war

REVIEW:  Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s world premiere of Brandon Zang’s ‘Recursion of a Moth’ alongside world premiere of Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens’ ‘The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre recently presented two world premiere productions for BPT’s Spring Rep Festival.  Boasting some common themes, both are fitting companion pieces though one executes their ideas more fluidly than the other.

Both shows are rooted in preventing disaster and end the way they began with new meaning.  While one travels through time while the other roams through a cosmic plane, both shows are motivated through grief, trauma, and discovery while featuring key twists on the journey.  Both believe that changing their present circumstances will lead to better futures, but facing a world that cannot easily bend to their will.

Fear gives way to strength as one travels through space and the other among the stars.

Minou Pourshariati and Danny Bryck in ‘The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presented the world premiere of Brandon Zang’s Recursion of a Moth alongside Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens’ The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn for BPT’s Spring Rep Festival through Sunday, March 9 live and in person at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts.  Both shows ran approximately 80 minutes with no intermission.  Click here for more information and for BPT’s future events.

REVIEW:  A sky full of stars, transformation and resilience fuel Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens’ The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn

In a country entrenched in war, two children meet under a mystical fig tree.  One loves to sleep and the other constantly stands watch.  However, their purpose under this tree unveils in significant ways from what they share to what they face.

Directed by Nikta Sabouri, The Fig Tree,  and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn  by Isabelle Sanatdar Stevens is a mythological tale about love, grief, courage in the face of danger, war, loss, and unbreakable bonds.  Minou Pourshariati and Danny Bryck are cosmically and supernaturally connected and that connection is explored meaningfully as transformation takes place around them.

Taking place in August 1988 during the Iran-Iraq War, Danny Bryck as Javeed and Minou Pourshariati meet under a fig tree.  Mandana loves to sleep because she can speak to her late brother in her dreams while Javeed is afraid to sleep because he needs to stand guard to keep his family safe.  For these two children whose bravery is ingrained in fear, they seem to become old souls overnight. 

Danny Bryck and Minou Pourshariati in ‘The Fig Tree The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

Skillfully taking on dual roles, Pourshariati and Bryck are adorable as children and revel in their roles sharing each other’s fears, prayers, anger and sadness as they struggle for certainty and to understand what is happening around them.  Irresistibly endearing building a unique bond and vowing to change the world they live in and beyond, inquisitive Mandana and virtuous Javeed instill playfulness, imagination, and joy into these complex performances enhanced by bright and affectionate choreography as they share their creativity, energy and boundless imagination amidst the turmoil.  Sporadically mature in thought and innocent in their approach, they squeal, leap and bounce in a stirring bitter sweetness during a serene interlude in a land where things can change at any moment as light and darkness are in constant battle.

Danny Bryck and Minou Pourshariati in ‘The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

Lighting designer Grant Powicki and scenic design Cleo Brooks work together as twinkling lights, sunshine and glowing lanterns highlight a beautiful tree and wooded residential landscape which is unfurled by a retractable spool.  Shadows give way to surprises and bring to life their shared stories.  Sound designer Arshan Gailus is behind the immersive cosmic and natural harmony of this world.

The production contains a wealth of symbolism enmeshed in stories, objects, conversation and more.  Funny, touching, powerful, and poignant, The Fig Tree,  and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn is an affecting and thought provoking journey worth taking.

REVIEW:  Brandon Zang’s The Recursion of a Moth races against time

This is no way to document time. 

Directed thoughtfully by Katie Brook, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presented Brandon Zang’s sci fi drama The Recursion of a Moth.

It is the 25th century and a couple of time traveling bureaucrats and ex lovers are sent to document time and find a woman named Chrys for undisclosed reasons.  However, what transpires becomes far and away from what their mission entails into a journey rife with complications.

Alexander Holden and Jaime José Hernández in ‘The Recursion of a Moth’ Photo by Scornavacca Photography

Lighting designer Grant Powicki enhances Cleo Brooks’s simple black and white scenic design that colorfully depicts various dimensions and planes throughout the production. Fold out compartments depict a living room and kitchen as cast members change the props between scenes. Aubrey Dube’s radiating and moth-inspired clicking divide each scene while subtle and sparkling special effects drive this quantum leaping story.

Alexander Holden depicts resourceful time traveling bureaucrat Icarus heading to the Denver airport, his mysterious motivations behind a trench coat and glasses.  Jaime José Hernández portrays Mikey, a commitment phobic time bureaucrat dedicated to saving his family and completing their current mission.  However, Icarus has gone rogue with his own agenda to his timeline for good.

