John Cariani’s Almost, Maine — a collection of nine playlets about love in an isolated small town in northeast Maine — is such a crowd-pleaser that it’s easy to overlook […]
Theater
FA-LA-LA-LA-LA
A Diva With a Heart of Gold Plays a Scrooge
Tina Burner brings a one-queen Christmas Carol to the cabaret stage
“We all know that we all hate the holidays,” says Tina Burner, the drag performer and comedian from New York City who starred in Season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. […]
WOMEN’S WEEK
Rita Mae Brown Is Funny Even When She Fights
The activist and writer is a ‘sage’ whose work freed women to be themselves
Rita Mae Brown says she came into the world knowing exactly what she wanted: “Horses, hounds, and literature.” The activist and writer, who is also master of hounds at the […]
THEATER
All Things Must Fade
A new play by Meryl Cohn goes deep and dark
The cottage, an Airbnb in Provincetown, with its faded floral-print couch, unreliable landline phone, and feebly locking doors, feels like the set of a horror film, says Jojo (Susan Lambert). […]
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS FESTIVAL
Variations on the Theme of Memory
At this year’s theater festival, what is remembered about the past is not always what really happened
Actor and playwright Jacob Storms says that an extraordinary high-school experience of theater gave him the courage to write a one-man play in which he cast himself as an up-and-coming […]
THEATER
There’s Nothing Statuesque About Lady Liberty
Fermín Rojas’s new play disrobes an icon
Even today, as Donald Trump recklessly exploits the xenophobia of American voters, the Statue of Liberty, rising majestically in New York Harbor, is a powerful symbol of New World freedom […]
COMEDY
Matteo Lane’s Practiced Ease
The comedian has two shows this weekend at Provincetown Town Hall
Onstage, Matteo Lane radiates ease. Often, he says, he’ll get this comment after a show: “It felt like I was sitting there catching up with a friend.” On his podcast, […]
CABARET
Liz Callaway Passes on the Gift of Sondheim
The Broadway star returns to Provincetown with an expanded musical world
Broadway singer and actress Liz Callaway has performed a half-dozen times in Provincetown but returns Aug. 30 and 31 to a different venue — and with a new honor as […]
DRAG DESK
Delta Miles Celebrates Judy Garland at Her Best
An homage to the star’s ability to make people feel good
Blue lights cover the stage of the cabaret room at the Crown & Anchor. A voice seeps through the narrow opening in the curtain: “Another openin’, another show,” sings Delta […]
COMEDY
Kathy Griffin Returns From ‘Hell’ With Some Hope
The blacklisted comic’s comeback tour makes a stop in Provincetown
Once-“canceled” comic Kathy Griffin has been on a 10-week break in her 50-stop comeback tour since June, and her life and outlook have shifted. Griffin now has her natural voice […]
DANCE
Opening Up to Dance
Provincetown Dance Festival’s companies aim to engage and sometimes involve audiences
Dancer, choreographer, and teacher Jean Appolon has long found dance to be a vital way to communicate, a way to heal, and a way to bring people together. Dance can […]
DRAG DESK
Sapphira Cristál Keeps It in the Family
The drag queen and opera singer is a grand marshal for this year’s Carnival parade
Don’t tell JD Vance, but a church is a great place to nurture a future drag queen. She can develop an arsenal of talents: singing, sewing, working a crowd. And […]
THEATER
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dog?
Not Brenda Withers, whose new play, Westminster, is sublime satire
There’s a threat weighing on the two couples who inhabit a pleasant living room in Brenda Withers’s hilarious new play, Westminster, at the Harbor Stage Company in Wellfleet through Sept. […]
THEATER
Friendship in a Season of Compromise
Two women change each other in David Auburn’s moving Summer, 1976
So many friendships are born of circumstance — two people become roommates, neighbors, parents at the same time, or co-workers — and the experience can be intense for a time, […]
DRAG DESK
In the Audience With Miss Richfield
In her new show, the drag queen masters the art of loving schadenfreude
Nathaniel is a lawyer from Boston. (Actually, he’s from Milton, which sounds nice but also boring.) He’s here with his children, Teddy and Sophia. It’s Family Week in Provincetown, meaning […]
