Little Bear Ridge Road, does something you rarely see in popular media these days. It reminisces on the period during and just after Covid. Somehow, collectively, we’ve silently agreed to just not talk about it anymore. We don’t want to relive it on TV, in books, or...
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is one of the most popular stories in the murder mystery genre, foundational even. As such, it benefits from instant title recognition for motivated consumers, with the side effect that time and familiarity untangle its twists irreparably. Like A Christmas Carol, Wizard of Oz, and other classic tales...
Virginia Repertory Theatre is kicking off its new season the way any sensible theatre should: with a train, a murder, and a detective who’s just trying to make sense of it all. Murder on the Orient Express is Agatha Christie’s great reminder that people are both awful and fascinating, sometimes in the same hour. The setup is simple enough. A...
Now on view at the ICA at VCU, Julien Creuzet: Attila cataract your source at the feet of the green peaks will end up in the great sea blue abyss we drowned in the tidal tears of the moon (through February 22, 2026) plunges audiences into a submerged cosmos of history, myth, and invention. Acting Senior Curator Amber Esseiva describes it as a...
When RVA Magazine approached me about becoming their regular theatre critic, I was tickled at the idea. I hadn't been too involved in the local scene, but I had been very critical - of everything, always. I was curious as to the state of quality. Regional theatre is a fall guy for numerous jokes in an industry puffed up with a hierarchy...
Why federal arts funding keeps the city’s creative economy alive. by Catie-Reagan King, Ed.D. On any given weekend in Richmond, you can find a stage lit up with stories, some bold and provocative, others warm and familiar. Whether it’s a world premiere at Firehouse Theatre, a boundary-pushing musical at Richmond Triangle Players, or a Shakespeare...
On stage and in the kitchen, some recipes are meant to be followed to the letter, while some are wide open for flair and interpretation. Big Broadway musicals thrive on delivering an experience as replicable as a chain restaurant’s marquee burger. This is not a dig. When you pay for a Broadway hit musical, you want a Broadway hit musical with all...
WIlliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most popular comedies in the history of literature. It’s timeless. One of the best things about performing timeless Shakespeare comedies is that you can tweak, jigger, flip, and reverse his work into whatever shape pleases you and your audience. Set it in James Dean and Marylin...
A woman works in a diner. The kind with refills, regulars, and fluorescent lights that never quite turn off. She’s married to a man who doesn’t deserve her. She bakes pies that are better than most people deserve. And she wants out. That’s Waitress, more or less. It opens this weekend at Virginia Repertory Theatre, runs...
Richmond Shakespeare’s Summer Series is upon us! Opening this past weekend was Cyrano, the 1897 romantic revivalist play by Edmond Rostand (1868-1918), loosely based on the life and exploits of the 17th-century French novelist Cyrano de Bergerac. Considering the theatre world was consuming Ibsen, Chekov, and Strindberg at the time of Cyrano’s...
