By Eva Phillips The 70s and 80s were a macabre-surrealist paradise when it came to horror films. Even the Sparknote versions of these films are preposterously devious: A town ravaged by an un-dead, fedora-clad pedophile stalking and murdering teens in… Read More ›
Archived Reviews
Archived from Pittsburgh in the Round
“Cambodian Rock Band” Rocks in Every Respect, Opening City Theater’s 45th Season
Genre-defying and unforgettable, Cambodian Rock Band rocks in every respect. City Theatre’s 45th season opener is an imaginative historic ride that casts the terrors of the Khmer Rouge regime against the rhythms of 1970s surf rock. The live… Read More ›
Scintillating Surrealism in Bricolage’s “Project Amelia”
In many ways, technology and theater exist at opposite ends of a spectrum: the one is typically replicable and individualized, while the other is usually unique and communal. Bricolage’s latest production, Project Amelia, sets its goals almost impossibly high… Read More ›
Directorial Excellence and All-Star Cast Lead the Charge in “A Few Good Men”
By Eva Phillips There’s a ferocious coding that comes with being a marine. It transcends the coding that comes with any military regimentation. A marine will be the first to tell you that. Semper Fi is the tipping point—Marines immerse… Read More ›
Collaborative Creativity in Attack Theatre’s “Some Assembly Required”
By Chloe Kinnahan Attack Theatre’s latest performance, Some Assembly Required, an evening that journeyed through the Warhol Museum, allowed audience members a wide window into the process behind creating movement art. Beyond simply being a enjoyable evening overall, this experience… Read More ›
PNWF Program A: 2019
By Eva Phillips An embittered villain bent on vindication and clearing his literary reputation. A purgatorial lesson in the subtleties of the bard. A blind date that perhaps is not so oblivious to age or consequences. These are the stakes… Read More ›
The Splendor and Magic in Choice in Dennis Watkins’ “The Magic Parlour”
Choices are often cast as things to make us wary. There’s usually a dichotomy involved: we’re meant to choose the right thing, not the wrong thing; make a good choice, not a bad one. But in the capable and… Read More ›
Iron Horse Theater Delivers Compelling, Provocative “Whipping Man”
By Eva Phillips There are fractious intersections in America’s fraught, tenuous, and often violent history, that defy readily accessible logic or confound the basic limitations of ethics and community. These intersections often reveal the commonalities of humanity—some viscerally unpleasant,… Read More ›
barebones’ “True West” Brings Brotherly Squabbles to Center Stage
It’s all familial turmoil at barebones productions with their current production of Sam Shepard’s dra-medy, True West. The Pulitzer Prize winning play focuses on a sibling rivalry between two estranged brothers, and the pent-up emotions they feel for each other,… Read More ›
Sentiment and Wit in “Outside Mullingar”
By Eva Phillips The tides of change are cruel in the sleepy town of Mullingar. Anthony and Rosemary neighbors nestled in the bucolic Irish farmlands, have worked tirelessly to keep their farms and parents going as long as they can… Read More ›