Almost Theatre Heaven – West Virginia
By: Debbie Minter Jackson Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV July 13, 2006 Why, oh why has it taken me sixteen years to finally get to Shepherdstown, WV for the Contemporary...
View ArticlePig Farm
Pig Farm By Greg Kotis Directed by Ed Herendeen Produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival Reviewed by Tim Treanor Ultimately, I guess, this is a comedy. I can tell from the death scene....
View ArticleWrecks
Wrecks By Neil LaBute Directed by Ed Herendeen Produced by the Contemporary American Theater Festival Reviewed by Tim Treanor Edward Carr (Kurt Zische) is a Chicago businessman who has lost his wife....
View ArticleStick Fly
Stick Fly By Lydia R. Diamond Directed by Liesl Tommy Produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival Reviewed by Tim Treanor Atop a stack of books in the summer home living room of the...
View ArticleA View of the Harbor
A View of the Harbor By Richard Dresser Directed by Charles Towers Produced by the Contemporary American Theater Festival Reviewed by Tim Treanor “The rich are different from you and me,” F. Scott...
View ArticleThe Overwhelming
The Overwhelming By J.T. Rogers Produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival Directed by Ed Herendeen Reviewed by Tim Treanor “When, in the history of the world,” the cynical American...
View ArticleYankee Tavern
To Ray (Anderson Matthews), the Yankee Tavern is a place where everybody knows your name — and your Social Security number, the names of your sex partners, and your precise DNA sequencing, thanks to...
View Article50 Words
The best play of the Contemporary American Theater Festival 2009 is about your marriage – and mine, and every marriage, young or old, gay or straight, where the partners have, for better or worse,...
View ArticleBreadcrumbs
“Words, words, words,” Hamlet sneered at Polonius, who had asked him what he was reading, but to Alida (Helen-Jean Arthur), a brilliant writer now in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, they are...
View ArticleWhite People
There are white people all over the place. The ones whose dilemmas we observe in J.T. Rogers’ remarkable play are Martin (Kurt Zischke), a Brooklyn lawyer brought in to run a St. Louis law firm, Alan...
View ArticleInana
I had previously read, and enjoyed, the script for Inana before I saw the disappointing production at the Contemporary American Theater Festival. As a play, Inana is a bit of a throwback to a time...
View ArticleLidless
If the quality of a play were measured only on the basis of the sensational effect it had on those who watched it, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s Lidless would be the best play not only in this year’s...
View ArticleThe Eelwax Jesus 3-D Pop Music Show
“Hey, Mr. Reviewer,” the elegantly-dressed woman in the row behind me shouts. I had explained why I was sitting in the press section to her, and was beginning to regret it. “When’s the show going to...
View ArticleContemporary American Theater Festival to Feature Plays by Mamet, Shepard
This coming July, the five-play Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in bucolic Shepherdstown, West Virginia will feature plays from two of America’s most well-known...
View ArticleWe Are Here
How does an enviably perfect, fortunate family cope with senseless tragedy? The Nash clan takes a rather curious route — song. In Tracy Thorne’s promising new play, We Are Here, we see the various...
View ArticleRace
You gotta wonder what women did to David Mamet to deserve such misogynist treatment in the play Oleanna and now with Race. Playwright Edward Albee has addressed his thorny relationship with his mother...
View ArticleAges of the Moon
Sometimes, you are in one of those Peggy Lee “Is That All There Is?” states of mind and then you see a play that reminds you why you still go to the theater. Sam Shepard’s Ages of the Moon is one of...
View ArticleOpening weekend at the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Traveling to Shepherdstown, WV to cover the Contemporary American Theater Festival is the most sought-after assignment among DCTS writers. If you’ve been to the Festival over its past 20 years, you...
View ArticleThe Insurgents
Intrigued by the cultural and racial issues in several productions in this year’s Contemporary American Theater Festival, I found my way back to Shepherdstown, WV for a thought provoking weekend of...
View ArticleTwo world premieres, new LaBute to head up CATF 2012 festival
The Contemporary American Theater Festival, held each year in Shepherdstown, West Virinia is one of the Washington area’s favorite out of town summer festivals. This year’s season, just announced,...
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