In the late 17th century in what is now Mexico City, the convent of San Jeronimo was home to one of the most extensive libraries in the New World, presided over by Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz. She was a prolific and adventurous writer of poetry and plays, much beloved by the people of […]
Pat Bitton
Posted inArts + Scene
Nunsense: Sisters Doin’ it for Themselves
The Little Sisters of Hoboken are a welcoming lot, meeting and greeting us audience members as we obediently file into the auditorium and locate our seats for the opening of Nunsense (book and music by Dan Goggin) at Ferndale Repertory Theatre. After all, some of us may have less-than-pleasant memories of the times we didn’t […]
Posted inArts + Scene
It’s a Woman’s World
Who among us has not winced at a friend’s seemingly inadvisable romantic choice? Fortunately, however, most of us to do not as a result find ourselves at the center of a murder mystery involving a missing dental hygienist, a collection of antique surgical instruments, a lovelorn policeman and a misguided snowboarder. This antic collection is […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Grown-up Problems
The Grasshopper and the Aunt Pantomime is a proud European tradition that I’m happy to see gaining a foothold in the U.S., thanks to theatrical funsters like James Peck, Amy Tetzlaff, Alyssa Hughlett and Sarah Peters, the team behind The Grasshopper and the Aunt, the holiday show now playing at the Arcata Playhouse. As with […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Hail The Snow Queen
Dell’Arte’s 37th annual touring production is a delightful take on a familiar story of good triumphing over evil, with plenty of magic and other shenanigans along the way. Director Michael Fields and the cast of third-year students have taken Hans Christian Andersen’s original Snow Queen story and compressed it down to a little over an […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Luck of the Irish?
South Boston is blue-collar Irish through and through. A combination of shop work, factory work, informal childcare and bingo is how most of the community gets through life. Every so often, one escapes to a fancier neighborhood — through hard work, a lucky break or a mix of the two — to become what’s mockingly […]
Posted inArts + Scene
A Microcosm of Life on Avenue Q
Avenue Q is a puppet show with humans. Or a human show with puppets. Whichever way you look at it, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx’s musical, now playing at Humboldt State University, is a smart blend of youthful angst and mature topics that brings to all-too-realistic life that treacherous bridge from student to responsible adult. […]
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Dispelling the Princess Myth
As a child, I wasn’t much for princesses and happy-ever-after fairytales, and most Disney interpretations of princessdom passed me by, so I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to relate to this musical reinterpretation of multiple Disney princess stories. Fortunately, Redwood Curtain Theatre’s production of Disenchanted provides just enough of the saccharine background for […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Tangled Tales of Love
What happens when King Ferdinand of Navarre and his three companions decide to improve themselves by dedicating three years to study and fasting, forswearing women by forbidding any member of the fair sex from coming within a mile of the court? A challenging prospect in the best of circumstances, but when the Princess of France […]
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This Land Belongs To … Whom?
It’s coming up on the Fourth of July and the MacBurn family has checked into KOALA (Kampground Of American Liberty for All) for their annual State of Jefferson Picnic, courtesy of Dell’Arte International. For generations, the MacBurns have had the campground to themselves — back since their cabin sat on the edge of a toxic […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Four Journeys of Love and Loss
Each May, the graduating students in Dell’Arte’s MFA program in ensemble-based physical theatre put the sum of their talents and training on the stage at the Carlo Theatre in Blue Lake for the Thesis Festival. For anyone (this reviewer included) who has watched these students develop their skills and talents over the three years of […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Hiding Behind Closed Minds
Picture, if you will, a small liberal arts college. A feminist professor of literature. A white male undergraduate on an athletic scholarship. Unconscious bias kicked in yet? Such unthinking assumptions form the central thread in Third, now playing at Redwood Curtain Theatre. The play, Wendy Wasserstein’s last (it premiered just a few months before she […]