Janie Howland

Latest Articles

Parallel worlds

Legacy of Light at the Lyric; Not Enough Air from Nora; The Island of Slaves from Orfeo Group
Playwright Karen Zacarias would seem to have taken long drafts of Tom Stoppard Elixir.
By CAROLYN CLAY | February 17, 2010

Brush up your Porter

Kiss Me, Kate at the Lyric
With its supreme Cole Porter score and its robustly entertaining book by Sam and Bella Spewack, the 1948 Kiss Me, Kate is surely one of the half-dozen best Broadway musicals.
By STEVE VINEBERG | September 16, 2009

Daddys and lovers

The Lyric gives Williams's Cat new life; Dirty Dancing on stage
The Lyric gives Williams's Cat new life; Dirty Dancing on stage
By CAROLYN CLAY | February 19, 2009

Rough justice

The Lieutenant of Inishmore; How Many Miles to Basra?; Legally Blonde the Musical
Except that it's a black farce, not a tragedy, you could call The Lieutenant of Inishmore Martin McDonagh's Titus Andronicus .
By CAROLYN CLAY | November 05, 2008

Undiscovered country

New Rep’s Eurydice, the ART’s Let Me Down Easy, SpeakEasy’s The Light in the Piazza
A young woman steps off the Elevator Styx into a Hades ruled by Pee-wee Herman.
By CAROLYN CLAY | September 24, 2008

Easy to love

According to Tip debuts at New Rep; the ART sings Cole Porter
Given the water wings of a viable performance, one-person shows about historical figures tend to sink or swim on the raconteurship of their subjects.
By CAROLYN CLAY | July 01, 2008

Learning curves

SpeakEasy’s The History Boys; Trinity’s Paris by Night
From Mr. Chips to Miss Jean Brodie, charismatic teachers have been the stuff of drama.
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 08, 2008

Unkindest cuts

Julius Caesar at the ART; The Scene at Lyric Stage
Those who went to high school in the 1960s may feel a wave of déjà vu at the American Repertory Theatre’s Julius Caesar .
By CAROLYN CLAY | February 19, 2008

Rabbit forming

Donnie Darko, plus The Bluest Eye and To Kill a Mockingbird
For further indication of the darkening zeitgeist, consider the personae of imaginary rabbits.
By CAROLYN CLAY | December 16, 2008

The witching hour

Wicked , plus The Atheist , A Streetcar Named Desire , Zanna, Don’t!
WICKED is a very different witch hunt from the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel on which it is based.
By CAROLYN CLAY | September 18, 2007

Impossible dreamer

The Lyric Stage resurrects Man of La Mancha
If it’s “The Impossible Dream” you’ve come for, you’ll hit paydirt.
By IRIS FANGER | September 12, 2007

Teen spirit

The Corn Is Green at Williamstown; Romeo and Juliet at the Publick
The Williamstown Theatre Festival revival of Emlyn Williams’s The Corn Is Green marks the first time this play has been trotted out in years.
By STEVE VINEBERG | August 07, 2007

Sick comedy

Well at the Huntington; Fat Pig at SpeakEasy
Lisa Kron calls her “multi-character theatrical exploration of issues of health and illness both in an individual and in a community” Well .
By CAROLYN CLAY | March 20, 2007

Facing up

Letters to the Boston editor, March 9, 2007
“ Facing off over Facebook ” contained some very valuable information about university administrators’ increased role in monitoring students’ online activities.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | March 07, 2007

Cross-purposes

ART’s Oliver Twist , the New Rep’s Orson’s Shadow
Oliver Twist gets the Brecht treatment in Neil Bartlett’s new adaptation at American Repertory Theatre.
By STEVE VINEBERG | March 01, 2007

Freedom fighters

The Pillowman at New Rep; 1776 at Lyric Stage
Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, which is getting its area premiere at New Repertory Theatre (at the Arsenal Center for the Arts through October 1), is a superficially clever play.
By STEVE VINEBERG | September 12, 2006

Eternal questions

The Beard of Avon at the Publick; Happy Days at Gloucester
Bard or beard — that is the question.
By CAROLYN CLAY | July 11, 2006

Five By Tenn, Olly’s Prison win big

The Elliot Norton envelope please
The Boston Theater Critics Association put on its annual Elliot Norton Awards fandango Monday night, intended to honor the best on local stages as well as the memory of their namesake, dean of American theater critics Elliot Norton, who clocked 48 years on the Boston aisle.
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 24, 2006

Song and substance

Ragtime and Caroline, or Change
The wheels of a dream are spinning New Repertory Theatre into a new era with its production of Ragtime .
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 10, 2006