The author complicates the issue by bringing in autism (Margot) and Alzheimer’s (the unseen father of Adam 2 and Eve 2.) When asked if she would want her autism cured, Margot answers: “I might. Plenty of people would. I’m fine with who I am, but it’s also undeniable that the world only became truly accessible to me when I entered a specific tax bracket.” Ridding the world of Alzheimer’s wouldn’t help Adam and Eve’s father who is too far gone but might help the next generation. However, Adam feels betrayed by his sister’s research that would “give transphobic parents the option to prevent their kid from being trans before they are born.” He feels he is being elimin [more]
"Exiles" has a complicated history: it was published before it was produced, and was rejected by theaters in the UK and Ireland, most notably by W.B. Yeats on behalf on the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. It was first produced in Munich and received mostly negative reviews. The play never really got its due until a 1970 production in the United Kingdom directed by Harold Pinter. [more]
Urban Stages conducted a Dynamic Duos playwriting competition for one-act, two-character stories covering any subject during their 2023-24 season. Eight plays out of over three hundred submissions were chosen for staged readings. Two were selected for a full production as part of the current season. Those shows, "The Audit" by Lynda Crawford and 'The American Dream" by Juan Ramirez, Jr., opened on February 27 in a twin bill. They are both interesting stories told well with solid performances. [more]
Elliott has directed too realistically, turning "Curse" into a sad melodrama, minus the magic. Maybe Shepard’s odd take on rural goings-on had more of a shocking appeal to sophisticated urban audiences back in the seventies before TV series about Yellowstone and Fargo, filled with their own weirdness, effaced the darkness of Shepard’s characters and plots. [more]
"Grangeville" ultimately revolves around the fragile, strained bond of brotherhood—or, more accurately, half-brotherhood—and both actors excel in capturing the tender nuances of this dynamic. Their performances resonate with a delicate authenticity, portraying two damaged individuals tentatively reaching toward one another, aware that reconciliation may or may not be in their future. The emotional pull of their evolving connection is subtle, yet profoundly moving. [more]
Arthur Miller has always been our major playwright of moral ambiguity, never more so than in his 1968 drama "The Price," now receiving its first Off Broadway revival. The metaphoric title refers both to the value of an attic of old furniture to be sold as well as the price paid by the choices that the characters have made. The fifth New York revival and the first production by the newly formed Village Theater Group directed by Noelle McGrath is both uneven at times and weakly cast, but Miller’s ultimately powerful play still makes its point. [more]
While Dickson’s production is elegant and pitch-perfect for its 1914 era, the characterizations are partly satiric and off base. While Daniel Marconi is fine as the designing, unprincipled and power-hungry Peter, he seems to be playing him as a comic character with a wink in his eye though there is no evidence in the play that Brighouse intended this. Madeline Seidman’s Margaret is rather bland, failing to show us what Peter first saw in her. As his mother, Amelia White is almost as ambitious and designing a social climber as her son. The most problematic characterizations are those of the aristocrats who are all played too broadly, rather than true to the period. As Lady Mottram, Melissa Maxwell is almost a gorgon out of Oscar Wilde rather than simply a high class snobbish member of the gentry. Sara Haider’s Gladys fails to give off the kind of signals that would tell Peter she is interested in him, while Avery Whitted as her brother Freddie is practically one of the those silly-ass men of leisure out of P.G. Wodehouse. [more]
Bess Wohl’s latest play is the ambitious and engrossing "Liberation," her attempt to investigate the roots of the Women’s Liberation Movement back in the 1970s from a decidedly contemporary point of view. Calling it a “memory play,” she uses a narrator “Lizzie,” who tries to recreate the consciousness raising group her mother started back in 1970 in Ohio where she lived at the time. Complicating things for the viewer, Lizzie also plays her own mother (who also seems to be named “Lizzie”) in the flashbacks, showing us seven meeting from the many the group had in their weekly encounters back in the seventies. She also interviews the survivors now in the present about what they recall of those days as her mother has recently passed away and she is sorry she didn’t ask her more questions. [more]
Doyle’s storytelling skillfully blends didactic commentary with humorous anecdotes, holding the audience’s attention throughout and resulting in a thoroughly satisfying evening of entertainment. Whether you are a chess person or not, it is a show worth seeing. Afterward, you can hang around in the "Soho Chess Lounge," the Huron Room performance space skillfully transformed by set designer and chess consultant Charles “Chuck” Matte. [more]
Conceived, written and directed by Elizabeth Hess, "No Reservation" is a celebration of "the lost feminine to give voice to all who have been discarded, silenced and overlooked.” The performances by members of The Hess Collective are very intense and the language rises to the level of poetry. At a brief 60 minutes, the play does not overstay its welcome or become agitprop. While "No Reservation" has no solution or answer to the question of the female power overtaken by the patriarchy, it remains a tribute to women over the centuries. [more]
