Aaron Kopec's horror stories at the Alchemist Theatre have collected quite a rogues' gallery over the years. Past villains have included Dracula, Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes. This fall, Kopec delves into less familiar...

Making its debut this past weekend, Aaron Kopec's Help Wanted is a deeply witty allegory about human desire at the dawn of the information age. The story, set in a 1940s workplace, cleverly weaves aspects of IBM's early history with sexual desire and office...

So I saw Aaron Kopec's Help Wanted  last night. It was opening night. The tiny Alchemist theatre was absolutely packed. Having seen other shows written by Kopec, I'd expected to like the show.  Didn't expect to love it, though. And I did. It's so rarely I'm offered a pleasant surprise. The act of previewing shows or even writing listings on them means that I'm doing research on them and getting...

Aaron Kopec, playwright of Murder Castle and Faust, has explored dark parts of the psyche in productions at the Alchemist Theatre. This summer, however, Kopec offers up Help Wanted, a show that should be less sinister and more subtle...

On one’s way in to one of the best shows of the year, one can’t help but notice a rather large, colorful quad-fold brochure for what’s coming up in 2012. Here’s where The Alchemist Theatre  jumps ahead of every other theatre company in town and casually mentions wht it’ll be doing out through December of 2012. Here’s a quick glance:     March of 2012 The Alchemist has chosen a sta...

The Alchemist Theatre’s annual Autumnal shows have been a lot of fu over the years. Playwright Aaron Kopec has outdone himself with a staggeringly complicated little piece of theatre that’s simple and visceral enough to be almost universally accessible. While it is superficial (and even downright silly) in places, it’s got a depth to it that’s a lot of fun to roam around in. Set in 1923,...

The Alchemist Theatre has consistently held solidly entertaining Halloween shows for a number of years now. The past three years have featured dark tales from the late 19th century—Dracula, Jack The Ripper, Herman Mudgett. All shows have been memorable and quite commercially successful. (Two of the three previous shows completely sold-out their entire runs.) This coming fall, the Alchemist mov...

Bathed in the shadows of relative obscurity, local shows can be successful in a variety of different ways. There are quite a few different signs of success in local theatre. Nothing quite says it like a sold-out show. An entire run of a show being sold-out? Okay, fine, extend it, but what happens when a sold-out show also sells-out of an extended run?  Aaron Kopec’s Murder Castle has complete...

The only new theatre show of the weekend welcomes a full-weekend of sell-out audiences. Alchemist Theatre’s Murder Castle: The Chronicle of H. H. Holmes opened a five-week run last night. All performances begin at 7:30 pm. The Alchemist website suggests that the show’s attendees show-up around 7 or 7:10 pm. An excellent idea—the play itself is Shakespearian in length, but the atmosphere in...

I didn’t sleep well last night. It’s not often that a play can do that for me. Alchemist Theatre really lives-up to its name with its production of Closet Land. The script is solid, but not particularly brilliant. The acting is good, but not particularly inspiured. Somehow unremarkable elements come together to make something profoundl disturbing—emotionally affecting on a overwhelming leve...