A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts

  Riki Lindhome is a woman with a plan in her one-woman show, Dead Inside , at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Photo credit: Cameron Whitman. The program describes Riki Lindhome as an actress, comedian, writer, and musician, so it comes as no surprise that Dead Inside , the current offering at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, is listed as “created and performed” by her. “Created” covers a number of tasks, in this instance: she conceived (pun intended) it and wrote the text, as well as music and lyrics for the songs. “Performed” also covers numerous tasks in this one-woman show that is sometimes stand-up comedy, sometimes musical comedy, deeply-felt confessional, satirical, extremely funny, incisive, but also quite tender and moving. Dead Inside is Riki’s very personal story recounting her “fertility journey,” which she admits is somewhat misleading, since “journey” implies (in her mind) something that is fun. Riki recounts events in her efforts to become a mother with happy-face and sad-face emo...

  The company of A Wrinkle in Time at Arena Stage. Photo credit: T. Charles Erickson Photography. Much of the time when I attend the theatre, I am fairly well-acquainted with the material, but once in a while I see something about which I know nothing – or almost nothing. Despite the fact that it is based on what I now know to be a noted, award-winning young adult novel, my near-complete ignorance of the material allowed me to experience the world-premiere musical adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time on its own merits. I cannot speak to how faithful it may be to its source, I can only respond to what I see and experience in the theatre. Arena Stage closes out its season with this daring, creatively rich production. There is much here to be enjoyed and admired – perhaps too much. The plot is both simple and complex: Meg, a girl (whose age is vague) and her little brother, Charles Wallace, along with Calvin, one of the girl’s classmates, embark on a journey through...