The Frog & Peach Theatre Company was founded in 1996. Their goal was to present Shakespeare to the public. They edit texts to keep the verse intact and maintain efficiency. The audience is drawn into Shakespeare’s world. Shakespeare’s messages remain clear. Macbeth – What if a madman were king? clearly achieves this goal.
Theater productions offer different feelings. This can range from amusement, amazement, a frisson of fear, and an insight into the human condition. An important moment is when the playwright presents an event from history that speaks to today’s events.
Urban Stages was founded to support playwrights in developing and showcasing new work. They now also work to increase access to the arts. Their mainstage program supports artists and presents acclaimed plays and musicals Off-Broadway.
Rakugo is a Japanese tradition dating back 400 years. A single performer kneels on a cushion and tells a long, complex story. A fan and a hand towel are the only props.
Pollution is bad. It affects all areas of our lives. However, our economy is directly connected to pollution. Factories create jobs and pollute at the same time. We bury the polluted waste, as if hiding it will remove the danger. People of color are most injured by pollution. The most destructive factories and dumping of toxic waste are placed in marginalized neighborhoods. These are the people who do not have the money and power to block any form of pollution. How does pollution affect these families?
1975 was a rough year for New York City. Garbage piled up in the streets. Subway cars were filthy, covered with graffiti, and unreliable. Crime was soaring. The Bronx was burning. Heroin use and drug trafficking were widespread. Municipal services such as police and sanitation were cut drastically. New York City was broke. The Federal response to New York’s cries for help was summarized in the infamous 1975 New York Daily News headline: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.”
Mexodus is described as “a two-person live-looped new musical.” Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson have dramatized important ideas in a novel fashion.
The cast of The Porch on Windy Hill – a new play with old music consists of three extremely talented musicians.
A struggling theater troupe decides to cash in on the notoriety of the film, The Exorcist.
Samual Taylor Coleridge said that some art must be viewed with “a willing suspension of disbelief.” The audience’s relationship to imaginative works of art is especially true of the theater. This certainly applies to magic shows. Amaze is an ideal example of a show that works best with a “suspension of disbelief.”