Alexander Holden and Jenny S. Lee in ‘The Recursion of A Moth’ Photo by Scornavacca Photography

The Recursion of a Moth explores generational patterns, family, the nature of suffering, and takes some liberties with time travel that becomes a bit too outlandish to be believable even if it would make for a nice story. Holden’s Icarus is obstinate and will stop at nothing to bend time according to his will while Hernández’s reasonable and grounded Mikey cannot help but remind him of time’s known limitations and consequences.  However, Icarus knows far more than he is letting on and longs to change time piece by piece for what may become a better future.

Alexander Holden, Jenny S. Lee and Jaime José Hernández in ‘The Recursion of a Moth’ Photo by Scornavacca Photography

Jenny S. Lee as Chrys, Alexander Holden and Jaime José Hernández all convincingly convey the production’s intensity at the mercy of time.  The moth’s role and recursion theory in this story is particularly fascinating.  Full of twists and quick turns which at times can be confusing, the show may have benefited by a longer runtime for further development of these characters and to give the revelations more breathing room.  The storyline winds into a major plot twist that seems too absurd to be believable even if it makes for a nice story. Recursion of a Moth has its bright spots, but especially under Back to the Future’s Doc Brown’s standards, certain twists would lead to a paradox. 

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre presented the world premiere of Brandon Zang’s Recursion of a Moth alongside the world premiere of Isabelle Fereshteh Sanatdar Stevens’ The Fig Tree, and the Phoenix, and the Desire to Be Reborn for BPT’s Spring Rep Festival through Sunday, March 9 live and in person at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. Click here for more information and for Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s future events.

REVIEW:  Far from home in American Repertory Theater’s innovative world premiere of ‘The Odyssey’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Ten years have passed and Penelope holds onto hope her King will return while life marches on.

Actress and playwright Kate Hamill has offered new perspectives to various works including Jane Austen’s beloved novels Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma.  Hamill darkly re-imagines Homer’s epic Greek mythology poem and plays an exciting role in American Repertory Theatre’s world premiere of The Odyssey which is as innovative as it is thought provoking.

Directed imaginatively by Shana Cooper, American Repertory Theater continues its world premiere of Kate Hamill’s The Odyssey live and in person at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts through Sunday, March 16.  This epic production has adult themes, violence and runs three hours including two intermissions.  Click here for more information and tickets.

Members of the cast in A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

I’m not a big fan of mythology, but who could forget the treacherous and conflicted journey of war-addled Odysseus as he perilously embarks on his journey home consumed by nightmares and at one point, even forgetting himself. 

Three hours may sound like a lengthy stretch of time, but this gripping tale picks up immediately into Odysseus’s perilous and monumental journey. It is a good idea to get a refresher on the tale before attending the production.  Homer’s The Odyssey is considered one of the most influential and most read mythological works of all time and Hamill’s reimagining mixes classic with the contemporary that delivers not only occasional moments of relatable humor but enhances the poem’s universal moral focus.

Members of the cast face Polyphemus in A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

The Odyssey unfolds with Sibyl Wichersheimer’s dual level, Grecian and ship-inspired set featuring beige textured walls, hanging buoys, colorful and stylistically embroidered artwork, wicker and wood set pieces, and pristine tensile structured sails scattered throughout the stage.  Lighting and projection designer Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew with puppeteer Abigail Baird take inspiration from Greek illustrations for luminous shadow projections  who are often larger than life and transforming the set from a ship teetering in a storm to Hades itself or skillfully navigating shadows to augment a powerful giant and its threatening eye.

Wayne T. Carr, Kate Hamill, Alejandra Escalante, and Nike Imoru in A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall

Led by Wayne T Carr, who is impressive as traumatized, tormented and yet resourceful commander King Odysseus of Ithaca, sacrifices, betrayals, and illusions are just a tip of the iceberg in Odysseus’s treacherous journey to find his way home as the Moirai, portrayed by Alejandra Escalante, Kate Hamill, and Kristian Espiritu, visit Odysseus’s dreams, nightmares and eat away at his conscience.  The Moirai have great chemistry and share a few darkly comical moments while they advise, taunt, discern and engage the audience while guiding Odysseus in his next step depending on his prideful wrongdoings.  The trio takes on  several roles throughout the production ranging from pivotal characters to adorable wild animals.

