There’s a moment during a Babe Improv set where you realize two things at once. First, they have no idea what they’re about to do next. Second, it’s all going to work out somehow. That tightrope is what makes it work, and when you have two people this in sync, it...
The magnificent part about theatre is the examination of the human condition. The triumphs, the failures, the intricacies, and the grand sweeps that make up our lives are told in such artistic ways on the stage. But perhaps the most realistic, cathartic way to capture the human condition is through the example of pain. As part of TheatreLAB’s...
Part of the beauty of William Shakespeare’s work is how timeless it is. The seemingly unrealistic, dramatic, even chimerical stories with his colorful characters have been told for centuries, and yet offer lessons and hypothetical situations that could easily occur within our world. One of Shakespeare’s most beloved, and arguably overdone...
Quill Theatre kicks off its 20th Annual Richmond Shakespeare Festival at Agecroft Hall with a true classic, Romeo and Juliet. Before you disregard the possibility of seeing one of the most popular romances of the Bard, consider the opportunity to re-learn or discover new plot points, romantic monologues, and alternative perspectives within this...
Topdog/Underdog, the final production in TheatreLAB’s series Picking Sides, does an extraordinary job emphasizing the division created by brotherhood. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Suzan-Lori Parks is a dark comedy rife with themes of family, history, and resentment. Starring two incredibly talented actors, Jeremy V. Morris and Jamar Jones,...
Firehouse Theatre's latest production of “Preludes” is a trippy musical fantasia that takes viewers on a journey through 19th Century Russian history to dive deep into the music and mind of suffering Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, and the three-year writer's block, hypnotherapy, and psychological collapse that befalls him after his...
Two black brothers, one named Lincoln, the other named Booth.No, you did not read that incorrectly. Yes, the irony is purposeful. TheatreLAB, home of “unexpected and evocative performance,” is at it again with another unforgettable piece. Finishing off their 2017/2018 season entitled “Picking Sides,” the award-winning Topdog/Underdog by...
Richmond Ballet’s annual performance season ended with the “Studio Three” concert, as a professional ballet company now entering its 35th year, and the 2018 Studio Three production on opening night resounded what I believe the Ballet represents: refined professionalism and paramount artistic expression. Richmond Ballet has operated as a...
As The Richmond Dance Festival enters its fifth year, organizer and dance artist Jess Burgess took a quick break from her preparations to sit down with RVA Mag and highlight some of the best national and local artists performing in this year’s edition of the annual event. The project of Manchester-based Dogtown Dance Theatre is a celebration of...
The darker side of children’s fairy tales come to life in a VCU Theater department production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, showing now until the end of April, at VCU’s Raymond Hodges Theatre. Director Kikau Alvaro described the source material, by Sondheim and James Lapine, as a mash-up musical featuring characters from “the Grimm’s...
