Posts from the middle of . . .

Odd sights in Hangzhou, China.

Scenes from our trip to Hangzhou, China, October 2015.

I was lucky enough to see theatre all over the world this year. I thought I'd list them for my own remembering. I posted reviews of a few of these pieces on this blog.

The year started (well, the first performance of the year for me, in late January) with a kabuki performance at the Asakusa Public Hall in Tokyo. It was the New Year performance, so included the good luck mie (long, powerful stare) from a member of the Ichikawa Danjuro family. Also the plays Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi and Kanjincho (known in the west as The Subscription List).

Next was a return trip to one of my favorite theatres. We saw The Rose of Versailles: Oscar and Andre by the Takarazuka company in Osaka. It's one of their signature shows, and it was every bit as thrilling as I knew it would be.

Cantonese opera was next on the list, in Hong Kong, at the West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre. Alas, I don't have my program here at home and I can't remember which show we saw, but it was  much fun. I liked it more than many of the students, but you have to develop an ear for it.

My first "cultural show" was in Saigon, showcasing many of the region's performance styles.

The  Crucible in Singapore by the Toy Factory was an incredible experience in cross-cultural performance, and I was thrilled to see my students reading the performance so well.

Another cultural show, including Burmese puppetry, in Yangon, Myanmar, was fascinating. Made me decide to write about these performances as tourist culture.

In Cochin, India, my students and I saw a Kathakali performance.

My puppet class went to a show at Rainbow Puppet Company in Cape Town, where we also saw presentations by members of Handspring Puppet Company and Cosmos Productions.

I also was lucky enough to see Alexander McCall Smith's opera Akavango Macbeth at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town. It told Shakespeare's story through the history of baboons. It worked amazingly well, and was probably my favorite thing I saw overseas.

Back in Charleston, I saw some good shows by local theatres: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Woman in Black were both at Woolfe Street Playhouse. Tribes by Nina Raine was at Pure Theatre, and Kimberly Akimbo by WhatIf? Productions

Our own theatre at the College of Charleston presented wonderful productions of As It Is In Heaven, by Arlene Hutton, and The Who's Tommy.

The Spoleto Festival brought several great entries:

The modernized noh drama Matsukaze, directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, was a stunning way to start the festival for me.                                                      

Shantala Shivalingappa returned to the festival to provide a beautiful performance of Indian classical dance once again.

Rob Drummond's Bullet Catch was exciting and entertaining.

I quite enjoyed Midsummer Night's Dream as done by the Bristol Old Vic and Handspring Puppet Company, although it wasn't reviewed terribly well. I liked that the puppets made me think in depth about the characters.

Mayday Mayday was a moving and humorous memoir written and performed by Tristan Sturrock, about the accident that almost ended his life.

Stephen Berkoff and Nottingham Playhouse's Oedipus was a yelling mess, or so I thought - I reviewed it quite harshly on this blog.

I saw both parts of Intergalactic Nemesis, although I really didn't get all the hype about it. Fun, but not for that long.

Three trips to New York provided me with opportunities to see some terrific theatre in the second half of the year.

John Guare's Three Kinds of Exile, featuring the playwright himself as an actor, was a touching collection of three plays. I quite liked it.

Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike was a love letter to Chekhov and included brilliant performances by Kristine Nielsen and David Hyde Pierce.

I finally saw Peter and the Starcatcher in its new off-Broadway location. I enjoyed it, but was oddly underwhelmed.

I went to the Toy Theatre Festival at St. Ann's Warehouse and saw two performances. The Paper Hat Game was a revelation of tiny figures and activities and quite moving. Secrets History Remembers was a weird amateur mess. Very cool concept with dopey execution.

In October, the winner by far was Julius Caesar by Donmar Warehouse at St. Ann's Warehouse. I was riveted by Harriet Walter and Frances Barber. I quibbled with some of the production choices, but the acting was so stellar it didn't matter.

Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, by Anne Washburn and originated by The Civilians, was definitely something new. I loved it. Others didn't. I was moved by the mask work.

Snow Geese, by Sharr White, was just blah. Everything about it, except the set by John Lee Beatty and the acting of Evan Jonigkeit and Brian Cross, was odd and wrong.

Fun Home was the main reason for my trip to NY this month, and it didn't disappoint. I couldn't see how this terrific graphic novel could be made into a musical, but Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron managed it beautifully.

In December, good timing allowed me to see Waiting for Godot, with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. They did the buddy version of the play rather than the absurdist version, but it was quite a treat to see.

Nutcracker Rouge by Company XIV was everything burlesque should be. Fun and full of talent.

The Pigeoning, created by Robin Frohardt, was an excellent example of what HERE is doing with puppet theatre. Charming and moving.

Finally, the best possible way to end the year was with The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, produced by CSC, and written and performed by Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac, directed by Susan Stroman. It was the reason I went to New York and was worth every penny. Also a buddy play, but truly about the end of the world and hope for humankind, all communicated through song. I can't wait to see it in future incarnations.