Reviews
‘Almost, Maine’ a sweetheart production
Valentines don’t usually come around until February, but New Milford’s TheatreWorks has posted one sweetheart of a show on its boards for this holiday season. “Almost, Maine” by John Cariani is treated to a delightfully funny and insightfully sensitive production co-directed by Glenn R. Couture and Robin Frome. Not a thought-provoking play, this is rather…
‘Almost, Maine’ more than almost compelling
You couldn’t ask for a more delightful, well acted and handsomely staged production of a show than the current offering at New Milford’s TheatreWorks. It’s playwright John Cariani’s lovable confection, “Almost, Maine.” The play premiered at the Portland Stage Company in 2004, and hit its off-Broadway venue at the Daryl Roth Theatre in 2005. The…
Love and Laughter Abound in TheatreWorks’ ‘Almost, Maine’
It can get pretty blustery throughout the deep winters in Maine, but romance—of the happily-ever-after and not so happily-ever-after variety—seems as abundant as the sparkling stars over the mythical town of Almost in actor-turned-playwright John Cariani’s warm romantic comedy, “Almost, Maine.” Set on a frigid, clear, surreal Friday night under the otherworldly illumination of the…
TheatreWorks Knocks ‘Em Dead With ‘Exit the King’
If you were told you would die at the end of the day, what would you do in your final hours? In “Exit the King,” Eugene Ionesco’s classic absurdist comedy of death, King Berenger the First wastes his final hours by refusing to accept his death, and goes so far as to throwing a royal…
‘Exit the King’ a crowning production
TheatreWorks, New Milford: Most people don’t want to die. In Exit the King, playwright Eugene lonesco reminds us to get ready to die because it’s going to happen, and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it. We are reminded of this inevitability through King Berenger the First, the protagonist who doesn’t want to die. He has…
Ionesco’s ‘Exit the King’ has audiences howling
In Eugène Ionesco’s masterful drama, “Exit the King” (“Le Roi se meurt” in the original French), the 400-year-old King Berenger’s world is closer to collapse than he ever imagined. The sea surrounding the kingdom has crashed through the dikes and flooded the land. Even the Milky Way is beginning to curdle, and his highness is…
Getting down and dirty over stamps: ‘Mauritius’
Playwright Theresa Rebeck has authored a taut little drama about the arcane world of philately. That’s stamp collecting, for those of us who are strangers to the hobby. In her play, currently being staged at New Milford’s TheatreWorks, five characters go at each other with a zeal so laced with expletives, you know the stakes…
Delight for philatelists at TheatreWorks
After seeing Theresa Rebeck’s “Mauritius” you may not be so quick to dispose of that stamped envelope great-aunt Penelope sent your great-grandmother from the boondocks. Once you learn that a tiny piece of paper (aka a postage stamp) can be worth millions, you’ll look at stamps more closely — even if you are not a…
TheatreWorks Has a Hit With Noirish ‘Mauritius’
Stamp collecting hardly seems gripping enough to be the basis of a play—unless, of course, we’re talking about the crown jewel of stamp-collecting at the heart of TheatreWorks New Milford’s latest offering, Theresa Rebeck’s spellbinding “Mauritius.” Presented under the direction of theater veteran Sonnie Osborne, the play is quite smart and very funny at times,…
Clever use of deception delivers genuine entertainment in ‘Mauritius’
Mauritius, an attention-grabbing two-act drama now playing at TheatreWorks New Milford, is an intriguing and entertaining look at the timeless human effort to achieve instant wealth and legitimacy — and the depth of deception that often accompanies such endeavors. Created by the noted playwright Theresa Rebeck, who has written screenplays for popular TV programs such…