Alejandra Escalante, Kate Hamill, Nike Imoru, and Wayne T. Carr in The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

Overwhelmed and weighed down by his past, Carr illustrates Odysseus’s harrowing conflict through tragedy and despair after fighting in the Trojan war while agonizing over seeming impossible choices and yet, it is difficult not to root for him even as he follows the wrong path.  Jason O’Connell portrays a number of roles including Odysseus’s right hand man, Pilates and they share an intense and notable moment about prayer, miracles and blessings in Odysseus’s struggle as Odysseus looks on helplessly.  Carr manages to keep Odysseus’s plight sympathetic throughout his journey which quite literally includes the stuff of Hades.

Kate Hamill and Wayne T. Carr in A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

Kate Hamill relishes her role as legendary trickster and temptress sea witch Cerce and is one of the most fascinating characters in the production.  Candid and condescending, Hamill brings to life Cerce’s provocative nature and possesses sharp and darkly comic timing as she tows the line between deceit, truth and cruelty while pushing others to the brink.

Keshav Moodliar, Chris Thorn, Wayne T. Carr, and Nike Imoru in A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

Army vests, cargo pants, boots, fatigues, furs, sunglasses, embroidered capes, detailed gowns and majestic shawls are just a portion of An-Lin Dauber’s edgy and dynamic wardrobe.  Chris Thorn, Benjamin Benenfant and Kesev Moodliar portray a trio of raunchy, rugged and power hungry reveler suitors who relentlessly pursue Andrus Nichols as Penelope as they think the king is dead.  However, Moodliar as Amphinomus is kind to conflicted Penelope, as she raises Carlo Albán as her son Telemachus to become a warrior, despite his misgivings.  Nichols depicts a raw strength, shrewdness and fortitude as Penelope and she holds onto hope for her King’s return.

Andrus Nichols and Wayne T. Carr in A.R.T.’s world-premiere production of The Odyssey. Credit: Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall.

American Repertory Theater continues its world premiere of Kate Hamill’s The Odyssey live and in person at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts through Sunday, March 16.  This epic production has adult themes and runs three hours including two intermissions.  Click here for more information and tickets.

REVIEW: Arlekin Players Theatre divulges vivid, twisty and gripping ‘Just Tell No One’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Arlekin Players has multiple secrets to tell.

Arlekin Players ‘Just Tell No One’ Benjamin Evett Photo credit to Arlekin Players

In a world saturated by news, war, and strife, Just Tell No One shares a few conflicts up close and personal and each are a matter of life and death.  Magnified by multiple television screens while a script lies among the tattered and charred papers littering black film on the floor, Arlekin Players reaches into Natal’ya Vorozhbit’s Bad Roads translated by Sasha Dugsdale, Natal’ya  Vorozhbit’s Three Rendezvous translated by John Freedman with Natalia Bratus, and Just Tell No One from Oksana Savchenko’s full-length play Night Devours Morning translated by John Freedman to illustrate a number of brutal revelations with a sort of abandon.

Arlekin Players ‘Just Tell No One’ Anne Gottlieb Photo credit to Arlekin Players

In Partnership with Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings which is part of CITD’s Hope Initiative, The Arlekin Players (zero-G) Lab reaches into the dark recesses of the human condition with staged reading benefit Just Tell No One  live and in person at the Arlekin Players in Needham Heights, MA through October 14.  This show has adult themes, explicit language and graphic imagery. The show runs 65 min without an intermission and without a bad seat in this intimate, theatre in the round setting.  Click here for more information and for tickets that are selling fast.

Arlekin Players ‘Just Tell No One’ Gene Ravvin and Polina Dubovikova Photo credit to Arlekin Players

With ruefully clever direction by Igor Golyak, Just tell No One is a raw, intense, and unyielding journey with moments of grim humor stemming from mysterious motivations.  No ordinary staged reading, Just Tell No One latches onto the audience through its powerful cast consisting of Lucas Boniface, Irina Bordian, Daniel Boudreau, Polina Dubovikova, Benjamin Evett, Rimma Gluzman, Anne Gottlieb, Alexander Petetsky, Gene Ravvin, Julia Shikh, and Robert Walsh.  Gene Ravvin as He is crude, menacing, and frightening as he circles alert, calculating, and shrewd Polina Dubovikova as She in a fight for their lives in the shadows of a dank basement as Eric Dunlap’s immersive video and multi-media effects with Tyson Miller’s eerie blue lighting punctuate the filthy and isolated atmosphere.  Dunlap and Miller’s innovative skills later generate a fantastical and notable icy setting.   Lines become blurred as they both struggle for power over the situation.  Alex Petetsky as Vasya the farmer and Julia Shikh as Vasya’s wife make amusing conspirators hinging onto a naïve and young girl’s guilt, depicted impressively by Irina Bordian. Bordian’s anxiety is palpable as she faces the couple.

