Arts Fuse Theater Feature: Best Stage Productions of 2019

 

“Arts Fuse stage critics have come up with a number of standout productions, and the line-up has the merit of being a pleasingly expansive list, including productions from small, medium, and large companies. Feel free to write in and tell us about your favorites — and why they were so good.” (link to full article)

segment by Bill Marx –

Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl. At Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Directed by Joann Green Breuer. Note on conflict of interest: I have known Joann Green Breuer for decades, though it has been a while since I attended a production she directed. Take that connection into account when I call this show one of the best of the year. But, believe me, it was an adroitly modulated dramatization of Ruhl’s selection of letters between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, beautifully acted by Jeannie Affelder and Raymond Fox. The direction shaped the epistolary exchange into a gripping psychological journey that served the nuanced strengths of a play about art, love, words, companionship, and narcissism.