Arts

A joyful mess

‘Dead and Gong’ at Stairwell; plus, summer at Lenore Gray
“Dead and Gong,” on view at Stairwell Gallery is a hodgepodge installation that feels a bit like a teen’s bedroom, the treasure horde of a Latin American crypt, and a squatter’s camp in the woods.

By: GREG COOK | August 20, 2008

War stories

Mailer on the ’68 conventions
“We will be fighting for forty years.” Reading those words at the end of Norman Mailer’s 1968 Miami and the Siege of Chicago , you can’t help but feel a chill.

By: CHARLES TAYLOR | August 19, 2008

To the Max

The Producers at Theatre by the Sea
The show’s success has to do with more than the Mel Brooks classic being a familiar crowd pleaser.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 13, 2008

High society

2nd Story’s hilarious Belle’s Stratagem
The current 2nd Story Theatre production — with slit-eyed coaching from the playwright — manages to make the message as familiar as yesterday.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 13, 2008

On edge

Fledgling Festival’s feisty fare
If a worldwide pandemic of sanity and accord suddenly swept across the continent, we’d not only have to deal without a follow-up to this year’s 4th Annual Fledgling Festival at Perishable Theatre.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 13, 2008

Off the beaten path

William Walsh’s work spans from the porn business to Calvin Trillin
William Walsh first wrote Without Wax: A Documentary Novel as a short story about a young man caught up in the world of triple-X adult films.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 05, 2008

Off the cuff

ProvFlux’s spontaneous confluence
Feeling lucky? It’s a question to ask yourself when you consider attending the fifth annual ProvFlux art festival.

By: GREG COOK | August 05, 2008

Car talk

A close look at driving
For days post-late-merge, Vanderbilt had feelings of guilt and confusion.

By: AMY FINCH | August 04, 2008

The islander

Mixed Magic’s Tempest
It’s to the credit of the cast of The Tempest that many of the actors are so engaging that I didn’t even notice the city noises until the momentary silence of a scene change.

By: JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | July 30, 2008

Fresh fare

Smart work from the Brown/Trinity Rep Playwrights Repertory Theatre
For the fourth consecutive summer, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theatre has been showcasing new work by emerging playwrights.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 30, 2008

Victim, not vixen

Sex, death, and the filthy rich
Florence Evelyn Nesbit was the most beautiful woman who ever lived.

By: CLIF GARBODEN | July 29, 2008

Tricky Dick

Philip K. Dick's second Library of America volume
The Philip K. Dick phenomenon might be petering out.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 28, 2008

Affirmative action

YES Gallery’s ‘Lovesick/Seasick’
YES Gallery is located in a gorgeous green wood-frame 1883 building on a quaint strip of boutiques and restaurants that runs parallel to the Warren River.

By: GREG COOK | July 23, 2008

Power playing

Theater by the Sea’s Evita
Theatre by the Sea is staging a slick rendition of Evita that gets across much of the power of the personalities and social forces involved.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 23, 2008

Light lifting

A pair of trifles at Cornerstone Playhouse
Come summertime, when you’re sunning on the sand all day and evening rolls around, sometimes the theater equivalent of light beach reading is just what you need.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 23, 2008

Royal fun

Colonial’s rousing As You Like It
As You Like It accomplishes what every production of a Shakespeare comedy tries to do.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 22, 2008

Islander

Julie Hecht’s self-help
There’s still time to spend some of your summer with Julie Hecht.

By: JON GARELICK | July 22, 2008

Mind games

RWU’s intriguing Proof
The troupe at Roger Williams University’s Barn Summer Playhouse is taking on the delicate drama Proof with satisfying finesse.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 16, 2008

Clothes call

A fully entertaining Monty
The musical version of The Full Monty comes across as bawdy and hilarious as intended in this version by Center Stage Productions.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 16, 2008

Local colors

Mysterious doings in Providence
Two and a half years after publication of the well-received debut novel, Carom Shot , fans of the Providence-set mystery novel are finally seeing a series get underway.

By: BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 16, 2008