose, a Globe-style theater at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Being back at the Rose was just magical. That space has a lively energy, like it […]