Deserving of a Pulitzer Prize, yet denied one when the jury’s recommendation was overruled because of the occasional, but entirely appropriate, profanity in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Edward Albee’s marathon three-act, three-hour look at marriage and the illusions we cling to in our daily lives. First performed in 1962, and adapted into an Oscar-winning film four years … [Read more...]
‘The Humans’ compels with fine ensemble work at Dramaworks
What could be more human than a family gathering at Thanksgiving, sharing a meal together, giving thanks, expressing hopes and the inevitable disappointments. So it goes at Palm Beach Dramaworks in Stephen Karam’s Tony Award-winning comic drama, The Humans, a jaundice-eyed look at the Irish-Catholic Blakes, Erik and Deirdre (Andy Prosky and Anne-Marie Cusson), of Scranton, … [Read more...]
Dramaworks brings back ‘The Dresser’ for 25th anniversary season
Twenty-one years ago, Palm Beach Dramaworks was a fledgling troupe trying to gain an audience and critical attention in the county’s crowded cultural scene. As its co-founder and current producing artistic director William Hayes recalls, the company turned a corner towards those goals by mounting Ronald Harwood’s World War II backstage tale, The Dresser, is which Hayes appeared … [Read more...]
‘Death of a Salesman’ shows Dramaworks at its best
In its 25 years of existence, Palm Beach Dramaworks has gradually altered its emphasis toward the development of new work. But seeing its current, emotionally shattering production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman reminds us that what it does best is tackle the major classics of the American theater, particularly the Pulitzer Prize winners. Seventy-five years ago, … [Read more...]
Simon’s ‘Plaza Suite’ not just for laughs, Maltz director says
You might think when the Maltz Jupiter Theatre takes a break from its usual musical menu to produce a comedy like Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite that the task is easier. Not so, says director J. Barry Lewis, the Maltz’s go-to guy when it comes to staging Simon’s plays. “They’re always a challenge, there’s no doubt about it,” he says. “It’s one of the oldest sayings in the … [Read more...]
Stellar main characters stand out in Dramaworks’s ‘4000 Miles’
She frequently stumbles when reaching for the right word in conversation, and don’t bother trying to talk to her when she doesn’t have her hearing aid in. Still, for a 91-year-old, Vera Joseph is a remarkable woman. Based on playwright Amy Herzog’s own grandmother, she is the central character of 4000 Miles, an acclaimed off-Broadway work and Pulitzer Prize finalist from 15 … [Read more...]
It’s all about family: ‘4000 Miles’ opens Dramaworks season
Talk about an odd couple. Consider 21-year-old Leo, nearing the end of a cross-country bicycle trip, concluding in New York’s Greenwich Village, where his 91-year-old grandmother, Vera, lives. Arriving unannounced and unexpected at her apartment in the middle of the night, Leo embarks on a journey of discovery with a relative he hardly knows, an emotional trek at least … [Read more...]
World premiere ‘The Duration’ at Dramaworks takes on 9/11 legacy
As we continue to deal with the dark cloud of the COVID pandemic, Palm Beach Dramaworks wants us to look back 20 years to another tragic time in our history — September 11, 2001 — the day two airplanes flew into the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan and 3,000 lives were lost. It is the event that motivates Bruce Graham’s drama The Duration, receiving its world premiere at PBD on … [Read more...]
‘Almost, Maine’ at Dramaworks: Dramatic fare takes pleasant backseat to whimsy
Palm Beach Dramaworks likes to say that it traffics in “theater to think about.” But if you are looking for an entertaining night out without much thinking required, the West Palm Beach stage company has a lightweight slice of whimsy on view now that certainly fills that bill. Called Almost, Maine, it consists of nine brief vignettes on the subject of romance, … [Read more...]
Dramaworks opts for lightness, warmth with ‘Almost, Maine’
Almost, Maine, is a tiny rural town in the northern part of the state, about 150 miles from the coast. But do not look for it on a map, for it exists only in the imagination of playwright John Cariani and, for the next two-and-a-half weeks, onstage at Palm Beach Dramaworks. (Because of production complications from COVID-19, the first show has been moved back three days, to … [Read more...]