Author Archives: burdreviews

Tony Braithwaite is bringing back to the stage a character he loves, and we love watching him portray- George Burns. In two shows in 2023 and 2024, “Christmas in the Catskills,” he included Burns as one of the many comedians he presented. This time, it is 90 minutes of just Burns, one of the greatContinue reading “Say Goodnight, Gracie at Act II Playhouse”

What an interesting title- “Jelly’s Last Jam!” It is not about a condiment to be spread on toast. It is about a man, born around 1890 into a Creole New Orleans community and the music he created. It is about Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, better known as Jelly Roll Morton, the self-proclaimed founder of jazz inContinue reading “Jelly’s Last Jam at Bristol Riverside Theatre”

A friend told me about a production that she loved at Inis Nua Theatre that was going to close after a three-week run this weekend. I was scheduled to go to plays on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week and the only way I could squeeze it in was to attend on Wednesday, to seeContinue reading “Can’t Forget About You at Inis Nua Theatre”

            Martha Washington, the widow of George Washington, is in her final days. We see her being cared for by her slaves, of which she possessed many. She passes out. Is she dead, we wonder. Soon we realize that she is immersed in an intense, surreal dream- a fever dream, where she has to dealContinue reading “The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington at The Wilma Theater”

            “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”