Jeffrey Sweet–Making the Scene

Thinking about the National Theatre’s 2015 production of Everyman, a modern-language adaptation of the medieval morality play by Carol Ann Duffy, directed by Rufus Norris and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. It is indeed a modern spin. The original doesn’t open with Everyman snorting long lines of cocaine with partying friends and accidentally falling off the top… Continue reading

I am very pleased that Ken Davenport has named one of my books–What Playwrights Talk About When They Talk About Writing–one of the “Top 100 Theater Books Every Theater Maker Should Read.” I modestly suggest that he has short-changed theater history though. I think he should have also included two of mine–Something Wonderful Right Away… Continue reading

First, I want to refer you to a piece Michael Feingold has written in memory of Alvin Epstein: Explaining Alvin Epstein.  I first had the pleasure of meeting Alvin when Emily Mann cast him in a production of The Value of Names at Hartford Stage.  I can’t claim that I initially understood what an honor it… Continue reading

I used to have a prejudice against plays and movies that were anchored in celebrity impersonation.  No, actually, I still have a prejudice against them.  Except when they are done so well that I have to give way. Which happens rarely. When volume three of Simon Callow’s multi-volume biography came out, he appeared at the… Continue reading

The New York Film Critics Circle recently gave their award for best actress to Regina Hall for her performance in a film called Supporting the Girls, and the response among many was “hunh”? Like many indie films, it opened, received a smattering of reviews and disappeared before most were aware it existed. One of the benefits of… Continue reading

For the past few decades, I’ve been writing a column for Dramatics, a magazine published by the Educational Theatre Association for thousands of theater-mad high school kids around the country. Mostly I’ve covered topics related to the theater scene in New York, though occasionally I’ve posted from Chicago and Stratford, ONT. It’s been a happy… Continue reading