J. Peter Bergman is the Director of Communications at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead. In the past he has been a writer for The Berkshire Eagle, Berkshire’s Week, The Advocate, The Berkshire Beacon, The Independent and still contributes to The Chatham Courier and Edge.com and Berkshirebrightfocus.com. He is a novelist, poet and author of short fiction. His book “Counterpoints” won the 2002 Friends of Charles Dickens Award. He has been a paid theater critic since he was 15 years old.
Friday, 23 Aug 2019 - If, like me, you've had enough of this show, go prepared to be stunned into applause by this stellar production.
Thursday, 22 Aug 2019 - The two actors are believable in their onstage relationship and the final moment in their bows brought home the special sense of family that the theater produces in its participants.
Wednesday, 21 Aug 2019 - The joy in watching these six actors comes from the wonderful differences they are able to bring to every character they portray.
Monday, 19 Aug 2019 - The question that remains at the end of the play is "What is justifiable when family, salvation, soul are saved by a fatal call?"
Friday, 16 Aug 2019 - Is it worth your time and money? It most certainly is! It will make you think, which is not always the case with a musical show.
Thursday, 15 Aug 2019 - I am not often caught at a lack of words, but in this case, it is not clear to me what or why this play is what it is. Even so, praise for it comes naturally.
Wednesday, 14 Aug 2019 - Even if you think you know this play, you owe it to yourself to see it in this version.
Tuesday, 13 Aug 2019 - It's a hard 76 minutes, but it’s worth the effort, for the show reveals the souls of its characters.
Monday, 12 Aug 2019 - Filled with small details, the play ultimately moved the full-house audience to tears and sighs of relief.
Sunday, 11 Aug 2019 - With Uma Thurman’s elegance and nuanced playing, Tom Pecinka’s emotive and visceral credibility, and the other actors’ reality, the play is simply alive onstage.
Saturday, 10 Aug 2019 - One of the nicest things about seeing this company work is the emergence from the corps of players of new, young stars.
Friday, 9 Aug 2019 - Emotions play out beautifully and musical numbers are performed with immense grace.
Tuesday, 6 Aug 2019 - When history and religious background lead the intellectual way to drama and all the factors work perfectly—as they do in this fine play—all we have to do is sit back and let the characters take us where they must.
Saturday, 3 Aug 2019 - Too much has been drawn from Agatha Christie's fiction, forced onto the reality of her life and left to the audience to sort out while the play is going on.
Wednesday, 31 Jul 2019 - These are the finest moments in this play: when human comedy takes over the laughter and reality has a shot at taking over the work itself.
Wednesday, 31 Jul 2019 - It is the performances here that save the evening from becoming a yawn.
Tuesday, 30 Jul 2019 - It is deceptively simple, but there are so many layers of truth, humor, history and relationships that to dig through the surrounding fields of emotion to find the right spot for each and every one of them must have been a remarkable experience.
Monday, 29 Jul 2019 - It's a story that moves people but never really gets to where it should be.
Saturday, 27 Jul 2019 - If anyone reading this has any interest in theater at all, as a profession or as an avocation, this is what they should see. This is what all people in this industry should aspire to achieve.
Friday, 26 Jul 2019 - Randolyn Zinn has an eye for movement and for pictures. Her direction brings things forward that another director might have missed.
Wednesday, 24 Jul 2019 - It's not the language that makes this play what it is and what it isn't. There is emotion missing in the cleverness of the dialogue and the letters exchanged.
Tuesday, 23 Jul 2019 - Though I hadn't been anticipating much from a 1978 flop show, I had a wonderful time with this production and definitely appreciated its multiple messages so very appropriate to our times.
Monday, 22 Jul 2019 - It takes an act and a half to realize that the story Eugene Jerome is telling is less his own and more his mother's story. That revelation came to me with this production—the fifth time I've seen the play.
Wednesday, 17 Jul 2019 - David Auburn and his cast have brought forward all of the humor in Wilder's script, and all of the character that makes this a very special look at human history and American's part in creating the world we all now live in.
Wednesday, 17 Jul 2019 - There is an awkward reality on the Dorset stage that feels right, that comes together for the sake of exploring what makes unusual people tick.
Tuesday, 16 Jul 2019 - This is a fascinating play, a look at a world we know from the TV news but never have really been exposed to in a realistic way before.
Tuesday, 16 Jul 2019 - Sometimes truth is definitely stranger than fiction and this show goes a long way in proving just that.
Saturday, 13 Jul 2019 - The wonderful collection of character actors assembled for this foray into absurdism keep the show moving along brilliantly with their costume and wig changes, a pointedly generous directorial overview, and their own characterizations.
Friday, 12 Jul 2019 - The trio of fools in this production is less foolish than in many other versions I have seen, but they are more genuine and adorable than in most.
Wednesday, 10 Jul 2019 - Everyone plays his or her role with a sense of Christie's perfect formula for mystery theater. The entire company couldn't be too much better.
Tuesday, 9 Jul 2019 - Talent triumphs in this dizzying double existence, and the play succeeds to amuse us even as the inevitable creeps onto the stage while we watch.
Monday, 8 Jul 2019 - Not a moment is missed in this work. Every character is perfectly defined and the stage pictures are both realistic and dramatic.
