How do two best friends of almost 40 years celebrate the holidays together? They mount a simple little two-person show for their friends and family. Except it also happens to be the most requested show and biggest hit in Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre’s 15-year history. A Tuna Christmas, Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard’s … Continue reading
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unMasqued Theatre’s WASTELAND tours Stage West August 20-23
Wasteland, Susan Felder’s searing prisoner of war play, opened at TimeLine Theatre in Chicago in 2012, and she wrote it like a veteran. It delivers unforgettable visceral impact in portraying the mind-warping suffering of two young American soldiers imprisoned and isolated from each other in Vietnam, while examining the universal themes of connection and isolation. … Continue reading
Oklahoma City Rep’s “Grapes of Wrath”: classic stage tribute to its 75th year
“A different time is coming.” Folks moved on if they wanted to survive. Beginning in 1930, the Great Plains region entered an era of extreme drought, which combined with widespread unsustainable farming practices to create a massively destructive, widespread dust storm phenomenon designated “The Dust Bowl”. By the end of the 1930’s, more than 75% … Continue reading
Oklahoma honors Steinbeck in theatre, music and history
Troubadour Everyman and mythic storyteller. Play narrator and occasional actor. Interpretive instrumentalist, weaving an evocative score underneath searing human drama. Guardian of the precious flame of human spirit…multi-faceted, professional performance artist and musician Sonny Franks wears a number of significant hats in the stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s celebrated novel The Grapes of Wrath, as … Continue reading
Your Enchanted Evening in the South Pacific, via Oklahoma City
Care to experience a toe-tapping musical theatre classic with a first-rate professional cast and a 38-piece orchestra playing the show’s fully orchestrated rhythms of the Big Band Era in faithful detail? Bebop on up to Oklahoma City April 24 – 27 to enjoy Oklahoma City Rep and Oklahoma City University’s co-production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s … Continue reading
CityRep Soufflé: Cooking Up Much Ado
Producing a play shares similarities with cooking a perfect soufflé. Carefully selected, measured ingredients get mixed with scientific precision (with a master chef or director’s signature touch) and then “baked” at the right temperature for an exact duration. Removed carefully from the “oven” and presented elegantly to its audience at table (or in the theatre), … Continue reading
Seeing “Red” at City Rep: A Splendid Creation
“What do you see? Nothing else exists….” The idea of anyone writing a dynamic stage play about a famous abstract expressionist painter from the 1950’s that a non-academic would want to read might inspire skepticism and yawns. Producing it in a way that communicates its protagonist’s creative process and philosophical intentions effectively as it soars … Continue reading
The Importance of Earnest Cooperation: Oscar Wilde in Oklahoma City
Imagine if Stephen Colbert wrote and directed a full satire episode of “Downton Abbey”. That’s what Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” feels like in Oklahoma City University’s accommodating thrust Burg Theatre space. A standout, signature co-production by Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre (City REP), Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park and OCU’s Theatre Department, it … Continue reading
Three-Cornered Theatre: Getting Earnest in OKC
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist Balance and harmony by design: consider the integrity of a three-legged stool. Each independent element shares equal weight-bearing support with the … Continue reading
criticalrant.com Alexandra Bonifield 