In PICT’s “The Smuggler,” a solo show by Ronán Noone about the underbelly of immigration, Michael Patrick Trimm’s Tim Finnegan gives off a pirate-like energy, in a fast-paced and energetic performance — Trimm won’t let you take your eyes off him for a second.
By SHARON EBERSON High winds and power outages this past weekend ushered in theater openings featuring provocative spins on hot-button issues, told with powerful performances. From uproarious laughter, to shock and empathy, the well-intended grownups of Eureka Day at City… Read More ›
The Smuggler – a one-man thriller in rhythmic verse – is finally ready for its closeup. Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre first announced Michael Patrick Trimm in the role of bartender/smuggler/immigrant Tim Finnegan for March of last year, working with director Patrick Cannon and expected at Riley’s Pour House in Carnegie. Fate and fire intervened, and Riley’s burned to the ground in November 2024. Starting March 13, 2026, Trimm is now ready to get fully under the skin of Finnegan, with a new director (Melissa Grande) and a new venue (Carnegie Stage), after more than a year of stop-and-start preparation.
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.
By SHARON EBERSON A dictator’s wife behaves like a spoiled child, oblivious to her people’s cries of anguish. What could possibly go wrong? The First Lady of the USA premiere play First Lady is named Ishtar (borrowed from the infamous… Read More ›
On a lovely Sunday evening in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh international Classic Theatre introduced a three-play “aspirational,” with music to provide a taste of each of the show’s international and American flavors.
Coming up Oct. 2 is “First Lady,” by the Turkish-French playwright Sedef Ecer and directed by Adil Mansoor. The play is described as “a satirical romp through the last vestiges of power of an imaginary Mesopotamian country, [where] Queen Ishtar lives in a bubble, oblivious to the uprising of an enslaved people.”
Theater’s Summer of Series has far-reaching benefits that were fully on display in the third annual Bards From the Burgh, readings of full-length plays presented by Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre. The four works by local playwrights were well-attended at the 90+-seat Carnegie Stage, a boost to efforts by PICT artistic director Elizabeth Elias Huffman to garner support for the possible next stage for each play.
Ripped from the headlines: The Living News Festival returns amid a flurry of festivals in “The Summer of Theater” in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre’s third annual Bards From the Burgh series will feature four readings of new works by local playwrights. Each year, PICT selects one play from the series to develop for production. The first production from the series… Read More ›
By BOB HOOVER There’s no more “Irish” in PICT, the reborn theater company that survived the departures of founder Andrew Paul and his successor Allan Stanford. There’s plenty of energy, though, as PICT has scheduled a series of programs inspired by the current… Read More ›
