Byron Woods
@byronwoods.bsky.social
Now in his 32nd year as a live arts journalist & critic in central North Carolina, Byron has published ~1,950 stories in regional newspapers & online media including CVNC.org. Honors include a Green Eyeshade Award & two fellowships each from the NEA & NCI.
Since most people < age 48 in the US have little to no working knowledge or active memory of the AIDS epidemic's first decade, my @cvnc.org review of Triad Pride's THE NIGHT LARRY KRAMER KISSED ME also tries to convey what surviving the first 11 years of AIDS in the US was like. bit.ly/53bcv
December 6, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Since most people < age 48 in the US have little to no working knowledge or active memory of the AIDS epidemic's first decade, my @cvnc.org review of Triad Pride's THE NIGHT LARRY KRAMER KISSED ME also tries to convey what surviving the first 11 years of AIDS in the US was like. bit.ly/53bcv
We remember.
We cannot forget.
We cannot forget.
November 21, 2025 at 3:30 AM
We remember.
We cannot forget.
We cannot forget.
Playwright Kate Hamill digs in hard as she probes improbable parallels between vampire folklore & conventional Christianity in comic, campy & uneven DRACULA: A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY at Justice Theater Project. Plus WAIT UNTIL DARK at Theatre in the Park, in CVNC.org review: bit.ly/50bcv
October 21, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Playwright Kate Hamill digs in hard as she probes improbable parallels between vampire folklore & conventional Christianity in comic, campy & uneven DRACULA: A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY at Justice Theater Project. Plus WAIT UNTIL DARK at Theatre in the Park, in CVNC.org review: bit.ly/50bcv
An advisory, offered in clearest memory of an absent friend.
Last lines, for us all:
"You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life."
Last lines, for us all:
"You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life."
September 28, 2025 at 2:25 PM
An advisory, offered in clearest memory of an absent friend.
Last lines, for us all:
"You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life."
Last lines, for us all:
"You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life."
The funniest show of the year combined ribald laughs with stone-cold political commentary in Vixen Theatre's POTUS; RedBird Theater's REVOLUTION focuses on a grungy loading dock behind a shopping mall: the space where three marginalized women feel seen, heard & safe. CVNC.org reviews: bit.ly/49bcv
September 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The funniest show of the year combined ribald laughs with stone-cold political commentary in Vixen Theatre's POTUS; RedBird Theater's REVOLUTION focuses on a grungy loading dock behind a shopping mall: the space where three marginalized women feel seen, heard & safe. CVNC.org reviews: bit.ly/49bcv
When A GOOD BOY's music reflected the lives of characters waiting to visit inmates on death row, @hiddenvoicesus.bsky.social premiere crackled with rap battles & true poignancy. More work's needed in the places it didn't. CVNC.org's review of the season opener at PlayMakers Rep: bit.ly/48bcv.
August 28, 2025 at 1:14 PM
When A GOOD BOY's music reflected the lives of characters waiting to visit inmates on death row, @hiddenvoicesus.bsky.social premiere crackled with rap battles & true poignancy. More work's needed in the places it didn't. CVNC.org's review of the season opener at PlayMakers Rep: bit.ly/48bcv.
When @hiddenvoicesus.bsky.social composers & arranger were in sync with characters waiting to visit inmates on death row, the show crackled with rap battles & true poignancy.
But that wasn't always the case.
An incisive review of the season opener at PlayMakers Rep, only on CVNC.org : bit.ly/48bcv.
But that wasn't always the case.
An incisive review of the season opener at PlayMakers Rep, only on CVNC.org : bit.ly/48bcv.
August 26, 2025 at 1:21 PM
When @hiddenvoicesus.bsky.social composers & arranger were in sync with characters waiting to visit inmates on death row, the show crackled with rap battles & true poignancy.
But that wasn't always the case.
An incisive review of the season opener at PlayMakers Rep, only on CVNC.org : bit.ly/48bcv.
But that wasn't always the case.
An incisive review of the season opener at PlayMakers Rep, only on CVNC.org : bit.ly/48bcv.
