My primary goal as a theater reviewer is to write an honest critique of a play that promotes interest in the production and/or theater company, and prompts conversation about the play's core themes. My approach is respectful, compassionate, and constructive. I try to be insightful and look for nuance. I do not believe in tearing down artists. I see theater critics as a bridge between artists and their potential audience. I want to encourage engagement between theater makers and theater goers. I want you to love theater as much as I do.
I have been reviewing plays for the Theater Mirror since 2019. Below is a catalog of those reviews. You may also find my reviews on Instagram: @ReviewsByJulie
‘Hang Time’ is a Searingly Powerful Call to Action
Hang Time forces you to bear witness, to lean in, to confront. It is a reckoning and a powerful call to action. It demands that you think about the lives these Black men deserved but didn’t get to have.
A.R.T.’s ‘300 Paintings’ Brings Humor to Harrowing Story of Mental Illness
What Kissajukian didn’t know at the time was that he had been living with bipolar disorder, and he was about to enter into a brutal six-month manic episode that would completely sever him from reality.
‘From Here to Where’ Offers Fascinating Reflections on Being Alive
The experience unfolds primarily through monologue, music, and movement as you are led on a wild, unrestrained journey that is “part lyrical sermon, part political exorcism.”
‘Common Ground, Revisited’ Asks Us to Look Back to Move Forward
Common Ground, Revisited offers a sharp, clear-eyed perspective of a challenging part of Boston’s history and in doing so gives insight into the city’s present problems.
‘The Inheritance’ is a Beautifully Realized Production of a wildly ambitious Play
The play’s title refers to the many traits and experiences that our LGBTQ+ elders have passed on to successive generations. The story is as much about the inheritance of love, culture, and resilience as it is about inheriting the weight of shame, trauma, and oppression.
In the Huntington’s ‘Our Daughters Like Pillars',’ Family comes first - but at a price
Our Daughters, Like Pillars is a story about complex family dynamics and the struggle to break free from the roles we are forced into playing within the family unit. Kirsten Greenidge’s new play focuses on a Black family at the center of which are three sisters doing what they can (or must) to hold themselves and each other together.
Arlekin Players’ ‘Witness’ Details the Jewish Experience
Set on a ship that travels through time, Witness explores the seemingly endless migratory experiences of Jewish people throughout history.
Speakeasy’s ‘The Children’ Asks the Hard Questions
What are we willing to give up to help others in need? What is our responsibility to future generations? …How do we – as Rose puts it – “learn to live with less”?
A Magical Theatrical Experience with Arlekin’s ‘The Fisherman and the Fish’
Ibragimov’s staging is inventive, lively, and joyful. He makes the puppets fly, he makes them dance, he makes them cry, he makes them real.