Author Archives: Christopher Arnott

The Winter’s Tale Presented through April 7 by the Yale Repertory Theatre, at the Yale University Theatre, 222 York St., New Haven. (203) 432-1234, www.yalerep.org By William Shakespeare. Directed by Liz Diamond. Composer: Matthew Suttor. Choreographer: Randy Duncan. Scenic Designer: Michael Yeargan. Costume Designer: Jennifer Moeller. Lighting Designer: Matt Frey. Sound Designer: Elizabeth Atkinson. Production … Continue reading »

I cull these theater-themed comic strips from www.dailyink.com and www.gocomics.com, services to which I have subscribed for many years now. I heartily recommend both sites, and honor those artists who can bridge the extraordinary gap between live performance and cartoon caricature. The Mary Worth episode here, by the way, does not mark the first time … Continue reading »

A few final observations of the 36th annual Humana Festival of New Plays. • The festival’s sponsor, the Humana health insurance company, got thanked a lot, and deservedly so, not just for the level of their support but for the length and breadth of it—one of the longest and neatest bondings in the regional theater. … Continue reading »

The Hour of Feeling Through April 1 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival. Written by Mona Mansour. Directed by Mark Wing-Davey. Scenic Designer: Michael B. Raiford. Costume designer: Lorraine Venberg. Lighting designer: Brian J. Lilienthal. Sound designer: Matt Callahan. Media designer: Philip Allgeier. Properties designer: Mark Walston. Wig designer: Heather Fleming. Stage manager: … Continue reading »

My first time at the Humana Festival (I’ve only missed 35 of them) was eye-opening for the sheer focused verve of the thing. On the East Coast—as well as the two weeks I spent last summer covering festivals and theater conferences in L.A.—I’m used to sprawling festivals at numerous venues, where there’s so much to … Continue reading »

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/PXQuny4ldK8″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe> Oh, Gastronomy! Through April 1 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival. Written by Michael Golamco, Carson Kreiter, Steve Moulds, Tanya Saracho and Matt Schatz. Directed by Amy Attaway. Co-conceibed and developed with Sarah Lunnie. Ordinarily on a Friday this time of year, I’m at the Yale Cabaret … Continue reading »

Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards Through April 15 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival. Written by Greg Kotis. Directed by Kip Fagan. This cosmicomic love and international relations parable has little of the theatrical self-awareness of Kotis’s bestknown script, Urinetown. That avoidance of style parody turns out to be its saving … Continue reading »

Eat Your Heart Out Through April 1 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival. Written by Courtney Baron. Directed by Adam Greenfield.   This is the sort of “new play” which may not break any fresh ground but which impresses with its surehandedness, its wondrous pacing and timing, and its ever-popping dialogue. It’s a … Continue reading »

Death Tax Through April 1 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival. Written by Lucas Hnath. Directed by Ken Rus Schmoll.   Death Tax took my breath away, not because one of its characters is an elderly woman on life support, but because it upends expectations at every turn while maintaining an admirable level … Continue reading »

How We Got On Written by Idris Goodwin. Directed by Wendy C. Goldberg. Through April 1 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival. The concept of suburban hipsters in derided “fly-over states” falling for the coastal urban culture tropes disseminated by MTV Raps! has been plumbed before, from a brilliant Danny Hoch sketch to … Continue reading »