The Wife of Willesden at Loeb Drama Center

The Wife of Willesden

Loeb Drama Center
64 Brattle St. Cambridge

A proper local legend, Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the local West London pub-there's no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman's got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables. And her love life? It's an epic poem. They call her the Wife of Willesden. Join her for an evening that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives. Winner of the 2022 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, critically acclaimed and multi award-winning best-selling author Zadie Smith transforms an excerpt from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales into the unbelievable-and unforgettable.

Presented by American Repertory Theater

Thru - Mar 17, 2023

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 617-547-8300

americanrepertorytheater.org

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The Wife of Willesden Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

The Boston Globe - Recommended

"...Presented by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, and directed with verve by Indhu Rubasingham, “The Wife of Willesden” is essentially a feat of storytelling about storytelling."

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- Don Aucoin

WBUR - Highly Recommended

"...A dark, fully stocked pub is where locals, including Alvita, a middle-aged Jamaican woman, gather to drink and chat. The notorious Alvita — who has had five husbands and would bed five more if she wanted to — is heralded as “The Wife of Willesden.” In this London neighborhood, she’s a legend, a great storyteller who manipulates to get her way and always seeks pleasure."

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- Jacquinn Sinclair

New England Theater Mirror - Recommended

"...Overall, The Wife of Willesden is a fairly entertaining piece, and Perkins’ performance alone (plus the incredible pub set) may be worth the price of admission."

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- Michael Hoban

The New England Theatre Geek - Somewhat Recommended

"...But Smith’s script is a conundrum. In terms of craft, her translation of Chaucer’s original Middle English text is gorgeous: the language flows seamlessly from one rhyming couplet to the next, with such a conversational, even tone that I often forgot I was listening to verse. In terms of dramaturgy, however, Smith delivers an almost one-to-one translation of the source material; with the exception of some reordering and cuts, and the inclusion of modern slang, the text is a remarkably literal rework of Chaucer’s."

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- Maegan Bergeron-Clearwood

Stage and Cinema - Highly Recommended

"...After a sold-out run at London’s Kiln Theatre, The Wife of Willesden has arrived in North America. Let me begin by saying that from now on, whenever I see the name Clare Perkins (Alvita, the Wife of Willesden) on a cast list, I plan to see that show. The woman is, to use the cliché, a force of nature. Her every utterance, every movement of her eyes, her mouth, her shoulders, her hips, her hands delivers some emotional punch—or caress. I think I’m in love, and it’s no wonder the woman has had five husbands! Who could resist?"

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- Lynne Weiss

Joyce's Choices - Somewhat Recommended

"...She gives it all she’s got, leaving little to the imagination and most of it onstage. Indeed, the actress is lithe and raucous but delivers what is essentially an hour-long monologue in exclamation points!!! More nuanced pacing would have made for better story-telling, and given more dramatic shape to playwright Zadie Smith’s direct transpositions of Chaucer’s text into updated language and contemporary rhymes."

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- Joyce Kulhawik

The Wife of Willesden at Loeb Drama Center