The Communication Cord is light comedic fare that delivers plenty of laughs and will especially delight lovers of Irish—or, for that matter, British—comedy. The plot’s genesis is simple enough. Junior linguistics lecturer Tim Gallagher (David Whiteley) has a scheme to borrow the ancestral Donegal home of his lawyer friend Jack McNeilis (Tim Oberholzer) for an hour in an effort to impress Senator Doctor Donovan (Alain Chamsi), father of his sweetheart Susan (Kat Smiley).  The scheme goes horribly and hilariously awry when unexpected houseguest Claire Harkin (Michelle LeBlanc) refuses to play... | Continue reading article

One doesn’t expect there to be so many opportunities for laughter at a tragedy about the personal legacy of the Holocaust, but that’s what makes Hannah Moscovitch an outstanding playwright, and East of Berlin a thought-provoking, entertaining play. East of Berlin is a memory play, told from the perspective of Rudolf (Rudi) Klausner (Simon Bradshaw), the son of an escaped Nazi doctor. Rudi grew up in an expatriate German community in Paraguay after the end of World War II, where time seemed to have been halted and the war never... | Continue reading article

Penny Plain is all about the puppets. They’re exquisitely crafted, detailed, and lifelike. Their strings are in the skilled hands of Ronnie Burkett. It would be a tragedy to be unable to see them clearly. Well, I wish I’d brought a pair of opera glasses. Penny Plain, the blind proprietor of a boarding house, is content to wait out the imminent end of civilization with her heretofore faithful canine companion Geoffrey, listening to events unfold on the television. Geoffrey, however, has other ideas—so, too, do her boarders: Wesley Dollop, a... | Continue reading article