Prude Mechanicals, or Pore Newland Is Daid: Arena's "The Age of Innocence," reviewed.

An Archer misses the target. Shereen Ahmed and A.J. Shively in The Age of Innocence. (Daniel Rader)

Another Gilded Age, another pandemic. The time is right for another look at The Age of Innocence, more now than in 1993, when Martin Scorsese made his marvelous film of Edith Wharton’s 1920 novel. Turning in into a movie made sense. And putting it on stage? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it might’ve worked better as a musical.

My full Washington Post review is here.

Cop Show: Studio's "The Scenarios," reviewed.

Joel Ashur and Sarin Monae West in Matthew Capodicasa’s The Scenarios. (Margot Schulman)

My review of The Scenarios, a compact and brilliant new play by Matthew Capodicasa, is in the Washington Post.

Ursine O' the TImes: "Paddington in Peru," reviewed.

A bear in his natural habitat. (Sony)

My Washington Post review of the jungle-action three-quel Paddington in Peru is here.

Ouch: "Love Hurts," reviewed.

Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose play ex-lovers in “Love Hurts,” but their chemistry is not Gram-and-Emmylou grade.

The House that Wick Built is on shaky ground. My Washington Post review of the dismal action comedy Love Hurts is here.

The Power of the "Dog Man"

Squirrels and criminals beware. (Dreamworks)

Look, I didn’t hallucinate the ALIENS and Die Hard quotes in Dog Man; they were really there. The only thing that came out of my draft of my Washington Post review was where I pointed out that the bloodless canine-human head-trade in this PG-rated movie reminded me of the cranial swap in the original 1958 version of The Fly.

Girlfight the Power: "The Fire Inside," reviewed.

Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry as Claressa Shields and Jason Crutchfield. (MGM/Amazon)

If you don’t wanna take your folks or your grandma or your kids to Nosferatu (it’s good!) or Babygirl (haven’t seen it yet), and you want something more uplifting than A Complete Unknown (it’s good!), I endorse the boxing biopici. My Washington Post review is here.

Ninety-Six Puppeteers: "Life of Pi," reviewed.

Understandably the Paper of Record did not use my suggesed hed, —Ninety-Six Puppeteers — but my review of the touring production of the stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning 2001 novel Life of Pi at the Kennedy Center through the holidays is in The Washington Post.

After the Tornado: Talking with Gillian Welch for WaPo

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch (Alysse Gafkjen)

I spoke with the great Gillian Welch about one of my favorite subjects — setlist-making — and about how she and David Rawlings put a (great) song called "Hashtag" on a (great) album otherwise populated by (great) tunes with titles like "Lawman," "Turf the Gambler," and "Howdy Howdy." For The Washington Post.