New City Players’ Confederates: A Fierce, Funny Look at Slavery’s Lingering Shadows
Photo by Kevin Ondarza Sara (Nai Fairweather) is unafraid of battle in Dominique Morisseau’s powerful play Confederates. By AARON KRAUSE Slavery’s chains still bind in unexpected ways, and Dominique Morisseau’s bold, nuanced dramedy Confederates urges us to unshackle ourselves—and one another—from their lingering grip. New City Players’ (NCP) riveting professional...
New City Players to tackle race, resistance, and resilience in ‘Confederates’
Cast members Gemma Berg, Toddra Brunson, Nai Fairweather, and Denzel-McCausland. By AARON KRAUSE When you think of live theater during the summer, lighthearted, escapist fare may spring to mind. Understandably so — in the sweltering heat, who wouldn’t want to sit back, relax, and simply enjoy the show? But while...
Perhaps you’ve never heard of this ‘Cowboy.’
Photo courtesy of Christa Ingraham Theater artist Layon Gray directs and stars as deputy U.S. marshal Bass Reeves in M Ensemble’s Cowboy. By AARON KRAUSE If I don’t tell the stories, who will? It’s not just a rhetorical question but an attitude through which multi award-winning theater artist Layon...
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...
This ‘Forum’ is a hoot at MNM Theatre Company
Photo by Amy Pasquantonio Johnbarry Green (left) appears as Pseudolus and Michael Scott Ross as Hysterium in MNM Theatre Company’s production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. By AARON KRAUSE WEST PALM BEACH — “Think of musical comedy, the most glorious words in the English...
Director learns from actors while staging complex classic ‘A Raisin in the Sun’
(Ryan Arnst Photography/Courtesy) Walter Lee Younger (Jovon Jacobs) is in obvious agony. Jacobs plays a suffering, flawed offspring in New City Players’ powerful production of A Raisin in the Sun. By AARON KRAUSE FT. LAUDERDALE — The prospect of directing A Raisin in the Sun thrilled Mary Elizabeth Gundlach....
Theatre Lab’s ‘The Revolutionists’ is an empowering, engaging experience
(Photo by Amatista Photography) Mia Matthews, Niki Fridh, Candice Marie Singleton and Nicole Stoica play different characters united behind similar goals in The Revolutionists. BOCA RATON, Fla. — Throughout theater history, sisterhood and the scaffold might never have blended so seamlessly, compellingly and invigoratingly as it has in Lauren...
A unique stage experience is brought to vivid life
(Photo courtesy of Area Stage Company) Mallory Newbrough (Dora) and George (Robert Richards, Jr.) appear in a scene from Area Stage Company’s production of An Octoroon CORAL GABLES, Fla. — “If anything, the theatre is no longer a place of novelty,” says a character in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon. “The...