Author Archives: burdreviews

            “The Weir” takes place in Paddy Byrne’s Pub in a rural Irish town, where the locals are exchanging weird, spooky, and humorous stories.  It can be they are trying to impress Valerie, a newcomer in town, brought to the bar by their friend, Finbar, but I am sure they come regularly here to meet,Continue reading “The Weir at The Irish Heritage Theatre”

Theatre Ariel is a professional theater in Philadelphia that has produced plays about Jewish history and culture for over thirty years. Their current show, on stage at the Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, is a world premier written by Dan Kitrosser, an award winning playwright, screenwriter, and story teller. In this play, the titleContinue reading “Marsha Blovotnick and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup at Theatre Ariel”

People’s Light proclaims in its release that they are presenting a William Shakespeare play that “Explores Love, Power, and Identity.” I was ready for it because after seeing several of the bard’s tragedies in the past year, I was looking forward to the comedy that “Twelfth Night” is. I often have trouble seeing plays byContinue reading “Twelfth Night at People’s Light”

Moliere’s “Tartuffe,” written in 1664, is one of the most famous comedies of the stage and has seen many adaptations over the last 350 years. It was initially banned because it dealt with religious hypocrisy. There was a recent one in an Off-Broadway production with Matthew Broderick. A new version of the farce, adapted byContinue reading “Tartuffe at Kammerspiel”

            Pearl Cleage is an African-American writer. She is a novelist, an essayist, and a poet. She is a political activist writing and speaking out about racism and sexism. She is also a brilliant playwright who penned three remarkable plays in the 1990’s. Lantern Theater is presenting one of those, “Blues for an Alabama Sky,”Continue reading “Blues for an Alabama Sky at Lantern Theater”

Two New York City sanitation workers are assigned to work together on a route. Danny, a blue collar divorced father, has been driving garbage trucks for years. Marlowe is an African-American woman, with a Master’s from Columbia University who we are not certain as to why she has taken such a job. He jabbers onContinue reading “The Garbologists at Montgomery Theater”

William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” was written over 500 years ago. It consisted of five acts and 18 scenes, and a full production lasted about 2 ½ hours. The tragedy had over 50 characters. When I read it for class in junior high school, I was fortunate to have a great teacher as well as theContinue reading “Caesar at Philadelphia Theatre Company”

It is a backyard of neighboring South Philly row houses. In one lives Fran Geminiani and his son, Francis, a student at Harvard.  Bunny Weinberger and her son, Herschel, who seems to be on the spectrum of autism, live in the attached home and share the backyard. Both Fran and Bunny are single parents, eachContinue reading “Gemini at EgoPo Theater”

Sojourner Truth was born in Upstate New York around 1798, one of a dozen children of James and Elizabeth Bomefree. Her parents were slaves, and she was too. When she was an infant, two of her siblings were sold to different estates in what was once Dutch New York. Sojourner’s first language was Dutch. InContinue reading “Sojourner at Curio Theatre”

“Proof” is the story of Catherine, a gifted young mathematician, as she and her sister Claire, are dealing with the death of their recently deceased father, a brilliant mathematician himself, though a bit unstable. Catherine had given up her college and her plans for the future to return home five years earlier to care forContinue reading “Proof at Act II Playhouse”