By Daniel Skora There’s been a serious depletion of capital in the bank account of master detective Sherlock Holmes. He hasn’t had a profitable case in months, the bills are coming due, and Dr. Watson, Holmes’s confidant and biographer, is pressing him to take on a client. But unbeknownst to Watson, the ennui that has … More Who-dun-it Turns Into a Where-is-it at Purple Rose
By Daniel Skora Putting two feisty senior citizens together in the same room at an assisted living facility can often be as ill-advised as trying to stuff two alley cats into a potato sack. But that’s sort of what happens when Abby and Marilyn find themselves sharing living quarters in playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s comedy “Ripcord”, … More Space the Final Frontier for Two Seniors at Tipping Point
By Daniel Skora “Tartuffe”, by French playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Moliere, as he was known by his stage name), is a classic of world literature. The comedy has a long and cherished history dating back to its first performance at the Versailles in 1664. It deals with Tartuffe, a man with religious pretentions who … More Tartuffe Divides Household in Old Detroit at Slipstream
By Daniel Skora With characters named Vanya and Sonia and Masha all sharing marquis space in playwright Christopher Durang’s wonderfully creative mishmash of comedy and classics, one has to suppose that famed Russian author Anton Chekhov must be lurking in the background of a lot of things that take place during the play. And he … More Comedy and Chekhov Collide at Open Book
By Daniel Skora There are probably any number of reasons why people take a room for the night: an overnight stop on a long vacation trip; an illicit romantic tryst; temporary shelter after a fire or flood at home. But murder? And at that most family friendly of all places, the Howard Johnson’s? The Dio … More Dio Serves up Murder and Mayhem at HoJo’s
By Daniel Skora A grandma can certainly be embarrassing. She’ll smother you with hugs no matter what your age. She’ll show friends and relatives those pictures she took of you in your birthday suit on your first birthday. And she’ll tell your spouse about that loser you dated in high school. But even Grandma Sylvia … More Naughty Knickers Spice Up Meadow Brook Stage
By Daniel Skora It’s another year, another holiday season, and another Christmas Panto at Theatre Nova. This is the third year the Nova has offered up a show whose traditions go back hundreds of years. Comedy often gives the impression that it’s an undisciplined profession, what with improvs and stand-up comedians seemingly rattling off jokes … More Claus Forgoes Christmas in Santa Panto at Theatre Nova
By Daniel Skora Williamston Theatre is currently presenting “Beau Jest”. No, not that “Beau Geste”, the one about the three brothers who leave England to join the French Foreign Legion and end up in Algeria fighting desert tribes. There wouldn’t enough room on the Williamston stage to accommodate all those restless hordes of desert fighters, … More Beau Provides Jest at Williamston
By Daniel Skora The office. For those who happen to work in one, it’s the place where you spend most of your waking hours. It’s a home away from home, occupied by people who sometimes seem more of a family than the one left behind at the beginning of the day. Tipping Point Theatre is … More “Office Hours” 100 Minutes of Fun at Tipping Point
By Daniel Skora The Detroit Repertory Theatre is presenting “Swimming Upstream”, a nice little play which centers on salmon, the fish that everyone loves to eat, even while covering a lot of extra territory in the process. Jen (Audrey Lovy) is a marine biologist working for a company that supplies government agencies with data relating … More Everyone “Swimming Upstream” at Detroit Rep
