Wallbyrd Theatre’s “Bardbending” explores shifting gender roles from classic scenes in ways William Shakespeare never imagined.
Shakespeare
Calendar preview: A summer switcheroo
This week’s mix of live, streamed, and drive-through socials, concerts, garden tours, theater, and talks give you options to stay in or venture out responsibly.
Theater review: ‘Titus Andronicus’ at MuCCC
Shakespeare is challenging for most professional theater troupes to pull off; even more so for amateur performers. This holiday season, however, Screen Plays has ambitiously partnered with DVC (Dream Visualize Create) to bring one of the Bard’s bloodiest tales to life onstage — and they’re doing it with a cast that features both high school […]
Fringe’s Shakespeare options
Shakespeare’s plays are timeless, and you just can’t have a theater-heavy festival without Will’s work. Fringe is featuring no fewer than six shows based on the Bard’s plays. Here’s a little guide to the something-for-everyone lineup. Bring your rain poncho, because METHOD MACHINE is bringing the blood. Featuring excerpts of the Bard’s goriest plays, “ShakesBLOOD” […]
Rebecca reviews “Merely Players”
The Sunday, September 21, performance of “Merely Players” felt a bit rushed, as though there was too much content for the hour-long performance. The small troupe flew through one select scene from each of several of Shakespeare’s more popular plays, which at times included masks, pantomime, and puppetry. Each scene was preceded by an identification […]
Theater Review: “The Winter’s Tale” by Rochester Community Players
Part domestic tragedy, part raucous comedy, mostly improbable fairy tale, โThe Winterโs Taleโ is one of Shakespeareโs most intriguing and confounding works. Rochester Community Playersโ production of the show, running until the end of this month, is a well-conceived take on a play seldom seen but definitely worth seeing. As โThe Winterโs Taleโ begins, Leontes, […]
“Julius Caesar”
The current production of “Julius Caesar” at MuCCC marks two milestones for Rochester Community Players and its Shakespeare Players shingle. It is the start of the 20th season for the Shakespeare Players. (It’s worth noting that the company’s Shakespeare offerings have only increased in recent years, including the return of its Shakespeare for Young Audiences […]
“Twelfth Night”
The combination of Shakespeare, a warm summer night, a lovely green space, fireflies, and a bottle of wine (well, not if you’re reviewing, of course) has been a popular one in Rochester for 17 years, thanks to the Rochester Community Players. The group’s Shakespeare Players shingle presents the Bard’s works throughout the year, but it’s […]
“Much Ado About Nothing”
Most directors faced with a brief hiatus between principal photography and post-production for a gargantuan comic-book blockbuster like “The Avengers” would probably be content to kick up their heels for a bit, take a well-deserved vacation, and maybe, if they’re feeling exceptionally ambitious, start poking around for the next project they’ll start working on sometime […]
THEATER: Summer’s servings on the stage
For some institutions, summer may be the slow season. But Rochester’s theater scene is coming off extremely lively fall, winter, and spring seasons, continuing the momentum right through the summer months. If you’re a fan of musicals, mysteries, comedies, and the occasional serious drama, summer offers plenty of theatrical diversions, in town and nearby. If […]
Stratford Festival
Assume you can manage one night at this summer’s Stratford Festival. Even then, it will be costly — B&B’s, the good restaurants, and tickets have risen dramatically in recent years. But if you’re willing to set the alarm for an ungodly hour to make the four-plus-hour drive in time, you can complete a four-play marathon. […]
THEATER: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
For a director, William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is always threatening to become “A Midsummer Night’s Nightmare.” The wide-ranging play, currently at Geva Theatre Center, dives headlong into comedy at the same time that it sidles more subtly toward tragedy. The challenge is to give full expression to its contradictory nature yet come away […]






