Sh*t-faced Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream" at the Davis Square Theatre through May 1
Five classically trained British actors make William Shakespeare’s comedy a lot funnier by getting one of them absolutely…drunk. Two-thirds into a bottle of spirits and a few beers in, the chosen actor crashes into scenes, slurs lines, and pulls audience members into the spotlight. But the interactivity goes both ways, with two people given a horn and a gong to sound when it’s time for Puck, Lysander, Helena, Hermia or Demetrius to take another swig. It makes for a fun night of adult humor, and it’s nice to see actors working on their toes, even if they’re tripping over themselves.
Thoroughly Muslim Millie presented by Gold Dust Orphans, at Machine through May 10
The Boston Theater Critics Association just awarded Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, and “Thoroughly Muslim Millie” is one of the best shows he's put on in his 20 years writing, directing and performing for the company. It’s a provocative exploration of how the outside world looks at the Middle East and Muslims and a parody of classic musicals like “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “The Sound of Music.” In the first five seconds, Landry kills off Julie Andrew in a drone attack, and then we find Millie in a Canadian convent, run by the oil-thirsty Lynn and Dick Cheney, on her way to marry the prince of Persia. Amid all the laughter, particularly good performances and exceptional jokes, there are poignant observations that punch you in the stomach.
Clouds of Sils Maria in theaters Friday
In one of the first best films of the year, Juliette Binoche stars as Maria Enders, a movie star not unlike Binoche herself. Enders made a name for herself in film, playing a young woman who strains her older female boss to the point of committing suicide. Now asked to play the older woman in a stage adaptation, Enders must confront her age, whether or not she relates to the role, and what it means for her career. She retreats to the Swiss Alps to run her lines with her own assistant, Val, played by Kristen Stewart. There the two assume the fictional dynamic in real life. Stewart won France's Cesar award for her performance, the first American actress to do so.
True Story in theaters Friday
Jonah Hill stars as Michael Finkel, the New York Times wunderkind reporter disgraced for fabricating a story about child slavery in Africa. Finkel moves to Montana to reassemble his life, a plan that falls apart when he gets a phone call from another reporter who tells him a man recently arrested for murder had been impersonating him. James Franco plays Christian Longo, accused of murdering his wife and three children. Finkel sees a chance for journalistic redemption in writing a book about Longo’s side of the story and begins meeting with him in jail, which feels like a sanitized version of the Jodie Foster-Anthony Hopkins conversations in “The Silence of the Lambs.” The ground is constantly shifting, and you’re left wondering if Longo really killed his family or if Finkel is being played. The gifted Franco is the reason to see the film.
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