Suzanne Willett

All that Fall is a Beckett radio play from 1956.  I am going to focus on themes of death/mortality and indeterminacy for this post.  Death/mortality is referred to constantly; Maddy speaks a dead language, and there are continual references to aches and pains associated with aging.   Indeterminacy is textually weaved in with death throughout the script:  in Mr. Tyler’s comment, “Well half alive shall we say?”, Mrs. Rooney’s statement: “Don’t mind me, I do not exist.”, and Mis

Yuichi Kinoshita’s Kanjincho draws from the Noh play that centers on Yoshitsune’s attempt to cross the border in Japan to escape his brother’s death warrant.  The theme that resonated for me here is borders/lines and hierarchy.  I found this production to be innovative in drawing upon Kabuki (to name only a few: the tachimawari scene, the mie poses) while refining it.  For the mie poses, I found Yoshitsune’s (Noemi Takayama’s) stillness while feigning exhaustion exuded an exc

Tristan Allen’s new work centers on the story of fire.  Osni, the protagonist, begins by picking apples off trees, which for me references the acquisition of knowledge.  Osni then embarks on a Promethean journey.  While I had points of confusion on some parts of the narrative, Mx. Allen does an incredible amount of puppetry, both behind and in front of the screen.  In addition, Mx. Allen composes the music for the show.  A resonant moment for me was when Mx. Allen dons Osni’s

Mr. Nelson’s play is a more of an extended dialectical argument than a play in the dramatic sense.  He does address many philosophical themes, questioning in particular the superiority of function over human form.  Humanity is a central theme here, and in the future of this play, there is no room for it.  Themes of profiting off the penal system and punishment are also touched upon.  Viewers should be aware that they will be challenged by the arguments Nelson makes from God t

Archduke centers on toxic masculinity, using the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as its vehicle.  For me, this theme was not fully clear during the first act.  In Act I, it seemed that Joseph's play was centering around themes of death, mortality and the meaning of one’s life within the context of young men.  This is due to the initial scene with Gavrilo and Nedeljko.  They talk about how tuberculosis will cut their life short and what have they done with their live

Since last season I have been seeing more and more companies addressing the economic/political climate directly and Boxcutter continues this essential work and does it with wonderful campy humor.  Dimension Zero is a musical/puppetry/sci-fi romp centering on the toxicity of capitalism.  My understanding of the story (I do not have the script) is that an alien Zenda vows to help emancipate the low-paid labor of orphaned children working for a Mr. Walters, a billionaire.  Zenda