Performing Arts

The tomb of Jacob Bigelow at the Mount Auburn Cemetery. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

What Exactly Is Mount Auburn Cemetery's Artist-In-Residence Digging Up?

Artists-in-residence are usually invited to brainstorm and create work in museums, universities, galleries and sometimes corporations. But a graveyard?

ArtsEmerson Kicks Off 10th Season With Tightropes And Trains

“Passengers” director and co-founder of The 7 Fingers Shana Carroll created the show as an homage to her own memories of train travel from her youth.

At SpeakEasy Stage, 'Choir Boy' Is Grounded In Tenderness And Truth

SpeakEasy's production displays more of a fullness of empathic range in what it means to be a “strong black man” than I’ve ever seen, even in "Moonlight," McCraney’s Oscar-winning movie,...

Legendary 'Giselle' Dancer Teaches Next Generation Of Dancers The Role At The Boston Ballet

Ballet master Larissa Ponomarenko has embodied the role in her career, and now she is training the Boston Ballet's dancers for its season opener.

In 'The Purists,' A Disparate Group Finds Common Ground — And We Get A Lot Of Laughs

In it's world premiere at the Huntington, the play The Huntington goes hip-hop in a world premiere.

Photos: Inside 'The Donkey Show' As It Prepares To Spin Its Last Disco Ball After A 10-Year Run

As the community says goodbye to what's become a local theater institution, photographer OJ Slaughter visited as the performers were getting ready for the evening's shows.

‘The Donkey Show,’ #MeToo And Me

"The Donkey Show," a popular disco-themed takeoff on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," ends a decade-long run at the A.R.T. -- just as the critically-acclaimed production starts to show its...

The ARTery

05:11Sep 3, 2019

The ensemble of "Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)." (Courtesy Maria Baranova)

Here Are 12 Reasons To Put Theater On Your Fall Calendar

As many question what our nation is, where it’s been and where it’s headed, so too will autumn offerings on area stages, from the theater experience of David Byrne’s “American...

The ARTery

Aug 28, 2019

Catherine Parr (Anna Uzele) performs “I Don’t Need Your
Love” in "SIX." (Courtesy Liz Lauren/American Repertory Theater)

Henry VIII's Wives Are Back To Tell — Rather, Belt — Their Sides Of The Story In 'SIX'

“SIX,” a new musical kicking off American Repertory Theater’s season, gives a loud and proud feminist voice to Renaissance English royalty, even if the overall message is tied a little...

The ARTery

Aug 27, 2019

Stephen Sampson plays Prince Hall at a performance of "The Petition" at the Old State House. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

'The Petition' Addresses Black Liberation And White Allyship In The Old State House

The Old State House Museum is hosting a new interactive play called “The Petition” which follows a free black man who pushed to abolish slavery in Massachusetts.

The ARTery

04:43Aug 27, 2019

Director Billy Porter laughs during a rehearsal of the opening scene of "The Purists" at the Huntington Theater. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

For 'The Purists' At The Huntington, Billy Porter Puts On His Directing Hat

"As a performer, I'm only responsible for myself,” Porter says after the rehearsal. “As a director, I'm responsible for the entire thing. All of the departments, all of the collaboration...

The ARTery

04:17Aug 26, 2019

A projection of Medusa in "Reclaiming the Myth." (Courtesy Ruth Lingford)

This Performance Reclaims The Myth Of Medusa After #MeToo

The audio-visual play takes a more compassionate look at Medusa, a woman whose life is shaken by sexual assault.

The ARTery

Aug 14, 2019

Shepard Mallory (as played by Shane Taylor) and Major General Benjamin Butler (as played by Ames Adamson) in Gloucester Stage's "Ben Butler." (Courtesy Jason Grow)

In 'Ben Butler,' Gloucester Stage Mounts A Comedy With Slavery At Its Center

The play, which premiered in 2014 and was presented Off Broadway in 2016, is neither a treatise on race relations nor a pejorative history lesson (and in this new time...

The ARTery

Aug 12, 2019

Michael J. Bobbitt joins New Repertory Theatre as artistic director. (Courtesy Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant Pictures)

Artistic Director Michael J. Bobbitt Brings Passion For Inclusion To New Repertory Theatre

“New work is a part of my DNA as an artist.” says Michael J. Bobbitt. His ability to bolster new work falls in line with New Rep’s commitment to bringing...

