Kelly Galvin

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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Shakespeare & Company 2022

“…a welcome tonic for these aching, ailing times” “…a remarkably clean, clear, lucid production. Without getting on a soap box, Galvin makes the play’s “now” factor evident … The pacing and rhythm are swift, steady, purposeful.” -The Berkshire Eagle

“Enchanting…” “Every once in a while a production comes along in which all of its elements coalesce perfectly, creating a whole world in which you’d like to remain long after the lights dim. Kelly Galvin’s production of Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare & Company is such a one.” -Berkshire On Stage

“Director Kelly Galvin … has concocted a sparkling summer cocktail of one of Shakespeare’s spikiest comedies full of warmth, beauty and fun without losing any of its darker notes…” -Nippertown

“In Kelly Galvin’s sparkling production […] This two-fold comedy of love masked by banter and sabotaged by envy depends on a fine balance between tension and foolery. Galvin handles the juggling act superbly…” -Valley Advocate

“…sumptuous” “…the cast that director Kelly Galvin has assembled under the open New England sky captures the attention of the audience from their first entrance.” -Main Street Magazine

BEASTS by Cayenne Douglass, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre 2022

BPT Talks: a tiny q & a with Kelly Galvin

WBUR News: 14 transformational theater productions to attend this spring

“…a deep dive…” “Society and its marketers propel the false image that birth, like rearing, is wondrous, that maternity is instinctual and natural. The body-horrors and chaos of birth are swept under a proverbial rug. Not so in Beasts.” -The New England Theatre Geek

MARY’S WEDDING by Stephen Massicotte, The Theater at Woodshill 2021

TWELFTH NIGHT, Catskill Mountain Shakespeare 2021

“Whereas many producers attempt to modernize Shakespeare with anachronistic settings, Catskill Mountain Shakespeare Company breathes new life into Twelfth Night without even trying, just by being true to their generation and the progressive values of our time.” Opplaud

NATIVE GARDENS by Karen Zacarías, Gloucester Stage 2019

“Snappy… crowd-pleasing. The battle is on and it’s a lively one.” The Boston Globe

“Gloucester Stage, under the direction of Kelly Galvin, gives the play a very fine production, full of comic pop and energy. The four lead actors give charming performances. […] director Galvin gives the play a smart and zippy staging.” Theater Mirror

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Shakespeare & Company 2019

“Lean and effective. The production’s willingness to show the ugliness and provoke discomfort, anxiety and even anger, and then show the growth of these individual characters without violating the integrity of Shakespeare’s text, is impressive as well as highly entertaining.” Berkshire On Stage

“Kelly Galvin attacks the Shrew problem from a different angle. Here it’s a contest of equals […] Petruchio and Kate are both rule-breakers, and treat their contentious courtship as a game with its own rules – those of improvisation. Instead of thrust and counter-thrust, Kate ultimately adopts improv’s “Yes, and…” approach – a shrewd feint and parry that puts Petruchio off-balance and makes for a level playing field. Kirsten Peacock and Nick Nudler are terrific in these roles, nicely mixing repartee with slapstick.” Valley Advocate

“[An] energetic exploration. Call-and-response opportunities for the enthusiastic crowd made for merriment and friendly exchange between the actors and their audience.” Hudson-Housatonic Arts

BREAKWATER by Jim Frangione, Great Barrington Public Theater 2019

“Director Kelly Galvin's actors move in and out of Carl Sprague's appropriately minimalist setting […] with steadfast purpose.” Berkshire Eagle

“Galvin has directed this stage film with its many transitions in the best possible way, keeping it tied to the stage yet free to set its Cape Cod imagery on a wonderful, atmospheric set.” Berkshire EDGE

LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST, Shakespeare & Company 2018

"...adventurous staging, consistently fine acting. Galvin's troupe of actors has clearly captured her playful imagination as they bring wonderful physical comedy and timing to the piece. Then, there are the water balloons." TriCorner News

"In Kelly Galvin’s lively, amusingly anachronistic production, with a text stripped of some of its more flowery flights and trimmed to a swift 90 minutes, [the energetic troupe] scampers over the wooded hillside and among the spectators." Valley Advocate

"Directed for every comic possibility by Kelly Galvin, the young company takes immense pleasure out of teasing the audience, testing one another’s mettle, using slapstick techniques with ardor...When they don't make you laugh, they touch your heart." Berkshire EDGE

"A delightful farce...The characters remind us of what it is to have fun and folly in nature." Berkshire Fine Arts

"Director Kelly Galvin’s actors use the entire landscape of The Dell, rushing up and down hills, hiking through the forest, and creating merry mayhem wherever they go." Berkshire Onstage

THE LAST WIFE by Kate Hennig, WAM Theater 2017

"Under the skilled direction of Kelly Galvin the play ... gives us more than just the story; it brings us the people - quirks, attitudes, lusts, loves and hates - with the intensity of witnessing our neighbors through their windows that have been left open and their doors left ajar." Berkshire Bright Focus

"Kelly Galvin moves the people, the play, and the modernization with ease." Berkshire EDGE

"Rich in nuance and acted with an eye toward distinctive, individuated characters. Insightful and engaging." Albany Times Union

"Superb acting... a kind of intimate epic." The Berkshire Review

PHOTOGRAPH 51 by Anna Ziegler, Southwest Shakespeare 2017

Best Director of a Play- Nomination, BroadwayWorld Regional Awards

"...simple yet sumptuous... Kelly Galvin and her all-female creative team deliver an intimacy to the play [...] that pulls us instantly into the story. The crisp and clean production design is simple yet also contains elegant and even somewhat magical touches." Talkin' Broadway Regional, Phoenix

MEMORIAL by Livian Yeh, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre 2016

"Current and relevant [...] fine directing by Kelly Galvin." Boston Small Press and Poetry Scene

"Clearly the work of two young talents with luminous futures." The Valley Advocate

"An absolute must see. The excellent cast is directed with a deft hand by Kelly Galvin." The White Rhino Report

"What makes Memorial such a treat is that it acknowledges cultural differences and finds a way to make something beautiful from putting them in conflict with each other." The New England Theater Geek

"Kudos to director Kelly Galvin and sound designer Oliver Seagle for the omnipresent stonecutter soundscape: The echo of marble yielding under the pressure of a chisel is expressly haunting and evocative of Lin’s struggle to see her vision manifested." Boston Arts Review

WAM, FRESH TAKES PLAYREADING SERIES 2014

"Kelly Galvin has been fearless and perceptive in her choice of plays to explore in [WAM's] intimate reading series." Berkshire Onstage