What a way to make your first Broadway musical: writing a bright, sensitive, soul-tinged score — to cover for script writer phoning in scene, plot, character development. Sara Bareilles' heavy lifting + good acting, singing redeem Theatre Raleigh's WAITRESS. Closes Sun. CVNC.org review bit.ly/47cvnc
August 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
What a way to make your first Broadway musical: writing a bright, sensitive, soul-tinged score — to cover for script writer phoning in scene, plot, character development. Sara Bareilles' heavy lifting + good acting, singing redeem Theatre Raleigh's WAITRESS. Closes Sun. CVNC.org review bit.ly/47cvnc
On the plus side: Sara Bareilles' marvelous songs & a warm & willing Theatre Raleigh cast helmed by Broadway veteran Alyssa Fox. On the minus: an underwritten script that neglected scene, plot & character development while trading in caricature. My CVNC.org review of WAITRESS: bit.ly/47cvnc.
August 18, 2025 at 4:50 PM
On the plus side: Sara Bareilles' marvelous songs & a warm & willing Theatre Raleigh cast helmed by Broadway veteran Alyssa Fox. On the minus: an underwritten script that neglected scene, plot & character development while trading in caricature. My CVNC.org review of WAITRESS: bit.ly/47cvnc.
The smorgasbords of shows at the 2025 Raleigh Fringe Festival brought the weird, the wonderful - and the sharpest stories from Vixen Theatre, comedian Nik Narain, EggNymph Artist Collective, Rigsbee Ave & Ashley Wettlin. Lives on the fringe, in the CVNC.org review: bit.ly/46cvb
July 22, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The smorgasbords of shows at the 2025 Raleigh Fringe Festival brought the weird, the wonderful - and the sharpest stories from Vixen Theatre, comedian Nik Narain, EggNymph Artist Collective, Rigsbee Ave & Ashley Wettlin. Lives on the fringe, in the CVNC.org review: bit.ly/46cvb
It's not every day an arts journalist turns 31, you know.
My first public theater review ran July 20, 1994 in the News & Observer. Yesterday, social media posts went out on my 1,950th story, at CVNC.org.
Happy to be here. Welcome to Season 32.
My first public theater review ran July 20, 1994 in the News & Observer. Yesterday, social media posts went out on my 1,950th story, at CVNC.org.
Happy to be here. Welcome to Season 32.
July 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
It's not every day an arts journalist turns 31, you know.
My first public theater review ran July 20, 1994 in the News & Observer. Yesterday, social media posts went out on my 1,950th story, at CVNC.org.
Happy to be here. Welcome to Season 32.
My first public theater review ran July 20, 1994 in the News & Observer. Yesterday, social media posts went out on my 1,950th story, at CVNC.org.
Happy to be here. Welcome to Season 32.
The smorgasbord of shows at the 2025 RALEIGH FRINGE FESTIVAL brought the weird, the wonderful - & the sharpest stories from Vixen Theatre, comedian Nik Narain, EggNymph Artist Collective, Rigsbee Ave & Ashley Wettlin. Lives on the fringe, in the CVNC.org review: bit.ly/46cvb.
July 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
The smorgasbord of shows at the 2025 RALEIGH FRINGE FESTIVAL brought the weird, the wonderful - & the sharpest stories from Vixen Theatre, comedian Nik Narain, EggNymph Artist Collective, Rigsbee Ave & Ashley Wettlin. Lives on the fringe, in the CVNC.org review: bit.ly/46cvb.
Luke Murphy's remarkable LIVE sci-fi thriller followed two passengers' desperate attempts to survive a diplomatic space mission gone wrong. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/43cvb
July 16, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Luke Murphy's remarkable LIVE sci-fi thriller followed two passengers' desperate attempts to survive a diplomatic space mission gone wrong. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/43cvb
VOLCANO, Luke Murphy's remarkable live sci-fi thriller miniseries, followed two passengers' desperate attempts to survive a diplomatic space mission gone wrong. The theatrical hybrid floored us at American Dance Festival. Read all about it; link to the CVNC.org review: bit.ly/43cvb.
July 15, 2025 at 5:22 PM
VOLCANO, Luke Murphy's remarkable live sci-fi thriller miniseries, followed two passengers' desperate attempts to survive a diplomatic space mission gone wrong. The theatrical hybrid floored us at American Dance Festival. Read all about it; link to the CVNC.org review: bit.ly/43cvb.