"Night Sings Its Songs" by Norwegian author Jon Fosse (pronounced FAH-suh), the 2023 Nobel Prize-winning playwright, explores alienation and emotional disconnection by a couple in a dysfunctional marital relationship. Fosse's works are often compared to those of Henrik Ibsen and Harold Pinter. His minimalist style fits into the Norwegian existential and psychological drama tradition. Fosse is one of the most performed contemporary playwrights globally, but he is not well-known in the United States. The play, directed by Jerry Heymann from a translation by Sarah Cameron Sunde, never engages the audience in caring about the characters' emotional struggles. There is a feeling of "so what” or “why should I care” rather than one of concern or empathic understanding. [more]
Dakin Matthews’ "Henry IV" is a consistently engaging gift to the theater season. Shakespeare scholars may quibble about the extent of the cuts from "Henry IV, Part II," but the reality is the original in its entirety can be a bit of a slog. Eric Tucker’s company treats us to the sheer thrill of witnessing a rarity executed to perfection, its invigorating energy palpable in every precise detail. [more]
In reading the script, I didn't see how the story made any sense or could have been given a reasonable life on stage. I was very wrong on both scores. The four actors of the ensemble breathe life into each of the characters, creating a compelling narrative even given the minimalist sets used. Director Hayes did a superb job blending reality with the fantastic, delivering a compelling story of love found, lost, and found again. [more]
The play is not very consistent with life in 1949. It is unlikely that middle class married women cursed, smoked marijuana, quoted Simone de Beauvoir or engaged in affairs with other women. While the program notes by the playwright describe "Mrs. Loman" as a “feminist critique” of the Arthur Miller play and reveals that the author feels that the original “does not provide for a full female character,” Linda’s studying philosophy at Brooklyn College does not make for a feminist statement. In fact, Beauvoir’s "The Second Sex" which Linda quotes from was not published in English until 1953 which means Linda could not have been studying it in an American class in 1949. [more]
Joy Behar and a rotating cast of female celebrities find humor in divorce in "My First Ex-Husband," a new show at the MMAC Theater. Directed by Randal Myler, the evening chronicles tales of failed relationships through a series of hilarious monologues. The cast of four trade off, each delivering two vignettes about men who turned out not to be “the one.” "My First Ex-Husband" is witty, quick and ceaselessly funny. [more]
Foreman's dramatic structure feels like an audacious attempt to stage the tumultuous workings of the mind itself. Neurons ignite, voices both internal and external whisper, scream, and echo through the chaos. Like a pinball careening through an ever-shifting machine, the sensory overload flashes, buzzes, and swirls, pulling you in with distractions that both enthrall and devastate. Yet, amidst it all, you may find yourself trying to self-convince that it somehow all makes sense…not perfect sense, but even nonsense has a layer of sense. [more]
The modern verse translation reasonably maintains a semblance of the Elizabethan iambic pentameter form supported by the ensemble's solid delivery of the lines. People familiar with Elizabethan dramatic poetry may be put off by the change in the wording but not necessarily by the presentation of the text. Overall, it is an enjoyable show worth spending time on whether or not one is an admirer of Elizabethan drama done to a modern beat. [more]
Playwright/actor Braulio Basilio may appear prophetic when we sit in horror today watching the news as a returning president maps out how he plans to deprive immigrants of any and all freedoms in this new administration. Created and conceived by actors Basilio, Ursula Tinoco, Gilberto Gabriel, and their fellow Teatro 220 colleague Andrés López-Alicea, "Building My Casa" is a timely piece of theater that desperately needs a wider audience. In "Building My Casa," they do not give us any surprises nor are we ever expecting any; they give us a tale of three endearing individuals who each in their own way are strangers in a strange land. [more]
Forrest Malloy’s "Nina" follows five women in their last year of acting school figuring out their lives while preparing for their final production together: "The Seagull." The on-the-nose Chekhov is luckily relegated to the background until the very end – this is a play about a friend group before it’s a play about theater. "Nina" is at once funny and emotionally compelling, all on the strength of a great cast. [more]
"Sheltered" by Cate Wiley is a story about what it is to be a homeless woman in a city in the United States. As directed by Liz Peterson, this play tells the stories of these women trapped by circumstances in systems of neglect and half-measures that are often beyond their control. In some cases, homelessness is a choice to escape something in the home, usually an abusive partner or spouse. Drugs, alcoholism and mental illness play a role as well. All of these things are depicted by a hardworking cast who effectively delivers a snapshot of the day-to-day reality of homelessness. It is an emotionally powerful play with an important story to tell. It is not a blockbuster play, but it is a play that should be seen for the compelling story it tells. [more]
