It may seem like damning with faint praise to start a play review by lauding its set design. But the appeal of the setting in Champlain Theatre’s production of Charlotte Jones’ Humble Boy can’t be overestimated. During a bone-cold, nearly snowless February, there’s nothing like stepping into an auditorium to find oneself gazing into a flourishing garden in England’s Cotswolds, bathed in mellow midsummer light.... Read more

Diverse cultures throughout history have embraced the healing properties of laughter. But, for the Brazilian protagonist of The Clean House, Sarah Ruhl’s 2005 play, not just any jest will do. Only the perfect joke will cure her gloom. Now if she could just come up with it. That effort, dramatized in the Vermont Stage Company production of The Clean House currently running at FlynnSpace, is a laudable laughing matter.... Read more

The 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, which starred John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd of “Saturday Night Live” fame, earned $115 million in its first year. With this weekend’s stage show The Blues Brothers, the Blue Barn Players of Maple Corner fame have far more modest ambitions. They’re hoping to raise $9000 to cover renovations on a historic landmark in their tiny town — a blue barn.... Read more

It’s the middle of January, which in Vermont means three things. One, it’s cold, and will remain so for at least three more months, possibly four. Two, thanks to seasonal affective disorder, half the state’s population is depressed, and maybe contemplating a move to California. But I’d urge folks to put a hold on that U-Haul rental because of our third January thing: the annual Higher Ground Comedy Battle, which takes place this Saturday, January 21, at the Higher Ground Ballroom. ... Read more

With more than 800 million active users on Facebook these days, it’s remarkable to find someone without a profile. Frances Binder, cofounder of Burlington’s Steel Cut Theatre, is one of those people. And, as if that weren’t rare enough, the 33-year-old also writes real letters, regularly.... Read more

Theater audiences can’t help but shift to the edge of their seats when they hear these four sounds: Thump … thump … thump … creeeeeeeeeeeeeak. The combination conjures up images of castles, Igor and ominous wooden doors with deadbolts, doesn’t it?... Read more

In 1692 in Salem, Mass., more than 150 individuals were arrested and imprisoned — and 20 put to death — after being charged with the felony crime of witchcraft. In 1952, American playwright Arthur Miller wrote and staged The Crucible, based on the Salem witch trials; it was an allegory for the then-current scourge of McCarthyism, in which the government blacklisted and interrogated citizens suspected of being communists.... Read more

1/2/12: The Renewal Chorus kicked off their 6th annual winter tour on a good note at the Church of Our Saviour in Killington on Monday night.

When Burlington playwright James Lantz took his play The Bus on the road this past autumn, some of his supporters expressed concern over how the work would be received out of town. But snarky city critics were the least of their worries.... Read more

In Laurie Flaherty’s version of the Christmas ballet classic The Nutcracker, Clara Silberhaus has a new Italian name: Claire Spinelli. Her brother, Fritz, goes by Frankie. And their godfather, the magician responsible for all those fantastical toys, including the Nutcracker himself, is not Herr Drosselmeyer but simply Uncle Tony.... Read more