153 stories by "Ian Thal"
The phrase "film noir" evokes both a particular sub-genre of the crime film as well as a particular era. Inspired by the moody expressionist dramas of the silent era that had come to an end …
Schimmelpfennig's Winter Solstice is an important play by a major playwright.
Steven Barkhimer's mastery of the role's physicality is the key to his expression of its villainy.
Dario Fo's dark comedy still deserves its reputation as a classic.
Scripts like The Hearing also provide an optic through which to examine our own nation's problems.
Director Courtney O'Connor, the Nora Theatre, and its skilled cast do right by this hilarious historical comedy.
Matthew Woods and his actors do not draw on a faux-naturalist performance style, which is so (unfortunately) fashionable in mainstream theater.
An entertaining but surprisingly slight monologue from Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol.
This staging, in terms of quality, surpasses any previous Flat Earth Theatre production I have attended.
In Ionesco's play, society no longer makes sense -- even to itself.
Playwright Aaron Loeb is spot on when writing about the corporate world where loyalty is maintained through non-disclosure agreements.
This exciting look at Shakespeare's tragedy is a decidedly gothic affair.
Allegra Libonati has assembled a mostly excellent cast for what at first glance should be an evening of quality Bardic entertainment.
Mortals would be foolish to miss the ASP's version of Shakespeare's Dream.
The source material  -- and the skills of Tennessee Williams' posthumous collaborators -- provides an evening of compelling theater.
Debra Wise's stellar turn is not only a reflection of her long stage career, but a testament to the breadth of her experience.
Apollinaire Theatre Company has done delightful justice to this zesty rejuvenation of a didactic dramatic chestnut.
Questioning Joshua Sobol's right to write about these kinds of intimate atrocities is to suggest that stages should never address these issues.
With each piece, the impressive physicality of KodÅ's drummers becomes even more theatrical.
This is a wonderful production of an important play that still has a dog in the fight.
 Jeffrey Sweet has provided a handy oral history of the ways playwriting has changed over three generations.
Marlowe's skill in maintaining a high level of complexity put the history play on a sophisticated footing.
Informed Consent is the smartest play I've seen hit Boston area stages since the new year began.
Askins' script is an amusing mash-up of sex comedy and supernatural horror parody, drawing on puppetry's subversive potential to externalize the repressed.
Brilliant Adventures is an intriguing combo of realism and fantasy by an obviously talented dramatist.
