Articles by Davina Grace Hill

2nd Star Productions’ Pippin

You’ve two more weekends to grab this corner of the sky.

Pippin, a deceptively complex and challenging musical, gets a strong interpretation by 2nd Star Productions. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell) and lyrics by Roger O. Hinson, it recounts a fantastical tale that ultimately comes home to rooted values. Pippin considers himself extraordinary and recoils from mundane tasks. Thus the son of Charlemagne is like many young people as he sets off to seek extraordinary accomplishments. He goes to war, enjoys...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 11/24/11

The Theatre at AACC’s Cyrano

An ode to panache*

Cyrano, an original adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 classic, is given a new staging by the Theatre at AACC. The set, costumes, incidental music and minimalist staging all covey timelessness to the well-known story. Guest director Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski adds strong moments and concepts. Cyrano is a gifted poet, musician and swordsman. His brash confidence is overshadowed only by his large nose, which causes him to lose all confidence when it comes to expressing...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 11/10/11

Grace and Glorie

A clichéd pairing of opposites turns dying into a Hallmark production in this Bowie Community Theatre effort

Dying is one drama we all star in. This makes it an irresistible subject for playwrights, actors and directors. Grace and Glorie, now playing at Bowie Community Theatre, has death and dying as its focus and personal relationships as its theme. Grace is a dying woman who left hospice to return to her rural home to die alone. Glorie is a hospice volunteer who followed Grace to bring her the pain medications she had left behind. As the play progresses, you learn that Glorie is...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 10/20/11

Bay Theatre Company’s Wit

Two hours to ponder the bearings on which a life rests

In Wit, Bay Theatre Company tackles a heartfelt and erudite play about a woman coming to terms with cancer. As a professor of John Donne’s literature, Dr. Vivian Bearing — superbly rendered by Rena Cherry Brown — has lived her life immersed in the minute distinctions of words and punctuation. Scholarship and inquiry have ruled her life. Now she approaches death while studying her own life and analyzing the medical profession that, in turn, is analyzing and...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 10/6/11

Bowie Community Theatre’s Language of Angels

You may be done with the past, but the past is never done with you.
—Magnolia (1999)

That aphorism sums up the point and the effect of Bowie Community Theatre’s ambitious Language of Angels. Whether they are angels, ghosts or memories, voices from our past accompany, haunt and speak to us throughout our lives. They rarely speak in a linear or logical way, and often we aren’t sure of their message. Playwright Naomi Iizuka sets Language of Angels in a string of North Carolina caves frequented by teens. Tragedies have happened...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 7/28/11

Summer Garden Theatre’s The Marvelous Wonderettes

Songs from the ’50s and ’60s are the stars of this refreshing show

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s The Marvelous Wonderettes is frothy, refreshing and a complete contrast to its most recent production, Chicago. The all-black set has given way to pastels, and the jailhouse trollops are replaced by 1950s’ suburban teenagers. The Marvelous Wonderettes are a singing quartet performing at their 1958 senior prom. In the second act, they appear 10 years later at their class reunion. That premise is the hook for a night of vintage and...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 7/14/11

Infinity Theatre Company’s My Way

For those of Sinatra’s generation, this is a memory walk. For those younger, My Way could make some new Sinatra fans.

Tribute bands of performers impersonating famous artists are in vogue. My Way, now playing at Infinity Theatre, is subtitled “A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra.” But this show is intended as a genuine tribute, not merely an impersonation of Ol’ Blue Eyes. For that, be grateful because it is much more, and it reaches loftier goals. Four professional singer/actors (all members of Actors’ Equity) take Sinatra songs sung thematically and bring them to...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 6/23/11

Colonial Players’ The Shape of Things

This contemporary cousin to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf debates the value of compassion and the ethics of art.

The shape of things (written in lower-case by playwright Neil Labute) intends to raise questions about art, its role in life and the value of the creative methods. Honesty, kindness and truth seem to be of lesser concern. Art student Evelyn meets Adam, a nerdy museum guard. As their relationship grows she begins to change him in emotional and physical ways (trendier clothing, contact lenses, a nose job, lost weight and stepping away from other long-time friendships, all at...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 6/16/11

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s Chicago

It’s got “All the Jazz,” but it could use a bit of bite

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre opens its season with Chicago, an upbeat musical with a downbeat outlook. Despite bouncy, memorable music, Chicago carries a cautionary tale about celebrity, corruption and media fascination with both. Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre captures the upbeat side flawlessly. The downbeat side is less well rendered. Roxie and Velma are both on trial for murder. But they are more concerned about how many column inches they get in the press and how...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 6/2/11

Colonial Players’ Lettice and Lovage

See this one and your sense of truth will be Enlarged! Enlivened! Enlightened!

Sir Peter Shaffer’s Lettice & Lovage requires two extremely talented actresses to be successful. The Colonial Players satisfy the playwright’s requirement by casting Mary MacLeod as Lettice Douffet and Darice Clewell as Lotte Schoen. As Lettice & Lovage begins, Lettice, a very theatrical tour guide, is lecturing — on an uninteresting historic house to completely bored clients. As she repeats the tour and adds dramatic embellishments, the clients...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill; 5/19/11