The ARTery

Aug 2, 2019

"What's the point if you're not making people ask questions about why these things are OK?" asks photographer Ally Schmaling about social media censorship. (OJ Slaughter for WBUR)

This Boston Artist Protests Social Media Censors And Celebrates Bodies By Photographing Nipples

“I mean the fact that a robot or an algorithm has the almighty power to determine what someone's gender is, is sickening. It is frightening,” artist Ally Schmaling says.

The ARTery

Aug 2, 2019

The Massachusetts State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

State Arts Budget Increases To $18 Million, Highest Amount Since 2002

The Massachusetts Cultural Council's newly allocated funds will serve to increase funding to 400 nonprofit cultural organizations by nearly 20%.

The ARTery

Aug 1, 2019

The cast of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's "Cymbeline." (Courtesy Evgenia Eliseeva)

With An Excess Of Plot, Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline' Proves A Wild Ride On The Common

This year’s free Commonwealth Shakespeare Company production has it all: backstories revealed, families reunited, husbands and villains repent and dreams interpreted by a convenient soothsayer.

The ARTery

Jul 29, 2019

Faye Dunaway as Katharine Hepburn in "Tea at Five." (Courtesy Nile Scott Studios)

Faye Dunaway Fired From 'Tea At Five' After Pre-Broadway Run In Boston

The Oscar-winning actor reportedly created a hostile and unsafe work environment while it was in production at the Huntington Avenue Theatre in Boston earlier this month.

The ARTery

Jul 25, 2019

Brooks Reeves as Gordon with members of the audience during Kirsten Greenidge’s play "Greater Good." (Courtesy Natasha Moustache/A.R.T.)

Kirsten Greenidge's New Play Lets Us Roam The Halls Of A Failing School

Staged at the Commonwealth School by Company One in collaboration with A.R.T., the play is framed as a real estate tour: we the audience are potential bidders being shown around...

The ARTery

Jul 23, 2019

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's production of "Love's Labour's Lost" on the Boston Common in 2016. (Courtesy Andrew Brilliant)

What To Know Before Seeing Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline' On The Boston Common

Shakespeare wrote “Cymbeline” later in his career -- around 1610. Often categorized as a "tragicomedy," the plot follows through a string of forbidden love, mistaken identities, betrayals, and false deaths.

The ARTery

Jul 16, 2019

Morning Edition

What Exactly Is Mount Auburn Cemetery's Artist-In-Residence Digging Up?

ArtsEmerson Kicks Off 10th Season With Tightropes And Trains

At SpeakEasy Stage, 'Choir Boy' Is Grounded In Tenderness And Truth

Legendary 'Giselle' Dancer Teaches Next Generation Of Dancers The Role At The Boston Ballet

In 'The Purists,' A Disparate Group Finds Common Ground — And We Get A Lot Of Laughs

Photos: Inside 'The Donkey Show' As It Prepares To Spin Its Last Disco Ball After A 10-Year Run

‘The Donkey Show,’ #MeToo And Me

Here Are 12 Reasons To Put Theater On Your Fall Calendar

Henry VIII's Wives Are Back To Tell — Rather, Belt — Their Sides Of The Story In 'SIX'

'The Petition' Addresses Black Liberation And White Allyship In The Old State House

For 'The Purists' At The Huntington, Billy Porter Puts On His Directing Hat

This Performance Reclaims The Myth Of Medusa After #MeToo

In 'Ben Butler,' Gloucester Stage Mounts A Comedy With Slavery At Its Center

Artistic Director Michael J. Bobbitt Brings Passion For Inclusion To New Repertory Theatre

This Boston Artist Protests Social Media Censors And Celebrates Bodies By Photographing Nipples

State Arts Budget Increases To $18 Million, Highest Amount Since 2002

With An Excess Of Plot, Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline' Proves A Wild Ride On The Common

Faye Dunaway Fired From 'Tea At Five' After Pre-Broadway Run In Boston

Kirsten Greenidge's New Play Lets Us Roam The Halls Of A Failing School

What To Know Before Seeing Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline' On The Boston Common