351 stories by "Mark Cofta"
Think Alan Ayckbourn is the English Neil Simon? Think again. He's more like the English Anton Chekhov.
Seen together in repertory, Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night and the tragic Macbeth are greater than the sum of their parts.
Hollinger's intimate, powerful work — given a superb Arden Theatre Co. production by director Jim Christy — uses supernatural mystery to explore creative inspiration.
A new wave of theater bucks the economic trend.
While effort to thoughtfully examine the text is matched by a respect for the play as ghost story and psychological thriller, neither constitutes a consistent or unifying vision, and the pla…
Populated with richly realized but unlikeable characters, Run, Mourner, Run packs inexplicable punch.
Both prove eminently watchable, and the rotation provides extra benefits. If you see one, be sure to see the other; repertory celebrates actors' talents, showcasing them playing two disparat…
Curio's "lesbian" Romeo and Juliet"in which a woman plays Romeo not as a pants role but as an actual female character"will disappoint those expecting an overt political statement.
Fringe has been evolving steadily since its beginnings as a five-day theater, dance, music and visual-art festival in Old City. It's grown in performances, days and locations, bursting out o…
EgoPo's controversial casting swap of black and white actors turns out a drab gray.
Classic wrestling " with its iconic costumed characters, frothing proclamations and cartoonish violence " seems a tired topic for satire. And, in fact, that's not Adam Rapp's intention in Am…
The first clue that this is farce? The six doors on Dirk Durossette's colorful hotel suite set. The second is the breathless pace of director Bud Martin's production of Ken Ludwig's 1986 com…
To director Alexander Burns' credit, both fit perfectly and are staged with all necessary dynamism. Their uneven performances, however, suggest a tentativeness with classic comedy. Both wort…
The harrowing drama confronts the vanishing middle class
Jared Michael Delaney's first full-length play, presented by Inis Nua Theatre Company, barrages us with ridiculousness. Adam Altman, Harry Smith and Delaney himself are dim-witted Irish lads…
Mark Cofta reviews the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre's latest offerings
In Michael Whistler's charming new play, wounded souls bond over baking.
Houdini's Wikipedia page provides more excitement about his showmanship than this play.
Writers talking about writing sounds deadly dull, but not in Theresa Rebeck's capable hands. Her play Seminar reveals writing " here, fiction, at which she excels, as well as playwriting and…
The Walnut Street Theatre fits one serious contemporary play into each season of musicals and crowd-pleasers, and David Lindsay-Abaire's 2011 Broadway hit Good People fills that role this ti…
The East Hull native's drama about his city's once-thriving fishing industry receives a stunning Wilma Theater North American premiere.
Hurlyburly is crude, rude and deep, despite its main characters' shallowness, and packs a wallop.
Reviewing 1812 Productions' To Fool the Eye.
This gripping play about love, class and art shows how all four characters contribute to Vincent's seemingly impossible, yet inevitable, growth from callow youth to immortal artist.
David Holman's surprisingly involving adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's 1835 story swept me away.
