War plays tend to be most penetrating when they're either a purgative swan song or an incendiary call to arms. When dealing with something so polarizing, it's shrewd to shoot out tethers from one camp or the other. But which is more "necessary" in our milieu of the United States of the Comparative Comfort Zone? In other countries, offering both a mourning space and re-ignition zone with the same piece would be most economical. Considering our non-war-wife, distracted majority, however, a bellowing, shocking demand for change certainly has more potential to motivate. more ›

The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told is, despite some amateurish flaws, an endearing blurt more likely to evoke the urge to hug the actors than send them hate mail. As a group there's a charming precociousness to this band which, despite sometimes ineffectual attempts to maintain a straight face and tendencies to make the "wacky" choice rather than the most suitable one, effuses a collective sense of unity, nurturing, and purpose that is palpable and delicious. They're spunky. The first act, a rambunctious, gay re-imagining of the Old Testament, serves well as a playground for these energies. more ›

Maggie Gallant knows that there are two kinds of people in the world - those who understand their favorite band as a spiritual force that communicate important things about life to those listeners who are truly prepared to hear them, and those who don't know anything about anything. more ›