Articles tagged with: Michael Halberstam
With a sharp-edged slice through ‘Company,’ Writers reaffirms the promise of its new home
Review: It has been only a half-season inauguration, this first series of plays in Writers Theatre’s splendid new building, but the finale, a sly and penetrating account of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Company,” exemplifies how the main stage offers visitors an intimate, indeed an ideal, theatrical experience. ★★★★
‘Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf’: Angst, slow pizza and fast laughs at Writers
Review: Never mind the arcane title of the play, “Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf,” which, yes, seems familiar in a vaguely disconcerting way. You know you’re face to face with existential authenticity the moment Blanche Dubois’ voice drops an octave, plunging as if into a steamy bath of lurid sensuality. From there, it becomes a challenge for every viewer, a game of dicey drama and riotous laughter in the black box at the new Writers Theatre. ★★★★★
‘Arcadia’ at Writers: Stoppard’s fine-spun play proves ideal opener for Glencoe’s new house
Review: If a play, off the shelf as it were, could be tailor-made for the unveiling of a distinctive new theater, Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia,” an intellectual romp with a touch of tragedy, is the perfect inaugural raiment for Writers’ splendid new home in Glencoe. ★★★★★
Theater 2015-16: The mood is electric at Writers as ‘curtain up’ takes on dramatic new meaning
20th in a series of season previews: Writers Theatre artistic director Michael Halberstam sees ideal choices in the two major productions planned for the spring 2016 opening of the company’s brand new home in Glencoe – Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” and the Stephen Sondheim musical “Company.”
‘Isaac’s Eye’ at Writers: In genius’ rarefied realm, Newton’s high-flying boy meets Captain Hooke
Review: ★★★ As a clinical study of narcissism, even autism, in a budding young genius, Lucas Hnath’s play “Isaac’s Eye,” an imaginary clash between the obscure 25-year-old Isaac Newton and the celebrated British scientist Robert Hooke, is clever and sometimes brilliant theater. But as drama, it comes off at Writers Theatre as, well, a clinical study. ★★★
Theater 2014-15: Writers maps reduced season as company focuses on drama of new digs
Sixth in a series of season previews: “We have a challenging year coming up,” says Writers Theatre artistic director Michael Halberstam. Yes, and an exciting one — on an electric scale. Writers, in case anyone has missed this, is building a $31 million new home on the site of the company’s former main stage in Glencoe. So the 2014-15 season will be miniaturized , with the main drama focused on the grand house that’s projected to have its grand opening in winter 2016.
Theater 2013-14: Fantasy ‘Old Man, Old Moon’ opens Writers’ season; new home draws near
Ninth in a series of season previews: As artistic director Michael Halberstam began putting together the 2013-14 season at Writers’ Theatre with associate artistic director Stuart Carden, one coincidence seemed too good to be true: Halberstam’s right-hand man had been the teacher, at Carnegie-Mellon University, of an eclectic group of seven buddies called the PigPen Theatre Co., who were the buzz of Greenwich Village for their folksy fable called “The Old Man and the Old Moon.” The charming off-Broadway saga now comes to Writers’.
To cut, to shift, perchance to sharpen, Writers’ bold ‘Hamlet’ matches conviction with power
Review: ★★★★★
The New Season: To be or not to be (truthful) proves question of the year at Writers’ Theatre
Eighth in a series of season previews: Words, words, words. Are they the stuff of truth or the fabric of prevarication? Writers’ Theatre will bookend its 2012-13 season with both possibilities, swinging the spotlight from Shakespeare’s Hamlet in his quest for veracity to Corneille’s feigning manipulator in “The Liar.”
