26 stories by "Walter Bilderback"
A 2021 novella from Philly author Jonathan Koven, published thanks to the Electric Eclectic Novella Prize, is a new entry in a hoary tradition, but not without poetic merits. Walter Bilderba…
In Sam Gridley's new Philly-set novella, a now-privileged teacher grapples with her anarchist past as she continues to join left-wing activists. Walter Bilderback reviews.
If a demi-god burns and no one hears about it, does it make a catharsis? Walter Bilderback investigates a pandemic-era production of 'The Women of Trachis' at Swarthmore dubbed "theater with…
If a demigod burns and no one hears about it, does it make a catharsis? Walter Bilderback investigates a pandemic-era production of 'The Women of Trachis' at Swarthmore dubbed "theater witho…
LiveConnections Presents kicked off its new season in rousing fashion with an evening of music from the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble and classical guitarist Jason Vieaux " introduced, …
I went into Finding Neverland with high hopes. I had been enchanted by the 2004 film from which this musical has been adapted. The story, based on a play by Allan Knee, follows the (highl…
In 2016, Delaware Shakespeare began a new program: the Community Tour. This program is a bold initiative, designed to "bring a professional theater production to underserved or non-tradition…
If you open the dictionary and look up the word 'life,' one entry reads: 'a period of animate existence.' Composer Troy Herion gives this explanation for the title of Pig Iron Theatre Compan…
First things first: Lee Minora's solo show Cheeks is a laugh riot. Do not miss an opportunity to see this show. It is both whip smart and hysterical (both in the colloquial meaning and a fem…
Cotton&Gold is a new play by writer/director Alyse M. Hogan, a 2017 University of the Arts graduate, and her company AMH Productions, which describes itself as "a new theater company loo…
Home is the newest theatrical confection of Fringe favorite Geoff Sobelle, and a can't-miss part of the current festival. The first 70 minutes are a surrealistic delight. I recommend sitting…
Life Lines is a new, collectively-developed work by the all-female ensemble Tangle Movement Arts. Tangle's work is mostly derived from circus arts, particularly aerial performance on trapeze…
Two staples of American drama have been the "kitchen-sink play," which feature small casts and meticulously detailed, usually lower-middle class, settings, and what I'll call "family reunion…
LiveConnections Presents ended its sixth season with soprano Elizabeth Zharoff and double bassist Xavier Foley. This season was devoted to pairing musicians in order to stretch musical bound…
Set in the hectic kitchen of a restaurant in New York's Financial District, Will Snider's How to Use a Knife focuses on a friendship that develops between two men " one a chef, the other a d…
It's unlikely you will be familiar with John Ford's The Broken Heart. Like most early 17th century playwrights not named Shakespeare, Ford's works are rarely performed: he’s known almo…
It's So Learning, written and performed by comedic mavericks The Berserker Residents, is a wild, immersive ride through the Berserkers' vision of the K-12 system. Even people who avoid audie…
Once again, LiveConnections Presents ("LCP") curator Mary Wheelock Javian’s musical matchmaking has produced a lively evening of musical discovery. This time it was the pairing of the …
Sans Everything is a collaboration between the theater companies Lightning Rod Special ("LRS") and Strange Attractor Theatre Co. ("SATC"). The title comes from Jaques' famous "Seven ages of …
Nicholas Photinos' and Florent Ghys' evening of "string innovations" was another successful pairing for LiveConnections Presents' ambitious curator Mary Wheelock Javian. Her 2016-17 season "…
LiveConnection Presents' evening of Sybarite5 + Jakub Ciupinski treated its World Cafe audience to two exciting young exemplars of new music. Sybarite5 is the world's first string quinte…
A man sticks his head in through the door in the back wall. Broken down, dirty, dressed in old but modern clothes, he is delighted to see us, and sing his song. "It's a good story," and he's…
Guards at the Taj is the story of two young friends, Humayun ("Huma") and Babur. The two are a sort of Indian vaudeville duo: Huma (Anthony Mustafa Adair) is the uptight straight man, Babur …
I’ve long felt that if someone is going to cut down a Shakespeare text, they should take the responsibility of claiming co-authorship, since any editing becomes interpretation. This ye…
A playwright friend recently recalled something the Russian director Dimitry Krymov said: “I want to be interested beyond my understanding. My understanding can catch up later…. …