Arlekin Players ‘Just Tell No One’ Irina Bordian as The Girl Photo credit Arlekin Players
Arlekin Players ‘Just Tell No One’ Alex Petetsky as Vasya the farmer and Julia Shikh as Vasya’s wife Photo credit Arlekin Players

Benjamin Evett depicts sympathetic and humble The Man with questionable motives and Anne Gottlieb introduces the chill in the air as she opens the show with masterful and thought provoking prose as The Woman.  Each vivid, suspenseful and unflinching scenario tells so much and yet so little and now it’s best to say no more.

Arlekin Players ‘Just Tell No One’ The Women Photo credit Arlekin Players

The Arlekin Players (zero-G) Lab reaches into the dark recesses of the human condition with staged reading benefit Just Tell No One live and in person at the Arlekin Players in Needham Heights, MA through October 14.  This show has adult themes, explicit language and graphic imagery. The show runs 65 min without an intermission and without a bad seat in this intimate setting.  Click here for more information and for tickets that are selling fast.

REVIEW:  The Arlekin Players powerful and interactive ‘The Gaaga’ (The Hague) brings war under the microscope

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

What if during the pain and strife of war, leaders were rounded up and required to stand trial for war crimes?  What if during that trial, the very nature of war is peeled away to only exact more questions?

The Arlekin Players are known for daring and original productions fueled with a strong and universal message and this time, the audience had a say in this interactive trial through the eyes of a child.

Taisiia Fedorenco as Taya in Arlekin Players ‘The Gaaga’ Photo by Irina Danilova

Innovatively written and directed by Sasha Denisova, Arlekin Players Theatre and the Zero-G Virtual Theatre Lab presented The Gaaga (The Hague) live and in person at Beat Brew Hall in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA as well as a virtual option from June 2 through June 18.  This show contained some adult themes and is 2 hours and 40 including one 10 minute intermission.  Click here for more information.

The cast of Arlekin Players ‘The Gaaga’ Photos by Irina Danilova

The Gaaga delves into some heavy and heady content, but also has its share of satiric humor and spectacle told in an interactive manner through a child’s game delivered through a dark and intriguing performance by Taisiia Fedorenco as Taya in a bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine.  Taya’s “game” is a trial that Putin, portrayed with striking resemblance by hair and makeup designer Anna Furman and depicted somewhat superficially as a child would see Putin by Paulina Dubovikova, and his network of operatives is on trial for their crimes in the Ukraine.  The audience is privy to the trial and then some as each operative parade out for aiding Putin in crimes against humanity. 

It is a powerful, gritty, harrowing, tense, and deeply personal production that leaves many more questions that it does answers about war, its consequences, and the dilemma of who is truly responsible for its uprising.  Though the cast is a dynamic group made of mostly conniving and power hungry adversaries all looking for a scapegoat, The Gaaga adds unexpected dimension to this almost assuredly doomed bunch, but things are never quite as cut and dry.

Taya is not just any girl.  She wants the audience (who can choose to be part of the online jury) to not just see her as narrator and orchestrator of the game, but to get to know her by revealing her favorite soup and what she loves as evidenced by tell tale surroundings including a rocking horse, tea set, and pink doll house.  It’s such a purposefully ironic and metaphorical setting by Environmental Designer Irina Kruzhilina which perhaps symbolizes the loss of innocence as war talk overpowers a child’s playthings.  Lighting designer Kevin Fulton enhances the crucial, mood setting atmosphere from a drab and dismal Dutch prison to the satirical buoyancy of a theatrical performance.  Sound designer Brendan F Doyle and composers Szymon Orfin and Jacek Jedrasik add spectacle and with a cryptic, but at times humorous soundtrack that includes classic rock and original score.

Ilya Volok as Patruschev Photos by Irina Danilova

The originality of The Gaaga varies from treacherous individuals dancing exuberantly in strange garb to being interrogated in a bathtub through the unique lens of security cameras and other means of revelation including a bleary and bombed window.  Quite a few of the cast members make powerful impressions especially handling dual or multiple roles such as Garrett Sands as a malicious soldier, Robert Walsh as Surovikin, Joe Biden and others, but Ilya Volok as conspiracy theorist Patruschev gives a mesmerizing performance, especially in a particularly commanding, absorbing, and unsettling monologue which combines comedy and cruel irony.

