Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

> FAQ Home
> Tag: Theatre

Feral and Ferocious: Two Plays About Girls

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe

Dance Nation by Clare Barron

by 1 Comment

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe In the not-so-distant past, I performed frequently in small professional theatre productions. I’m a slightly-less-than 5’ tall woman, so I was often cast as teen and early-twenties characters, and I always had an eye out for plays that I could potentially pull monologues from for auditions. When The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, a play about a high school girls’ indoor soccer team, started making waves and eventually was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer, it seemed like it could be […]

“I expect you’ve heard of the Trojan War and how it was caused by Norma Jeane Baker, harlot of Troy”

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy by Anne Carson

by 2 Comments

The past few vacations I’ve gone on, whenever the official tchotchke-hunting time comes up with the friends/family I’m traveling with, I’ve taken to seeking out the nearest local bookstore for my souvenir-hunting. I’ve found it to be a great alternative to buying something made of plastic that will collect dust and eventually get thrown away – instead, I purchase a book and write the bookstore name/location/date on the inside jacket, and whenever I pick up that book I can take a trip down memory lane […]

Window Dressing

To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters

by 5 Comments

The English countryside in early September was a glorious place. The sun shone. The bees buzzed. The heady scent of wildflowers lingered in the air. Emily Turner could not think of a more romantic setting for the world’s least romantic marriage proposal. Julian needs a wife who makes him look respectable to remake his theatre’s reputation, Emily needs to get out from under her parents’ thumb and away from a skeevy suitor. Marriage sounds like the perfect solution – but being married is more complicated […]

Evolution of a Screwball Comedy

The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder

by 1 Comment

I am continuing my dive through the plays that once belonged to my parents, former theatre nerds and aspiring stage actors, and the most interesting part is discovering that a lot of these plays (even ones I’ve never heard of) have been Broadway hits or even Hollywood Oscar winners (see: Butterflies are Free). The Matchmaker has a long and winding history in theatre and film- in 1938 it was published as a re-write of several earlier (1835, 1842, 1938) comedies, under the title “The Merchant […]

Strindberg mansplains it all

Miss Julie by August Strindberg

by 2 Comments

In the last season of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the popular lowbrow comedienne Sophie Lennon, played by Jane Lynch, wants to prove her acting chops by starring in a theatre play of Miss Julie.  Despite rehearsal performances that are nuanced, in the actual performance Lennon plays Miss Julie as a variation on her lowbrow alter ego, to crushing reviews.  It turns out that this highbrow/lowbrow collision is one of the main themes of Miss Julie, so Lennon’s portrayal might actually have been a novel approach. […]

If you like good romance, just get this book already

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

by 1 Comment

Disclaimer! I got an ARC from NetGalley. This has in no way influenced my review.  I had already pre-ordered my copy of the book months ago, long before the ARCs became available. Also, because I am terribly late in reviewing it, the book is available on sale from the e-book vendor of your choice. It’s excellent, you should totally spend your monies on it! But what is the book about, Malin? You cannot expect people to fork out their hard-earned cash without knowing anything of the […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo