Roy Berko

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

Edward Albee, author of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF,  now in production at The Lakeland Civic Theatre, is one of the best known Theatre of the Absurd American writers.  This form of theatre, which was at its apex shortly following World War II is based, in part on existentialism, and asks “what is the purpose of existence?”

Absurdist playwrights create situations in which …more…

Roy Berko

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

Arthur Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning drama, now on stage at Ensemble Theatre, is universally recognized as one of, if not the greatest modern American play.   Others that are recognized as top classic plays are LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (Eugene O’Neil),  STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE (Tennessee Williams), OUR TOWN (Thornton Wilder), and WHO’S AFRAID …more…

Roy Berko

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

Opening night of THE SPITFIRE GRILL was a special evening for the Beck Center for the Arts.  It was the start of the organization’s 82nd season and Scott Spence’s 25th anniversary as Artistic Director.

THE SPITFIRE GRILL, with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, which is based on Lee David Zlotoff’s 1996 film of the same …more…

Broadway legend John Kander to attended Musical Theater Project’s PERFECTLY MARVELOUS @ Allen Theatre

Roy Berko

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

Liza Minnelli once said, “The greatest thing about [John] Kander and [Fred] Ebb is you sing their songs and you feel good.”  She was referring to the multi-award winning Broadway writing team who gave the world such songs as, “How Lucky Can You Get?,” “Maybe This Time,” “All That …more…

Ludwig’s world premiere of A COMEDY OF TENORS delights @ CPH

Roy Berko

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

The Cleveland Play House opened its 100th season in a lavish and theatrically exciting way.  An invitation only group of CPH financial supporters, politicians, and theatre enthusiasts, draped in tuxedos and high fashioned gowns, entered the beautiful Allen theatre lobby to have their pictures taken with the 2015 Best Regional Theatre Tony …more…

Roy Berko

Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle

Neil LaBute, the author of IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP, now on stage at none too fragile theatre, is noted for writing plays and movies filled with hatred, distrust and disdain for humans and human nature.

His writing style, where characters hold supreme over the plot, are filled with terse, rhythmic and language-oriented speeches.  Much like his mentor, David Mamet, he also …more…

Roy Berko

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

Dobama Theatre’s mission statement indicates that it is its purpose to “premiere the best contemporary plays by established or emerging playwrights.”  Why, then, are they opening their 2015-16 season with a play set in 1666-1670?

According to Nathan Motta, the theatre’s Artistic Director, OR, “is intrinsically intelligent, sumptuously sensual, persistently playful, full of frivolity, and is chock-full of surprises.”  That explanation, even though …more…

Roy Berko

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

What could be more appropriate in this year, which leads up to a presidential election, than to examine the political hacks who run the campaigns.  Voilá,  for the start of its 36th season, Ensemble Theatre has chosen Beau  Willimon’s 2008 drama, FARRAGUT NORTH, which examines the lust for power among political hacks.

The play is very loosely based on Willimon’s experiences with Howard …more…

Roy Berko

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

Book buyers spend an estimated $1.08 billion dollars each year purchasing romance novels.  Since 1972 when Avon printed Kathleen Woodiwiss’s “The Flame And The Flower,” supposedly the first U.S. published book of that genre, almost 55% of all paperbacks sold in the U.S. have centered on romantic relationships with optimistic endings, whose covers usually feature a handsome buff man saving a helpless …more…

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)
I consider OUR TOWN, which is now being performed at Blank Canvas, to be one of the greatest plays of the 20th century. It not only won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938, it has become one of the most performed and studied plays in the English language.  It, along with Arthur Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN, Eugene O’Neil’s LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO …more…