onSTAGE PITTSBURGH CALL BOARD as summer 2026 comes to a close: With news about Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s fall 2026 schedule; Prime Stage rethinking program model at 30; and a welcome summer trend: sold out shows.
Kinetic Theatre
Review: Revel in the Delights of Kinetic’s ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’
By SHARON EBERSON Exquisitely presented and performed by an illustrious cast, Kinetic Theatre’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd invites everyone, even those who arrive knowing the “who” in whodunit, to relish in a pitch-perfect reimagining of the classic Agatha Christie… Read More ›
Kinetic Theatre Starting Five: Agatha Christie’s ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’
A CLASSIC AGATHA CHRISTIE WHODUNIT IN CARNEGIE
Sam Tsoutsouvas portrays Hercule Poirot in Kinetic Theatre’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”
Review: A Maze of Manipulation in Kinetic Theatre’s ‘Henry Johnson’
Kinetic Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s Henry Johnson marks the play’s Pittsburgh debut. It is also only the third production of the work, following its premiere in Los Angeles in 2023 and a staging in Chicago in 2025. Henry Johnson has Mamet’s classic flair, with its downward-spiraling plot, coercion, ulterior motives, and the rhythmic, staccato, naturalistic Mamet-speak. It’s a play that makes you wonder: What is the truth? Who should I believe? Am I, as an audience member, just as susceptible as Henry Johnson? The play is less of a moral lesson and more of a question of morality. It leaves us grappling with the ambiguity of where the truth and manipulation begin and end.
Kinetic’s Rarely Done ‘Henry Johnson’ Boasts David Butler’s Return to Pittsburgh Stage
The story of how the third production of David Mamet’s “Henry Johnson” landed at Carnegie Stage, and along with it, David Butler’s return to a hometown stage, follows the on- and off-ramps along the figurative map: All roads lead back to Pittsburgh. Andrew Paul’s Kinetic Theatre is bringing the play to the stage July 9-26, 2026, with Butler, Cotter Smith, David Whalen and John Steffenauer.
2025: A Blockbuster Year in Pittsburgh Theater
In the year that was, the future of three companies takes center stage, Saige Smith hits a series of high notes, “The Shark Is Broken” goes swimmingly for barebones, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company delivers August Wilson triple play, Karla Boos announces Quantum exit, Arts Landing is readied for its closeup, and much, much more.
Review: ‘A Sherlock Carol’: Doyle + Dickens = Delight
Some things are such crowd-pleasers, they bear repeating. Even within the packed realm of Christmas-time theater, that holds true for Kinetic Theatre’s finely tuned, atmospheric production of “A Sherlock Carol.” Introduced last year at the Stephen Foster Memorial, the show this season travels from Oakland to Carnegie Stage, and, if anything, gains in connectivity between cast and audience in the intimate space.
Home for the Holidays: Christmas On Pittsburgh Stages
Here’s a glimpse of some of the live theater of the Pittsburgh holiday season, and the 2025 Holiday Market that has moved into the Pittsburgh Cultural District.
Review: Sam Tsoutsouvas Adapts Classic ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener’ Into Solo Tour de Force
An adaptation of “Bartleby, The Scrivener,” written and performed by Sam Tsoutsouvas and directed by Andrew Paul for Kinetic Theatre, delivers a pitch-perfect solo retelling as Melville told it, from the perspective of the unnamed Narrator – a Wall Street lawyer who likes his lot in life just fine, until Bartleby walks through his doors.
onStage Pittsburgh Call Board: October 2, 2025
IN MEMORAM: GEORGE B. PAROUS, OUR OPERA AND CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWER George B. Parous, onStage Pittsburgh’s cherished contributor and reviewer of opera and classical music, passed away unexpectedly last week. A Pittsburgh native, George first studied music and cello in… Read More ›