Take a play that appears to cross Frank Kafka’s The Trial and Edward Gorey’s Gorey Stories and you get Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, now showing at the 40th Street Stage.  This drama tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre incidents occurring in his town.

Who hasn’t heard of Cirque du Soleil at this point? Let’s face it; they’re so “in” they’re almost “out.” But have you seen a Cirque show? Chances are that unless you’ve made a pilgrimage outside of our state the answer is “no.” That’s because Cirque du Soleil has never graced Hampton Roads with their presence. Now, thanks to an all new “arena tour,” the Cirque experience is accessible to thousands more fans. By adjusting stage size and production materials it is now possible to take the larger than life Cirque experience and ship it all around North America, stopping in several more cities for a week at a time as compared to the usual hassle of erecting Cirque’s trademark blue and gold tent village.

When one thinks about a night at the opera, we envision a beautiful theater, plush carpets, formal wear and in general a wonderful evening filled with drama and beautiful singing. Housed in the gorgeous Harrison Opera house in Norfolk one could not find a nicer environment in which to see an opera performance. The Virginia Opera does not disappoint.

"We may be small in numbers but we are millions in spirit"--- Jaguar Wright

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a dramatic play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill, widely considered to be his masterwork - the autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his older brother, and their parents. The play was first published in 1956, and although his written instructions had stipulated that it not be made public until 25 years after his death, in 1956  his third wife, Carlotta arranged for this autobiographical masterpiece to be published, and produced on stage to tremendous critical acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1957. The Generic Theatre has mounted this production, under the direction of Linda Marley Smith and I personally feel that their version of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, albeit “long”, (running 3 hours), is definitely a trip worth taking.

The current exhibit at the Nancy Thomas Gallery in Yorktown is an experience in color, creativity, and texture. The collection, created by Alabama-born Michael Banks, is a combination of dark, distinctive characters and tongue-in-check wit. A self-taught artist, Banks is currently considered one of the foremost up-and-coming members of the new American folk genre. 

“A boat is not a destination, or a conclusion, as a house or a piece of land might be, but a means to reach conclusions, and destinations that otherwise you could only dream of.” That quote, by Adam Nicholson (Seamanship), appears at the beginning of the Stationary Voyages: The Boat in Photograph exhibit at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News. It’s also a very apt introduction into the exhibit and the out of the ordinary body of work currently on display. The result is a unique and surprisingly intriguing collection that the art lover and maritime enthusiast both can appreciate.

Kids’ Paw Performing Arts Workshop runs a summer camp where children (rising first graders to high school students) participate in mounting a production.  This year Kids’ Paw mounted Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.  If one can only imagine about forty students learning an entire hour and a half musical in six hours a day for ten days, it causes my head to hurt.  These students deserve nothing but applause.  Ten days to learn an entire musical from auditions to performance, music, spoken dialogue and staging.  One might think this is impossible but Kathi-Lee and Rocco who run Kids’ Paw believe differently.  Better yet, they prove it.