Written in 1917, shortly after the U.S. entered World War I, "In the Zone" shows how group hysteria can build, as the various crew members decide that one of their own, Smitty, must be a spy. The play is a tribute to the heroic merchant seamen who served in both World Wars (and before and after), ferrying supplies and personnel across the oceans. Swept up into a conflict that made their difficult jobs even harder and more dangerous, they put their lives on the line every day. [more]
When the audience enters the theater, they are asked to fill out a slip of paper with one word that has been on their mind. Part of the show is made up of audience participation and these slips of paper come into play. Another part of the show written by DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg recounts DePonto’s life with mentalism, his childhood, his memories, his studies and his discoveries about the mind. He begins by discussing the “memory palace,” the way in which the mind catalogs our memories. The remarkable set by Sibyl Wickersheimer which is revealed when a curtain is opened is a wall of 146 lockers which resemble the way the mind works. DePonto opens some of these and removes items while some of the lockers seem to have a mind of their own and open without his doing anything. [more]
Not only are the paintings massive but they also cover all sorts of modern periods of art without Kissajukian having known their work (abstract work by Picasso, Matisse, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Basquiat, etc.) After the show the audience is invited to experience his recent art work on display in four galleries in the theater while he remains available to answer questions. Not only are the paintings a kind of therapy for him, he also titles them with witty names and explanations, often having little to do with actual images. [more]
"January" presents a story about the emotional impact of the killing of one child by another by weaving together the thoughts and actions of the two single mothers involved and how the national media treats the event. There are scenes blending memories and dreams with reality, presenting the protagonists' thoughts as if they existed in real-life moments with an almost hallucinogenic quality. These dramatic devices work most of the time. Still, there is a critical point in the play where what is being presented goes on for too long, almost to the point of losing the story thread. The projections used are effective but sometimes come very close to being propagandistic. Even with some of the unevenness of the production, it does present an important story that needs to be told. "January" is a heavy lift emotionally but ultimately worth the effort. [more]
While they credit the eight puppeteers textually, “with help from the ensemble,” Warnock and Waage are also credited as executive producers along with set and costume design. Mr. Waage is given solo credit for the sublime puppet design and construction. All in all, the parts make for a rather resplendent whole. Starting with the puppeteers dressed in sparkly black fabric that bring a deserved attention to the constant manipulation of the puppets and a set that constantly morphs between scenes. The initial “lights-up” has a large chunk of sparkly “glitter basalt” that dissolves into the individual puppeteers. The look is reminiscent of Adrian’s classic sequined pantsuits for Judy Garland in concert. Kudos to lighting designer Daphne Agosin for capturing every sparkle in those costumes as well as to the projection designer Erato Tzavara for creating surreal space within the confines of the Baruch’s venue. Thor Gunnar Thorvaldsson’s original music and sound design underscore the fantastical display on stage. [more]
The fun is in the technological achievement of the piece, which is impressive. Gelb performs center stage while his image is broadcast to screens on either side of the theatre. What happens on those screens is extraordinary – Gelb, as Tichy, interacts with himself flawlessly in perfectly choreographed scenes. You kind of feel like you're on a ship roaming the space-ways. The screens make things feel cramped, in a good way, and it's surprisingly believable when a wrench floats in outer space. [more]
Charlotte Bennett directs an exquisite cast of three in an exploration of these themes. Nicole Sawyerr solidly leads the ensemble in the lead role of Abigail Waller, a working-class playwright. Sawyerr is supported by Samuel Armfield, who perfectly embodies two characters: an unnamed theatrical director with a class-based condescending attitude and Darren, Abigail's brother. The third member, Debra Baker, skillfully takes on a number of other characters, the two most important of which are Abigail's mother and an actress portraying the character of a mother in a play written by Abigail. Baker gives distinctly different presentations of these two pivotal characters. She also takes on a number of other ancillary characters who voice supporting elements to the overall story. [more]
Typical of Singer stories about 19th century Polish Jewry, these three dramatizations combine Jewish mysticism and demonology with Baker as the narrator of two of the stories while also playing the demons in both (“The Mirror” and “The Last Demon.”) The third story published in English as “Cockadoodledoo” but here renamed “Thus Spake the Rooster” is performed by Seigel in two parts as the title character who seems to have supernatural powers. The evening is both directed and designed by Moshe Yassur and Beate Hein Bennett, both of whom worked on the Yiddish versions of Waiting for Godot and Death of a Salesman seen in New York under the auspices of The New Yiddish Rep. [more]
