This week, WGBH News Arts Editor Jared Bowen reviews two new plays in Boston: one at the Opera House and one that’s free on Boston Common. Plus, a discussion about New Bedford’s “Summer Winds” festival.
“Cymbeline,” presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company on Boston Common through August 4
Shakespeare on the Common returns with a free production of “Cymbeline.” A fusion of fantasy, comedy and drama, this late Shakespeare work centers on Imogen, daughter of King Cymbeline, determined to be with the man she loves despite the myriad conspiracy plots aimed at them. It all makes for murder, mysteries and mistaken identities. “It’s very much once upon a time,” said director Fred Sullivan Jr. “There's an evil queen who uses poison to go after a young princess. There's a kind of a strong man oaf who's trying to pick her up, or marry her so he could be king. There are lost boys who are out in the woods kind of dressed as animals. … It’s very Disney.” “Spirited and dripping with wit,” says Jared, “this 'Cymbeline' has us revel in the power of the princess.”
“Dear Evan Hansen,” presented by Broadway in Boston at the Citizens Bank Opera House through August 4
The touring Broadway production of “Dear Evan Hansen” has finally arrived in Boston. Winner of six 2017 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of an awkward and anxious teenager who gets caught in a lie that escalates and eventually catapults him to internet fame and high school popularity. But how long before the lie collapses in on him? Ben Levi Ross delivers a powerful performance (and a remarkable tenor voice) as the titular lead in this humorous and emotional musical. “I really do try and give as much of an authentic performance as I can every night,” said Ross, “and that's really all thanks to the people around me.” Jared’s take? “Dear Evan Hansen cracks open the aloneness plaguing so many in an otherwise well-populated social media landscape. It’s a wrenching reality writ large,” he says.
“Summer Winds,” a new public arts festival by the Massachusetts Design Art & Technology Institute
A change is in the air on the South Shore as New Bedford hosts the first ever “Summer Winds” arts festival. Organized by the Massachusetts Design Art & Technology Institute, or DATMA, the festival was designed to highlight the city’s emergence in the wind turbine industry with several wind-themed public arts projects. Projects include “Silver Current,” a massive floating sculpture by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics, which features more than 40,000 silver streamers stretched across Custom House Square on a fishing net. “The quality of the intimate experience underneath is like ... walking into some kind of like Hobbitville,” said Shearn. Most of the Summer Winds events are free to the public and continue all summer long.
How are you experiencing the arts this summer? Tell Jared about it on Facebook or Twitter!