Of Andrea Gibson, who has entered into another part of the mystery, this day.
Requiem.
Requiem.
July 14, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Of Andrea Gibson, who has entered into another part of the mystery, this day.
Requiem.
Requiem.
A cast of 26. An 8-member orchestra. In an oversized production of Jason Robert Brown's stirring musical PARADE. Somehow, remarkable director Mark Hopper, designer Matt Nowell & choreographer Freddie Lee Heath made it work perfectly in NRACT's intimate room. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/41cvb.
July 6, 2025 at 12:19 PM
A cast of 26. An 8-member orchestra. In an oversized production of Jason Robert Brown's stirring musical PARADE. Somehow, remarkable director Mark Hopper, designer Matt Nowell & choreographer Freddie Lee Heath made it work perfectly in NRACT's intimate room. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/41cvb.
Joined across 3 continents: poetic Black American mantras, autobiographical Palestinian dance, Ugandan thoughts on dance in exile, & a disturbing cascade of recent U.S. social sigils, in intricate soundscapes & videography. Culture Mill's HOW TO BE A VISITOR at ADF. CVNC.org review: bit.ly/42cvb
July 6, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Joined across 3 continents: poetic Black American mantras, autobiographical Palestinian dance, Ugandan thoughts on dance in exile, & a disturbing cascade of recent U.S. social sigils, in intricate soundscapes & videography. Culture Mill's HOW TO BE A VISITOR at ADF. CVNC.org review: bit.ly/42cvb
Across 3 continents, intricate layered live soundscapes & videography interlaced a Palestinian autobiographical dance against genocide, Black poetic mantras, Ugandan thoughts on dance in exile, & a disturbing cascade of U.S. social sigils in HOW TO BE A VISITOR at ADF. CVNC.org review: bit.ly/42cvb.
July 4, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Across 3 continents, intricate layered live soundscapes & videography interlaced a Palestinian autobiographical dance against genocide, Black poetic mantras, Ugandan thoughts on dance in exile, & a disturbing cascade of U.S. social sigils in HOW TO BE A VISITOR at ADF. CVNC.org review: bit.ly/42cvb.
Had I not see it, I wouldn't have been sure it could be done. But director Mark Hopper, designer Matt Nowell & choreographer Freddie-Lee Heath fit a remarkable, oversized production of PARADE into North Raleigh Arts & Creative Theatre's intimate space like a glove. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/41cvb
July 3, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Had I not see it, I wouldn't have been sure it could be done. But director Mark Hopper, designer Matt Nowell & choreographer Freddie-Lee Heath fit a remarkable, oversized production of PARADE into North Raleigh Arts & Creative Theatre's intimate space like a glove. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/41cvb
In the scathing satire EUREKA DAY, a brittle bubble of cultural correctness at a private school gets popped when a student gets the mumps – and pro- and anti-vaxxers have it out in less than civil fashion. RedBird Theater's rewarding show closes 5/24. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/40bcv.
May 18, 2025 at 12:32 PM
In the scathing satire EUREKA DAY, a brittle bubble of cultural correctness at a private school gets popped when a student gets the mumps – and pro- and anti-vaxxers have it out in less than civil fashion. RedBird Theater's rewarding show closes 5/24. The CVNC.org review: bit.ly/40bcv.
In Justice Theater Project's STOP KISS stage veteran Laurel Ullman and emerging talent Elizabeth Galbraith ably anchored Diana Son's 1999 drama, where the world tried to stop a gestating relationship at its first kiss - and love won. CVNC.org review: bit.ly/39bcv
April 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
In Justice Theater Project's STOP KISS stage veteran Laurel Ullman and emerging talent Elizabeth Galbraith ably anchored Diana Son's 1999 drama, where the world tried to stop a gestating relationship at its first kiss - and love won. CVNC.org review: bit.ly/39bcv
Where this is heading. Note 2/4 & 3/4 in partic.
April 15, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Where this is heading. Note 2/4 & 3/4 in partic.
Showtime: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, at PlayMakers Rep!
April 12, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Showtime: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, at PlayMakers Rep!