Northlight Theatre

Bravo… bravissimo…Funnyman! For my first Northlight Theatre production, I’m so glad it was this particular play. Seeing Tim Kazurinsky and George Wendt together on the same stage was a royal treat… and on George’s birthday!
Thought provoking, powerful, sad, and funny. There was a particular moment of silence on the stage that got me in the gut. Well done, and it’s no wonder this play has been officially extended.
First of all, the theater is lovely. The temperature was perfect, the air quality not too dry (I hate when you spend an entire performance holding back the urge to cough), and it was nice and clean. My seat was off to the right a bit, and though I can’t imagine a bad seat in the house, I was pleased with the location and had an ideal view of everything.
The staging and sound quality were top notch, and the sets were minimal with just enough props to portray the particular era. Wonderful production.
This was also my first time to the performing arts center as a whole, and I found the overall experience delightful and relaxing. After dining with my companions nearby at the mall, we cut it a bit close to start time once we arrived, but we scooted right into a free parking space in the ramp in no time at all. Super easy and stress free.
A night to remember, and I want to do it all over again!

Reading a positive NY Times review of Pensacola Commons, the current Northlight production, makes me wonder if the critic — Charles Isherwood — and I saw the same play. I found it to be a very two-​dimensional study of a character intentionally similar to Ruth Madoff. Rather than exploring the purported ethical dilemma faced by the central character head-​on, Ms. Amanda Peet — an actress-​turned-​playwright — chose to insert distracting plot contrivances to dilute any potential in-​depth examination.
It seems as if Ms. Peet was (1) afraid that the complexity of the central character’s feelings and possible involvement in her husband’s misdeeds would bore the audience or (2) that the playwright does not have the level of skill necessary to develop characters and dialog with enough depth to create a compelling play and must rely on underdeveloped subplots to bring her play to fruition.
Some of the fault appeared to lie with the actors; the supporting players seemed to mistake energy for raw emotion, resulting in the type of fake fire that provides illumination but no genuine heat. The actress portraying the central figure seemed unsure just how to portray her role; sarcasm that lacked bite, anger that came across as only mild discomfort, and indignation that seemed to fall somewhere between the former two emotions define the range of emotions that caused her performance to fall woefully flat.
Such a shame — a subject that has all the rich meatiness of a Wagu steak was treated like an overcooked fast food burger.

Since the actual plays change (as they do in theater) this is more a review of the space and the company as a whole. It is probably inappropriate to rate any individual performance.
The theater itself is located in the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. The Northlight Theatre is one of two located in the building. It is basically a black box space. All of the seats have a good view though some can be a bit far to the right or left. so you kind of get a side view. I would certainly opt to get seats closer to center even if it means paying a premium.
I have seen two performances here, one was terrific and and the other a disappointment. I think that you need to choose your performance wisely.

Loved absolutely everything about Chapatti!

I have just seen the opening night of Chapatti at the Northlight Theater, where John Mahoney and Penny Slusher received a standing ovation in this emotional roller coaster of a play set in present day Dublin. Great Production.

Great!, but of course, I’m the Artistic Director…