Happy Days, Presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, it plays at the Carling-Sorenson Theater at Babson College through November 23rd.
To begin its new role indoors as the Theatre Company in Residence at Babson College, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presents Beckett's classic Happy Days, featuring Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub. This absolutely stellar play will resonate with a new generation faced with the real burdens of climate change, and looming environmental catastrophes, dealt with only as Beckett can. Adams plays Winnie, a woman buried up to her bosom in a mound of dirt with nothing to pass the time but the ragged contents of her bag, her nimble wit, and her husband Willie, grunting and lurking somewhere behind her. I asked Ms. Adams to tell me more about the physical restraints she faces in literally being buried up to her neck and having to perform with only her face.
“A friend of mine always told me and I never know it because I can’t see myself. But she said I never hide anything. My feelings are right there on my face. And that I sort of get mesmerized when I’m listening to people and I think my face is that sort of expressive face. Clown-like or something,” she said.
Disgraced, Playing at the Lyceum Theatre
The winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, this new play written by Ayad Akhtar is a moving tale about the stories we tell our friends, the secrets we tell our lovers, and the lies we tell ourselves. A difficult narrative about a Pakistani-born lawyer hiding his origins as he works in a successful law firm challenges all of us to consider big city aspirations and cultural assimilation, daring us to face the biases and hostilities immigrants of Middle Eastern descent face right now in the U.S.
It's Only a Play, Playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (Martin Short joins the cast, replacing Lane, on January 7th). An all-star cast led by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick celebrate of theatre at its best—and theatre people behaving their not-so-best. It’s opening night of Peter Austin’s new play, and he anxiously awaits to see if his show is a hit. With his career on the line, he shares his big First Night with his “best” friends and family. It’s alternately raucous, ridiculous and tender, and oit proves that sometimes the biggest laughs happen offstage.
On the Town, Playing at the Lyric Theatre.
Enjoy the age-old story of sailors on a whirlwind tour of the city that never sleeps. With just 24 hours of shore leave, they’re eager to experience all that New York City has to offer, including a chance to discover love with the girl of their dreams. With the biggest orchestra on Broadway and a 30-member cast of New York's most talented singers and dancers, this revival is superb.
*****
This week on Open Studio I talk with Herbie Hancok on his new memoir Possibilities and with Elizabeth Barker, the new director of the Boston Athenaeum.
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