American stories from every corner  of the globe in FST’s Bridge & Tunnel. By Kay Kipling   If you’ve ever doubted that the immigrant story is the story of America, you’ll find ample proof in Florida Studio Theatre’s current production (at the Gompertz Theatre) of Sarah Jones’ award-winning Bridge & Tunnel.   The title of [...]

It’s back to that famous Garden with the Asolo Rep’s Searching for Eden.   By Kay Kipling   When Venice Theatre presented a production of The Apple Tree earlier this season, it was a refreshing reminder of the piece that inspired it, Mark Twain’s humorous, touching The Diaries of Adam & Eve. Now comes yet [...]

The Asolo Rep’s Life of Galileo provides much food for thought. By Kay Kipling   We don’t often see works by German playwright Bertolt Brecht on Sarasota stages (thinking back, it’s hard to recall the last time), so for theater lovers it’s quite an occasion to watch his Life of Galileo on the Asolo Rep’s [...]

The Players of Sarasota ring in the holidays with A Country Christmas Carol.   By Kay Kipling   When something is as lasting as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, there’ll always be some new way to adapt and transform it. Case in point: the current Players of Sarasota production, A Country Christmas Carol (the title [...]

‘Tis the season for a production of that perennial pleaser, Annie.   By Kay Kipling   As a theater critic who’s seen the Charles Strouse-Martin Charnin-Thomas Meehan musical Annie more times than I like to recall, I admit I wasn’t especially looking forward to seeing it again in its current production at the Manatee Players [...]

The Asolo Rep delivers a prize holiday package with The Perfume Shop.   By Kay Kipling   Romance and retail—who could ask for anything more from the holiday season? We get that happy mix with the Asolo Rep’s The Perfume Shop, an adaptation of the play by Miklos Laszlo that served as the model for such [...]

Time for a new comedy catechism lesson at the Golden Apple.   By Kay Kipling   Those who attended last summer’s Late Nite Catechism at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre may want to head back over to the theater for a holiday-themed version of the show, Sister’s Christmas Catechism, now playing.   It’s a less [...]