Sparks fly in New Normal Rep’s riveting ‘Lines in the Dust’
© New Normal Rep The cast of New Normal Rep’s production of Lines in the Dust comprises (from left) Lisa Rosetta Strum as Dr. Beverly Long, Melissa Joyner as Denitra Morgan, and Jeffrey Bean as Mike DiMaggio. By AARON KRAUSE All Denitra Morgan wants is for her daughter,...
New Normal Rep triumphs with ‘Two Sisters and a Piano’
© New Normal Rep Florencia Lozano and Daphne Rubin-Vega appear as Maria Celia and Sofia, respectively, in New Normal Rep’s production of Two Sister and a Piano. By AARON KRAUSE The power of art to heal, transform, offer hope, and inspire in a seemingly hopeless world...
ICS’ ‘The Niceties’ neatly captures the zeitgeist
Photo by Matthew Tippins Zoe (Rachel Michelle Bryant) is clearly unhappy with her professor (Lisa Kay King) in Island City Stage’s production of The Niceties. By AARON KRAUSE “What are you doing to promote equality?” a black college student demands of her white professor in Eleanor Burgess’s taut, intense,...
Playwright peels away ‘The Niceties’ from her piece
“We spend so much of our time berating the far right for being racist,” Island City Stage (ICS) Associate Artistic Director Michael Leeds says. However, “we don’t often look to ourselves to see how we might be perpetuating the system. We’re always the ‘nice’ guys. But what happens when...
Safe, live theater returns to Miami Beach with ‘Seven Deadly Sins’
Photo courtesy of Ernesto Sempoll Jessica Farr and Caleb Scott appear in the sultry Amsterdam Latitudes in Miami New Drama’s production of Seven Deadly Sins. By AARON KRAUSE MIAMI BEACH — You’ll rarely find people celebrating in purgatory. Then again, you probably won’t find elsewhere the kind of...
A moving, scary ‘A Christmas Carol’ is streaming
Photo by Chris Whitaker Ebenezer Scrooge (Jefferson Mays) looks as though he’s freefalling in a streaming version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. By AARON KRAUSE At times, one of the newest adaptations of A Christmas Carol sounds and looks more like...
Powerful ‘American Son’ prevails at Zoetic Stage
Photo by Justin Namon A struggle breaks out between a father and a police officer in the riveting drama, American Son. Here, the officer, Paul Larkin (Ryan Didato) tries to restrain the dad, Scott Connor (Clive Cholerton). Flanking the strugglers are Scott’s ex, Kendra Ellis-Connor (Karen Stephens) and Lt. John...
‘Wiesenthal’ is a winner at GableStage
Photo by George Schiavone Simon Wiesenthal (David Kwiat) takes some time to reflect in the one-character play, Wiesenthal. By AARON KRAUSE CORAL GABLES — An admirable quality of one-person plays is their ability to establish an especially intimate connection between the audience and the character. Such a bond can...