Two literary characters and a historical figure walk into a bar... It's not a joke – it's the basic premise of Wittenberg, a world premiere play currently running at the Arden Theatre. Wittenberg is a play for smart people, full of historical and literary references used, often, in very funny ways. Not well-versed on your Elizabethan drama or your Sixteenth Century religious history? Well, you can still enjoy the play, but you won't get......

One of the most common, and legitimate, criticisms of the music of Stephen Sondheim by performers and critics alike is that he's not tuneful enough. "Hummable," I think is the word most often used by these critics. And yet somehow, a week after seeing The Arden Theatre's production of Assassins, I simply can't get the music out of my head. It may not be hummable, but goddamn if it isn't memorable. That's a sure......

Wow. It's been a few days now since I saw the Arden's production of Lookingglass Theatre Company's Lookingglass Alice, and that's still pretty much all I can say. It was one of those shows I really wish I'd had someone with me at: I just really wanted to talk to somebody after the show, but my plus-one had to cancel on me, quite literally at the last minute, so there I was, blown away by......

We haven't gotten around to telling you about the Philadelphia New Play Festival yet (that post is forthcoming), but on Friday, I had the opportunity to see one of the featured plays (most of them open before the festival officially begins), The Arden's Dex and Julie Sittin' in a Tree. Dex and Julie tells the tale of two high school sweethearts who reunite twenty years later at their alma mater. Julie (Jennifer Childs) is......

Roald Dahl is, hands-down, one of my favorite writers. And not just because he wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, either. Dahl wrote a number of works for grown-ups, too. (His short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," was reworked for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents... and remains one of my favorite short stories ever.) He managed to achieve something many authors aspire to but few attain: the ability to write for the ages......

Tuesday night, Phillyist had the great pleasure of attending the Arden Theatre Company's production of Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It's a show that we know quite well and we felt that we were in a good position to be tough critics if that's what was required of us. But, it wasn't. The Arden's production was an immensely enjoyable one, from start to finish. The cast, led by......