Here's a play that seems right at home in Vermont: With a cast of characters that includes two farmers and an actor, The Drawer Boy resonates with both the agricultural and the artistic tendencies of our state. Interestingly, the most frequently produced play in America is set in rural Canada. Toronto playwright Michael Healey made sure of that.... Read more

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead isn't the cheeriest of titles. And it doesn't leave much in the way of suspense, either. The audience may hold out hope that the title is purely metaphorical, but though playwright Tom Stoppard is happy to turn Shakespeare's Hamlet inside out, he's not about to change plot points. Weston Playhouse's current production of Stoppard's play shows that, whatever the title characters' fate, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a lively comedy that lives up to its reputation as significant drama.... Read more

Early in 2003, Kathryn Blume launched a plan: to inspire nationwide, even worldwide readings of Aristophanes' antiwar play Lysistrata to protest the approaching invasion of Iraq. Assisted by the web, the project was a hit; on March 3, 2003 more than 1000 readings of Lysistrata took place in all 50 states and in 59 countries on six continents.... Read more

If history repeats itself, even ancient history remains relevant in modern times. In 442 BC, Sophocles told the story of a Thebes reeling from the effects of war. Antigone's brothers, each of whom desires the throne, have slain each other in battle. Their uncle, Creon, is crowned king, and by his edict one of the brothers is given proper burial while the other, Polynices -- a rebel against Thebes -- is left in the streets to rot. Antigone must choose: Forsake her brother's body or face capital punishment if she buries him.... Read more

Last Friday, Burlington's City Hall Auditorium was host to what might have been promoted as Theater for Adults with a Short Attention Span, or as Educators Take the Stage for a Good Cause. Instead, the program just described it as An Evening of Ten-Minute One-Act Plays. To be precise, there were five such pieces: all modern, all except one with a two-person cast, all performed in contemporary clothing and on minimal sets, but in other ways diverse. The troupe presenting this event has a name with a bit more panache: Theatre in the Nude Round.... Read more

What do Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings have in common? In 2002, all three made the American Library Association's list of most "frequently challenged" books.... Read more

A beginning -- whether it be a new relationship, a realization or a step into the unknown -- is always exciting. Beyond the novelty, there's the sense that anything could happen. The Vermont premiere of Songs for a New World explores that territory in a minimalist "musical" that lives up to both its musical and dramatic potential.... Read more

This election season we'll hear a lot about the American dream, unity, family an patriotism. On the political stage, a candidate seeks to embody these and other traditionally American values without contradiction. But on a theatrical stage, contradictions are what compel an audience. What if you had to choose between your family and your country? What if a man who manufactured airplane parts found out they were faulty -- and sold them to the military anyway? What if he did this to support his family? What if, as a result, 21 airplanes crashed, killing the pilots?... Read more