Not only is the audience asked show questions as trivia during pivotal points in the production, but invites others to share their thoughts.  Some questions are tongue in cheek, but others are sure to be considered long after the production is over.

Arlekin Players Theatre and the Zero-G Virtual Theatre Lab presented The Gaaga (The Hague) live and in person at Beat Brew Hall in Cambridge, MA as well as a virtual option from June 2 through June 18.  Click here for more information.

REVIEW:  Company Theatre’s rock musical ‘Hair’ a meaningful trip

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Before cell phones, the internet, and alternate forms of digital communication invited people to text and talk on a computer screen as an alternative to seeing someone in person, Hair highlights the value of in person camaraderie, especially when things seem to be falling apart.  Set in war torn 1968 and focusing on a tribe of hippies that could possibly be drafted, emotionally and physically holding onto each other helps them cope in a world gone mad.

Company Theatre’s ‘Hair’ Shane Cunniff-of Quincy and Gilbert Dabaddy of Rockland Photo courtesy of Zoe Bradford/Company Theatre

Directed astutely by Zoe Bradford with bold musical direction by Robert McDonough, Company Theatre continues the 1960’s rock musical Hair through August 21 live and in person at the Company Theatre, 130 Accord Park Drive in Norwell, Massachusetts.  This show has mature themes and not appropriate for children.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

What is so prevalent in Company Theatre’s production of Hair is the natural camaraderie between cast members tackling a work that requires the cast to engage so closely and without reservations.  Hair is at times an immersive experience with some interaction with the audience and cast members occasionally marching down the aisles.   An entire cast warmly together onstage is uplifting albeit still a tad bit strange to witness.  It provides an escape from the world today with social distancing still not quite a thing of the past.

Company Theatre’s ‘Hair’ Julia Violet of Hanover Janaysia Gethers of Weymouth Elizabeth Nunnery of Hanover Shane Cunniff of Quincy and Tim Bevens of Hingham Photo courtesy of Zoe Bradford/Company Theatre.jpeg

Though the musical took place almost 55 years ago, there are clearly some parallels with contemporary society.  In a world with increasing protests, questions on gender, environmental concerns, women’s lib, the realities of war, racism, social injustice and societal division, Hair addresses many of these issues through song, humor, activism, and somberness.  It also features some silly and sometimes unnecessary content, but the intrinsic nature of its most popular songs give it a poignancy and relevance that the musical isn’t always given enough credit for.

Hair takes place, as the famous song proclaims, in the Age of Aquarius where one is destined for either greatness or madness.  With all the turmoil in the world, Hair seems to be embracing a bit of both. From Aquarius to Easy to Be Hard to Good Morning Starshine to Let the Sunshine In to its memorable title track, Hair delivers an energetic and steady stream of versatile music almost from beginning to end. 

Company-Theatre-Hair-Peter-Kirby-of-Norwell portrays Claude and Julia Violet of Norwell as Sheila the protest leader Photo courtesy of Zoe Bradford/Company Theatre

Not only does this young cast have strong vocals, but they also fit naturally into this era having done meticulous research with Bradford on the time period.  Some historical footage is sporadically shared during the production.  Charismatic Nolan Donato as Berger, the Tribe’s outspoken leader, is an engaging storyteller for the catchy song Donna.  Fun-loving Peter Kirby as mysterious Claude delivers a humorous rendition of Manchester, England, but Claude’s inner turmoil is what truly brings out Kirby’s dynamic performance.  Kirby also shines with the Tribe for I’ve Got Life.  Julia Violet is wonderful as the free spirited Sheila and offers a moving rendition of Easy to Be Hard.  Wearing slick 60s sunglasses, Jeff John-Phillipe as Hud candidly leads the Tribe in an affecting Colored Spade and later alone for Abie, Baby.  Shawn Verrier gets a lot of laughs as historical and controversial Margaret Mead.

The-Company-Theatre’s ‘Hair’ Jeff Jean Phillipe as Hud Peter Kirby as Claude and Shawn Verrier as Margaret Mead Photo courtesy of Zoe Bradford/Company Theatre

Love triangles are rampant and depicted quite humorously featuring Julia Violet as Sheila, Olivia Valianti, Emma Bergman, Amelia Kirshon, and Cate Healey in I Believe Love.  He’s in love with her and she’s in love with him and he’s in love with someone else.  Sally Aston Forrest’s funky and flowing choreography is at its best for the psychedelic Walking in Space enhanced by Dean Palmer Jr’s florescent lighting.

