Syracuse Stage

Syracuse Stage opens 44th season with ‘Great Expectations’
By Dara McBride
October 22, 2016 - 2:01pm
Review: A rotating band of narrators help usher Charles Dickens' classic to the modern stage.

Not one, but two plays appear within Syracuse Stage’s production of Great Expectations, and the various levels of drama do not stop there.

In one of those scenes, which fans of Charles Dickens may recall from the original source material, young hero Pip attends a production of Hamlet. So terrible is this prince of Denmark that his London audience chimes in on the debate whether he should “be” or “not be,” eliciting laughs from the true audience.

'Nine' from SU Drama sizzles with action
By Gabrielle Hughes
October 6, 2016 - 6:01pm
Review: Lights, cameras, action - and plenty of it! Musical "Nine" has glamour, gams and Guido Contini, the Casanova of the cinema Italiano golden age.

After originally opening on Broadway in 1982 and revamped as a movie starring Daniel Day Lewis in 2009, the Tony Award-winning musical Nine explores the lengths a man will go to hang onto his youth and find enough love to satisfy his insatiable need for affection.

Review: Peter Pan headlines Syracuse Stage
By Genelle Levy
December 2, 2015 - 12:38am
Director Paul Barnes and the Syracuse University Drama Department bring the well-known childhood story to life during the holiday season.

Peter Pan brings a delightful amount of fun to Syracuse Stage with just a sprinkling of fairy dust. Based on the novel by J.M. Barrie, and directed by Paul Barnes in co-production with Syracuse University Drama Department, this production combines high thrill with magic and wonder.

'In the Next Room' provides audience with captivating, historical insight into all things sex, family
By Haley Schluter
January 31, 2015 - 2:37pm
Review: 'In the Next Room, or the vibrator play' a 'must see' for anyone interested in women’s sexuality or life during the Victorian Era, will run through Feb. 15 at the Syracuse Stage.

In the Next Room, or the vibrator play was written by Sarah Ruhl to depict a multi-faceted look into family life in the Victorian Era.

Hardly uncomfortable by nature, the play was funny, poignant and shockingly accurate, as it worked through the trials and triumphs of identifying sexual pleasure at a time when sexuality was anything but.

Set in a spa town in the late 19th century, the play had one setting, the interior of an upper middle class Victorian home, next to the small doctor’s working space known as “the next room.”

SU Drama-Syracuse Stage partnership nurtures burgeoning actors
By Jiamin Jiang
December 8, 2014 - 3:28pm
The collaboration between SU's drama program and downtown's theater allows students to graduate ahead of the curve in terms of real-world acting experience.

Jonathan R. Watson, a musical theater senior in Syracuse University’s Department of Drama (SU Drama), never tires of talking about his interesting experience of performing at Syracuse Stage, a professional regional theater downtown.

Legacy flows through stories with 'The Piano Lesson' at Syracuse Stage
By Love Lee
October 27, 2014 - 4:25pm
Review: Family, tradition and ghosts of the past haunt the stage during the performance of August Wilson's play, which runs until Nov. 9.

Editor's note: This review originally appeared at Green Room Reviews on October 25, 2014.

August Wilson’s 1990 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama tells all the right stories.

SU Drama's "Spring Awakening" demands to be seen
By Nick Reichert
May 2, 2014 - 6:34pm
Review: The production of the 2006 Tony Award-winning rock musical closes the university's season with creative daring.

It all seemed at first glance like I walked in the theater way too early.

The orchestra was splayed out on the left side of a giant, tattered barn that looked incomplete, half full. Shirts, pants, dresses, socks, shoes and various haberdasheries were arranged downstage-center. And the young, nubile ensemble were talking, laughing, mischievously whispering as they stretched, warmed up and put on their clothes.

Syracuse Stage's The Glass Menagerie examines the fragility of family
By Jessica Cabe
April 11, 2014 - 2:42pm
Review: Nearing the 70 year anniversary of its premiere, Tennessee Williams' play is still just as potent and powerful in this regional production.

Life, memory, relationships. They can all be as delicate as glass, more difficult to maintain than to break.

Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, beautifully performed at Syracuse Stage, explores the fragility of the Southern Wingfield family that has already suffered through one of its parts breaking off.

"The Whipping Man:" An Examination of Scars.
By Rong Lin
February 7, 2014 - 9:45pm
Syracuse Stage's production of Matthew Lopez's dramatic spin on America's "original sin."

On the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act’s passage and the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Syracuse Stage presents The Whipping Man. Playwright Matthew Lopez’s debut work reminds Americans of the unhealed scars on the slaves and their masters. Directed by Timothy Bond, this production taps into the reflection of history and poses question on how far America has advanced. 

Syracuse University Drama explores the nature of language in "Translations"
By Andrew Martini
November 17, 2013 - 10:03pm
Review: The student cast members of "Translations" deliver commendable performances despite the unique challenge of speaking in different languages and in different accents.

"Translations", Syracuse University Drama’s second production of the season, tackles the issues of language and culture in Ireland in 1833, highlighting the power of language to unite or divide and its tie to heritage.