Media Archive

“The dialogue, the writing is so real. Just like [Smith’s] books do, the characters sing off the page.”

In Smith’s The Wife of Willesden…a chorus of voices at the pub chime in as Alvita dishes on men and women, power and deception, sex and desire.

There’s a feeling that British actress Clare Perkins gets when she reads an intriguing role, a “fire” of sorts that makes her want to take part. So when she learned of the character Alvita…Perkins knew it would be “a good character to bring to the stage.”

It can be expensive to see a professional theatrical production… But the new Take Five program at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge makes tickets available for just $5.

British actress Clare Perkins remembers watching an episode of “Aerial America” (a TV series on the Smithsonian Channel) that featured Massachusetts. “I said that I wanted to go there,” she said. “I love coastal cities and old buildings. … I’m really excited to finally be coming to Boston.”

Smith has modernized the tale while keeping the lead character closely connected to Chaucer’s original text — “The Wife of Willesden” makes its stateside debut at the American Repertory Theater Feb. 25 to March 19.

Rosen also asserted that the production “really feels like magic.” That estimation is no hyperbole.

Jared Bowen dropped in on rehearsals ahead of its North American Premiere at the A.R.T. to sit down with the creative team behind this production, which he has described as a work of magic that “comes to life in the most vivid way.”

A psychological thriller, it dips into theology—what we believe in—and fantasy—what we believe is real.

We showed up on the first day of rehearsal prepared to be amazed. And we were…There was the kind of electric feeling in the air that you get when you know that every single person present is absolutely necessary to tell the story.