Gertrude Stein and a Companion

By LIZ BYRON. The Jungle Theater’s 25th season opened this weekend with Gertrude Stein and a Companion. Particularly notable is the fact that this is the 8th time this show has been played at the Jungle, and with the same two actors, no less. If a show warrants repeating 8 times, it seems safe to…

Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World

BY TAMAR NEUMANN: “I like Colgate [the toothpaste]” may not be the most romantic line you’ve ever heard, but it sums up the quirky type of romance typical in Mixed Blood Theatre’s Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World.  This play is the first of four plays in the 55454 Series put on by Mixed Blood…

A Bright New Boise

By ADAM M. SCHENCK A Bigger, Smaller America: Review of Loudmouth Collective’s Production of A Bright New Boise  Perhaps no other culture outside the contemporary United States has had such a cleft between its belief in freedom while continually finding itself tied to the past. As Americans, we believe ourselves free to act unencumbered by…

Party in the Rec Room

By ERIKA YASMEEN SASSEVILLE, Guest Reviewer Lorna Landvik, nationally known author and locally known actor/playwright presents an annual solo improvisation show on the Bryant-Lake Bowl stage through the end of January. From the moment she steps on stage, Landvik creates interesting and energetic audience-suggested characters, complete with costumes and props. Wigs, facial hair and 70s rec…

The Misanthrope

By LIZ BYRON. I remember being wildly unimpressed the first time I read The Misanthrope. I was a college sophomore taking my first French literature class, and my impatient 19-year-old brain thought it was slow, wordy, and didn’t particularly seem to have a plot. A few years later, I re-read it for a graduate class…

The Whale

BY TAMAR NEUMANN: The Whale is about a 600 pound man who lives alone in Idaho and the moments in his life that lead him to this particular period. Of course, it’s not just about him—it’s about questioning the role of religion in our lives (and I do mean religion and not faith) and about how…

The Cocktail Hour

by ADAM SCHENCK and REBECCA HALAT. We live in an age of oversharing, as if our every whim must be declared on social media. In politics, partisanship prevents us from reaching compromise; we go to Target instead of Wal-Mart; Facebook prompts us to say where we work and whom our romantic partners are. We “like”…

A Hunting Shack Christmas

By LIZ BYRON. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about Yellow Tree Theater’s holiday season production. On the other hand, something doesn’t have to be groundbreaking to be good, and A Hunting Shack Christmas is very good. It’s got a compelling plot, it’s funny, it’s got enough heartwarming moments to give you the warm fuzzies but…

It’s coming up on that time of year again… Theatre Unbound’s 24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown. I reviewed the Smackdown last year and am looking forward to this year’s event, since they’re all different. Since this is a one-night-a-year event, here’s your reminder to catch this year’s action! This year’s event is happening on Saturday, January…

A Christmas Carol

by REBECCA HALAT and ADAM SCHENCK. Christmastime is a reminder that our best stories are not new. The Guthrie’s annual production of A Christmas Carol is just such a story. How then to make the old familiar story new? The Guthrie celebrates its 40th year of A Christmas Carol this year, and this classic production…