From beads to fringe to bell bottoms to slick 60s sunglasses to multi-pattered and flowing garments, costume designer Hannah Schuurman with set designer Ryan Barrow creates that groovy 60’s vibe featuring an embellished 60s theme truck, beaded passageways, and oriental rugs lining the stage.

Company Theatre’s rock musical Hair shows an era where people are anxious about the future and wondering where their destiny lies.  It does not stray too far from today’s struggles, but peace, love, and happiness are not a thing of the past.  Depicted by this young cast in a powerful, emotionally-charged rendition of Let the Sunshine In, perhaps the most important thing is holding onto each other.

Company Theatre’s ‘Hair’ Berger leader of the Tribe portrayed by Nolan Donato of Scituate and Sheila the protest leader portrayed by Julia Violet of Norwell Photo courtesy of Zoe Bradford/Company Theatre.jpeg

Company Theatre continues the 1960’s rock musical Hair through August 21 live and in person at the Company Theatre, 130 Accord Park Drive in Norwell, Massachusetts.  This show has mature themes and not appropriate for children.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

REVIEW: Boston Film Festival’s US Premiere of ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’ a moving tribute through generations

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

The 36th annual Boston Film Festival featured the debut of shorts, feature films, and some fascinating documentaries such as the world premiere of This Hits Home, Me The People, Beyond Zero, and ‘25’ Tony Conigliaro The Documentary, the US Premiere of Memory of Water, as well as the East Coast premieres of Knots:  A Forced Marriage Story, Stro:  The Michael D’Saro Story, and After the Rain on September 24 through September 27.  The festival offered virtual options and live screen opportunities at the Showcase Icon Boston at the Seaport in Boston, MA.   Q and A panels were held with actors, directors, and foremost experts.  Click here for the full schedule.

Showplace Icon Theatre, located at Boston Seaport. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Denizard

Director, executive producer, writer, and narrator Christian Taylor explores the complicated road to forgiveness in her moving D-Day documentary, The Girl Who Wore Freedom which made its US Premiere at the Boston Film Festival.  This extraordinary film provides a unique perspective on D-Day on June 6, 1944 through the eyes of a variety of groups associated with D-Day including citizens of Normandy who were children when the bombs dropped.  20,000 French civilians were killed on D-Day.  Taylor narrates this film as an awed spectator and tourist as she invites D-Day survivors to recall their experiences while she demonstrates the paradoxical ways veterans are treated in Normandy than they are in the United States.

Flo Boucherie, pictured, co-producer of ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’ Photo credit to ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’

The Girl Who Wore Freedom’s co-producer Flo Boucherie is the symbolic Normandy girl that inspired the film’s title.  She has a particular tie to D-Day partly because her parents were D-Day survivors when they were children.  Her mother worked with the veterans, made Flo’s dress, and participated in the D-Day ceremonies. 

Citizens of Normandy, historical representatives, medics, and veterans describe the impact and the dynamic experiences they had from a Normand child’s encounter with an American veteran who inspired him to never start smoking to trading shoes for eggs to harrowing stories of a civilian who got shot and the museum that resulted from it.  It also recalls some of the significant and surprising events that occurred after D-Day and how perspective changes over the years as generations look back. 

  • Photo credit to ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’
  • GIs Giving Canned Goods in Heisville Photo credit to ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’

Despite its serious material, the film is not without its lighthearted moments. It is about trauma, heartache, and harrowing loss, but also about liberation, love, friendship, and compassion.  What unfolds is a testament to the power of healing and forgiveness, not lost on anyone who has been at war. 

Watching this film is an eye-opening experience of one of the most harrowing events in world history.  Its emotional complexity may leave some conflicted of what should come out of the atrocities of war. 

Tom Rice, an American veteran who was in the March on Carentan Photo credit to ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’

The Girl Who Wore Freedom has been released at a pivotal time in the United States and the world with a sorely needed, universal, and thought-provoking message.  It encourages you to reflect inwardly and empathize with one another’s struggles.  The Girl Who Wore Freedom will unexpectedly move you to tears and make you grateful for the experience.

D-Day Parade Photo courtesy of ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’

The Girl Who Wore Freedom is currently touring the film festival circuit nationwide.  Click here to see where The Girl Who Wore Freedom will be shown next and here for more about this year’s Boston Film Festival and future updates.