http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman RSS Feed for Inq Col Toby Zinman en-us Fri, 25 May 2012 07:01:00 GMT 2012-05-25T07:01:00Z en-us http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120525_A_Fugard_drama_about_a_cruel_South_African_prison.html The Island, by Athol Fugard, in collaboration with actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona, is about a real island in South Africa, the site of a notorious prison. If you've been there, you know how stark and oppressive Robben Island is, despite its having n Fri, 25 May 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120525_A_Fugard_drama_about_a_cruel_South_African_prison.html 2012-05-25T07:01:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120513_Review__Fast_and_funny__lsquo_Changes_of_Heart_rsquo_.html Changes of Heart, or The Double Inconstancy, is an 18th-century French comedy by Pierre De Marivaux, translated and adapted by Stephen Wadsworth. Damon Bonetti, who directs this new production by the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, styles the play as a screwball comedy, and watching this cast is like watching a master class in shtick. Although the original setting is the French court, and although there are many gilt picture frames and a violet chaise longue, you’re likely to be reminded of bits and pieces of 1930s movies, with their over-the-top mugging, pratfalls, flirting with the audience, and whatever other exaggerated stuff anybody comes up with. Sun, 13 May 2012 19:45:11 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120513_Review__Fast_and_funny__lsquo_Changes_of_Heart_rsquo_.html 2012-05-13T19:45:11Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120511_Different_acts__same_action_in__Walworth_Farce_.html Enda Walsh's The Walworth Farce is a perfect example of Marx's observation that "history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce." Inis Nua Theatre Company presents this very Irish, very theatrical play about families and violence and the endless acting out of the past at Off-Broad Street Theatre. Tom Reing directs and J. Alex Cordaro choreographs the fights, of which there are many. Fri, 11 May 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120511_Different_acts__same_action_in__Walworth_Farce_.html 2012-05-11T07:01:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120507_Review___lsquo_Philadelphia__Here_I_Come_rsquo__an_emigrant_rsquo_s_tale.html The Irish Heritage Theatre, a new company, is introducing itself to the city with Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! Tue, 08 May 2012 01:54:53 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120507_Review___lsquo_Philadelphia__Here_I_Come_rsquo__an_emigrant_rsquo_s_tale.html 2012-05-08T01:54:53Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120427_Give_Theatre_Exile_a_hand_for_this_dark_comedy.html Theatre Exile's dazzling production of A Behanding in Spokane is both hilarious and creepy - that signature Martin McDonagh combo. An evenly excellent cast, directed by Joe Canuso, convinced me that a play I thought was merely a star turn (Christopher Walken being that star when I saw it on Broadway in 2010) is stand-alone terrific. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120427_Give_Theatre_Exile_a_hand_for_this_dark_comedy.html 2012-04-27T07:01:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120420_Puppets_and_people_produce_a__Titus_Andronicus__to_remember.html I had been dutifully watching the trailer for Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre's new production of Titus Andronicus, listening to Aaron Cromie, who directs it, burble on, talking-head style, about going to graduate school, blah blah blah. And then his head started to bleed. And the blood gushed down his face, and still he talked. This, I said to myself, is going to be a Titus Andronicus to remember. And so it is. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:08:03 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120420_Puppets_and_people_produce_a__Titus_Andronicus__to_remember.html 2012-04-20T13:08:03Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120416_Review__Flashpoint_excels_with__quot_Slip_Shot_quot_.html Flashpoint The­atre Company is giving Jacqueline Gold­fin­ger’s new play, Slip/Shot, a fine pre­miere. This beau­ti­ful­ly crafted and in­tense­ly moving dra­ma about the leg­a­cy of rac­ist fear is served by a pow­er­ful cast and an imag­i­na­tive and skilled di­rec­tor, Reb­ecca Wright. The plot is un­com­pli­cat­ed, but the characters are not. Clem (Kevin Mee­han) is a new po­lice­man in a small town near Tal­la­has­see, Fla., some­time in the ear­ly 1960s. He is haunted by his no-good, rac­ist fa­ther and has turned his back on him. Clem’s wife, Kit­ty (Ra­chel Camp), is blonde and sexy, so it doesn’t seem to mat­ter much that her cooking does not ex­tend be­yond pea­nut but­ter and jel­ly sandwiches. Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:26:12 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120416_Review__Flashpoint_excels_with__quot_Slip_Shot_quot_.html 2012-04-17T06:26:12Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120413_A_musical_send-up_of_James_Bond.html You may be shaken but certainly not stirred at the Bearded Ladies’ newest show, Beards Are for Shaving: A 007 Cabaret. This ... group? company? collective? team? of terrifically clever performers takes on the iconic with great voices and irreverent glee: Last time it was Scarlett O’Hara, next time it will be Marie Antoinette (just in time for Bastille Day). This time it’s James Bond. Where better to interrogate gender roles than with bearded ladies and the world’s infatuation with the man “who took the hu out of humanity.” There is faux bondage, there are cardboard guns and cardboard sharks, and a laser that looks like a middle-school science-fair project. Into these hallowed scenes of bad guys and sexy women, with songs like “Live and Let Die,” “Thunderball,” and “Diamonds Are Forever,” comes feminist scholar Judith Baxter (author of the book Gender Trouble) in a black S&M costume who tries to emasculate James Bond, a “relic of the Cold War,” and thereby free us all from gender nostalgia. “Tomorrow is coming, Mr. Bond, and tomorrow never dies.” Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:26:29 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120413_A_musical_send-up_of_James_Bond.html 2012-04-14T02:26:29Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120413_Mere_glimpses_of_an_early_gay-rights_society.html Before there was Stonewall, before there was ACT UP, there was the Mattachine Society, the first gay-rights organization in the United States. Mauckingbird Theatre Company, dedicated to gay-themed theater, is presenting The Temperamentals by Jon Marans, about the founding of the society. This is a history play, meant to inform and inspire. Which it does, sort of. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120413_Mere_glimpses_of_an_early_gay-rights_society.html 2012-04-13T07:01:00Z http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120323__Hope_Street__is_messy_going__full_of_cliches__anti-acting.html Azuka Theatre's production of Hope Street and Other Lonely Places by Genne Murphy is exactly the kind of show I want to like. A small theater company, a new script by a local playwright, and under the direction of Kevin Glaccum, who runs the company. I arrived with my cheerleader pom-poms at the ready. Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/toby_zinman/20120323__Hope_Street__is_messy_going__full_of_cliches__anti-acting.html 2012-03-23T07:01:00Z