Well-meaning Jason (David Bardeen) and Brendan (Jered McLenigan) buy good karma by sponsoring a child in a distant impoverished country. “We give,” quips Brendan, “without the hassle of receiving.” What if the kid suddenly shows up? Ritu Comes Home, a new comedy…

Mark Garvin South African playwright Athol Fugard has been well represented on area stages from the Wilma to People’s Light & Theatre Company, but nowhere more than by the Lantern Theater Company with “Master Harold” . . . and the…

Kathryn Raines Plays based on actual events end up compared to those events, even when the playwright fictionalizes the story. A. Zell Williams’ Down Past Passyunk, premiered by InterAct Theatre Company, weathers that challenge well.  In 2006, Geno’s Steaks’ owner…

Alexander Iziliaev WAR IS HELL: Kate Czajkowski and Keith J. Conallen in Don Juan Comes Home From Iraq. Let’s put some adjectives up front about Don Juan Comes Home From Iraq at the Wilma Theater: Brave. Messy. Smart. Eerie. Funny.…

Johanna Austin How much one considers Philadelphia playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger’s provocative new play Skin & Bone a comedy depends on where each person draws the line between funny and sick. It’s a balancing act that countless horror movies can’t achieve,…

Mark Garvin Shakespeare-production concept choices sometimes feel like a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey: In which historical period, nation and culture can we set a play to make it feel fresh? At Lantern Theater Company, feudal Japan…

Why do we consider fairy tales a children’s realm? The not-for-kids (due to its maturity and complexity) Ondine, Frenchman Jean Giraudoux’s 1938 fantasia by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, splendidly proves that magical allegories can be entertaining and meaningful for adults.…

Alexander Iziliaev Cherokee is a messy play that strains credulity and defies expectations — which doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile. Lisa D’Amour’s follow-up to her Obie Award-winning Detroit — also a Pulitzer Prize finalist — receives a lavish Wilma Theater…

Mark Garvin Alfred Uhry’s popular 1987 drama won the Pulitzer Prize and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best off-Broadway Play, and the 1989 film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Seeing this intimate and powerful play live in…