Roy Berko
(Member:  Cleveland Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association)

Have you ever wondered, after seeing a play, what might have happened to the characters or even the physical structure in which the story is set, before the play began or after it ended?  Bruce Norris’s ‘CLYBOURNE PARK’ does exactly that.

Flash back to 1959, where, at the conclusion of Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘A RAISIN THE SUN,’ the black Younger family is about to …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

One of the most common questions I encountered as a counselor when working with someone who had just experienced the suicide of a family member or acquaintance was “Why did s/he do it?”  Or, in confronting someone who was suicidal, the question is, “Why do you want to do that?” Ironically, most of the time there is no thoughtful answer.

A humanistic psychology …more…

Deaf and blind Israeli performers fascinate audience at the Ohio

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

If one of the major purposes of theater is to make members of the audience feel and view things in a different light, then “Not By Bread Alone” has to be an unquestionable success.  The “play” explores the hopes, dreams and memories of a group of men and women.  It also explores their …more…

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

Walt Disney was an animator, cartoonist, producer, director, screenwriter, and the voice of Mickey Mouse.  He won 22 Academy Awards.  It is ironic that for a man noted for producing some of the most beloved and lovable visual characters, he was emotionally conservative, not often drawing attention to himself.

Salvador Dali was an egotistical surrealist Spanish painter, who was noted for his bizarre …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)

The 2014 Stratford Festival’s theme is “Madness:  Minds Pushed to the Edge,” and includes more than 150 debates, concerts, workshops, and, of course, theater, theater, and more theatre.  The play offerings examine the madness of love, family, power, war, desire and money!

Though the snow and cold weather are still swirling, in some cases due to the frigid Canadian weather which they …more…

Bloody, gory TITUS A GRAND GORY ROCK MUSICAL continues CPT’s off-the-beaten-path journey

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

Since he became the artistic director of Cleveland Public Theatre, Raymond Bobgan has set a clear path.  He has organized a theatre that centers on practicality.  It lives within its means, is well organized and is artistically creative.  The play productions respond to “the political events, societal movements and new technology.”  It has a …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

When Dobama, Ensemble, Beck’s studio theatre and convergence-continuum, venues, where each has a mission of producing innovative and forward-thinking plays search for scripts, they usually turn to recent Broadway and off-Broadway offerings.  Every once in a while, they workshop new scripts in order to allow the authors to discover the strengths and weaknesses of their writing by exposing the material to selected …more…

JOSEPH starts its national tour at the Palace

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

The format for “JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT,” a version of which is now on stage at the Palace Theatre, makes the show unique.  In contrast to almost all musicals, except reviews, the show has no script.  There is music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, but no spoken format for …more…