While it’s near impossible to see all the productions our wonderfully artistic town has to offer, this one is essential.
Tag: theatre
Showing 1-21 of 189 results
Theater review: ‘Rabbit Hole’ at Asheville Community Theatre
As in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ things aren’t always what they seem.
Theater review: ‘The Miracle Worker’ at SART
The importance of the deaf and blind culture is kept in the limelight with The Miracle Worker, and this moving and unexpectedly funny production deserves to be a hit for SART.
Theater review: ‘Stones in His Pockets’ at N.C. Stage Company
This play reminds audiences that if we spend our life bitterly struggling to fulfill our dreams, in the end, our biggest regret will be that we didn’t enjoy the journey.
Theater review: ‘Silent Sky’ at N.C. Stage Company
Silent Sky helps us fantasize about a perfect galaxy where everyone has equal opportunities.
Theater review: ‘The Gin Game’ at HART Theatre
The Gin Game resounds with witty humor by poking fun at the matters of aging. It then cleverly challenges our comfort-zone with deep drama, scolding us for making light of such a serious subject.
Theater review: ‘Footloose’ at Asheville Community Theatre
Footloose touches most intriguingly on an era when being free and expressing oneself with music and dance was bitterly frowned upon by certain belief systems.
Outstanding local theater
As this year comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on some truly extraordinary theater ranging from splashy musicals, moving dramas and locally written plays.
Theater review: ‘The Bad Seed’ at HART Theatre
The Bad Seed induces a disturbing, psychological message for the ages. If a child can be manipulative and clever enough to get away with murder — what will happen when they become an adult in a position of power and authority?
Theater review: ‘Dial M For Murder’ at Flat Rock Playhouse
Dial M For Murder grabs hold of us and doesn’t easily let go, rattling the chains of Hitchcock in an honorable way. Here’s hoping Flat Rock Playhouse incorporates more thrillers into its future seasons.
October brings horror to many theater productions
Horror is king at Asheville Community Theatre, The Magnetic Theatre and North Carolina Company Stage. Serial killers, axe murderers and mysterious fiends all take front and center, leaving a few bodies behind in the process.
Theater review: “STOP KISS” by Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective
In a brave new production of Diana Son’s play Stop Kiss, the audience is confronted with the uncomfortable reminder of how recently we, as a society, were far less accepting of same-sex relationships. And, while not as shocking as it may have been a decade ago, Stop Kiss still has major impact. Not so much […]
Watch and learn: Playback Theatre creates community healing
“Let’s watch.” These words commence the evening’s performance at Playback Theatre. Actors come forward, improvising as they go to illustrate a story. Audience members will likely resonate with the unfolding tale because it is, after all, their story. Within this theatrical environment, actors and audience participate in a night of theater and storytelling that can […]
La Reina: A dream-like world
La Reina doesn’t have a genre to contain it. The show features a collage of ancient texts and travels from Antiquity, the Golden, Classical and Dark Ages, to the Medieval and Reformation period. Using shadow puppetry, brightly-illuminated backdrops, stunning costumes, movement-theater and a live electronic soundscape, the production takes on a dream-like quality. It is as if a wild, somewhat surreal vision is playing out before the audience, and its tempo is slow and unhurried.
She said, She said: Asheville Community Theatre’s Steel Magnolias
Dramady “Steel Magnolias” was first staged in ’87. The story, about a group of women in Natchitoches, La., was written by playwright Robert Harling around the death of his sister. The local production at Asheville Community Theatre is directed by Michael Lilly and runs through Sunday, Aug. 18. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.. Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Mother-daughter reviewers Becky Upham and Cicely Upham discuss.
Peter Pan at Parkway Playhouse
Last chance to visit Neverland: The Burnsville theatre stages three more performances on July 11, 12, and 13 at 7:30 p.m.
She Said, She Said: Asheville Community Theatre’s Kiss Me Kate
“Kiss Me Kate” runs on Friday and Saturday evenings with a Sunday matinee through June 30th. This Cole Porter musical opened on Broadway in 1948 and it earned the Tony for Best Musical. The story within a story weaves together a musical production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew with the on and off-stage relationship between Fred Graham, (played by John C. Hall) the show’s director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi (played by Wendy Morrison.) Mother-daughter reviewers Becky Upham and Cicely Upham discuss the local production.
Hare apparent
Contortion and mime duo Button Wagon returns to Asheville’s BeBe Theatre this weekend with new show “Trash Rabbit.” Shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Magnetic Field bar and café prepares to close
After two years in business, The Magnetic Field will end its restaurant and bar operations and focus on the theater.
Good sports
Football-themed play “Between the Tackles,” which opened last weekend at Burnsville’s Parkway Playhouse, is clearly a pick six, both in terms of fast paced acting and of gut wrenching humor.
Review: MILF at The Magnetic Field
The plot is ignited by the sheer star power of its two main actors. Tracey Johnston-Crum is luminous. James Meador’s delivery is precise and pointed.
