With a new year comes readings of new plays

With a new year comes readings of new plays

  South Florida residents and visitors will have several chances this month and in April to help develop new work for live theater. First, Palm Beach Dramaworks (PBD) will hold its annual Perlberg Festival of New Plays from Friday, Jan. 17 through Sunday, Jan. 19. The venue is the professional,...

Read more
Palm Beach Dramaworks’ remount of ‘The Dresser’ is stirring entertainment

Palm Beach Dramaworks’ remount of ‘The Dresser’ is stirring entertainment

Photo by Curtis Brown Colin McPhillamy, as Sir (front) and Bill Hayes as Norman (back, left) lead the cast of Palm Beach Dramaworks’ remount of ‘The Dresser’   By AARON KRAUSE In Ronald Harwood’s touching 1980 backstage drama, The Dresser, the familiar and perhaps unfamiliar merge to form a humorous,...

Read more
‘The Dresser,’ a human story offering a peak backstage, to open at Palm Beach Dramaworks

‘The Dresser,’ a human story offering a peak backstage, to open at Palm Beach Dramaworks

Photo by Curtis Brown Photography Bill Hayes (standing) plays Norman, the dresser for Actor-Manager Sir (Colin McPhillamy)   By AARON KRAUSE While Ronald Harwood’s celebrated play The Dresser offers a backstage glimpse of live theater, ultimately the piece is not about the art form, according to Bill Hayes. “It is...

Read more
PBD: Get lost in award-winning ‘Lost in Yonkers’

PBD: Get lost in award-winning ‘Lost in Yonkers’

  By AARON KRAUSE When you hear the name Neil Simon, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is comedy. Indeed, the late great playwright’s early work is most notable for, among other things, snappy one-liners. But Simon’s talent extends beyond his ability to make people laugh. This is...

Read more
PBD tries, and succeeds, in its re-mounting of touching drama, ‘Trying’

PBD tries, and succeeds, in its re-mounting of touching drama, ‘Trying’

Photo by Tim Stepien Judge Francis Biddle (Dennis Creaghan) and his secretary, Sarah Schorr (Kelly McCready) struggle to get along early on in Joanna McClelland Glass’s historical drama, Trying.    By AARON KRAUSE If you look closely at the program for Palm Beach Dramaworks’ (PBD) polished and poignant production of...

Read more
Palm Beach Dramaworks brings ‘Death of a Salesman’ to vivid life

Palm Beach Dramaworks brings ‘Death of a Salesman’ to vivid life

Photo by Tim Stepien Clearly, Willy and Linda Loman love each other, as is evident in this photo. Rob Donohoe plays Willy, while Helena Ruoti portrays Linda in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ potent current production.   By AARON KRAUSE Attention must be paid Palm Beach Dramaworks’ emotionally powerful professional production of...

Read more
PBD’s ‘The Cancellation of Lauren Fein’ is must-experience theater

PBD’s ‘The Cancellation of Lauren Fein’ is must-experience theater

Photo by Alicia Donelan (From left) Lindsey Corey, Diana Garle, Niki Fridh, Barbara Sloan (with gavel), and Karen Stephens in The Cancellation of Lauren Fein.    By AARON KRAUSE “We don’t need you to tell us about (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). We live it,” the title character says in Christopher...

Read more
PBD’s Perlberg Festival of New Plays slated for early January

PBD’s Perlberg Festival of New Plays slated for early January

    While the professional, non-profit theater company, Palm Beach Dramaworks (PBD) remains committed to developing and producing new plays, the name for the company’s annual readings of new scripts in January has changed. The event, formerly the New Year/New Plays Festival, is now called the Perlberg Festival of New...

Read more
‘The Messenger’ is must-experience theater at Palm Beach Dramaworks

‘The Messenger’ is must-experience theater at Palm Beach Dramaworks

Photo by Alicia J. Donelan Angela Gulner, Gracie Winchester, Margery Lowe, and Annie Fang appear in a scene from The Messenger at Palm Beach Dramaworks.     By AARON KRAUSE Jenny Connell Davis’s vital new play, The Messenger may be the most important piece of live theater that you experience in...

Read more
Palm Beach Dramaworks presents a shattering ‘Topdog/Underdog’

Palm Beach Dramaworks presents a shattering ‘Topdog/Underdog’

Photo by Alicia Donelan Booth (Jovon Jacobs, right) concentrates heavily as Lincoln (George Anthony Richardson) demonstrates how to deftly operate a three-card monte game in Palm Beach Dramaworks’ production of Topdog/Underdog.   By AARON KRAUSE If a prize existed for malicious jokes, you would have to nominate the father of...

Read more