Daniel Yaiullo

Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-Examined Hitler

February 12, 2026

Despite the admirable commitment to historical accuracy, Lackey’s script is littered with flimsy side characters, muddled messages, and awkward dialogue. The result is a thematically incoherent mess that feels unaware of its own central tragedy. Hans says in Act 1 that he wants to force Hitler onto the witness stand in order to stop the Nazis from coming to power. The play seems unwilling to address that this did not work – that no amount of clever rhetoric would have been enough to stop the tide of Fascism. It would be wildly unfair to blame Hans Litten for failing to stop the Nazis, but it is a grievous omission for a play about him to explicitly frame the story that way and then refuse to grapple with the implications of him failing to do so, both for him as a character and for the ideas he is meant to represent and martyr himself for. Indeed, the play revels in the grace of Hans’ martyrdom. [more]

The Moby Dick Blues

June 14, 2025

"The Moby Dick Blues" is nothing short of a working-class opera for the Anthropocene—equal parts "Trainspotting" and "The Perfect Storm," churning with fury, addiction, and mythic ambition. In Michael Gorman’s daring reimagining, Melville’s epic is filtered through the hard truths of the contemporary opioid crisis, reframing Captain Ahab as a tragic addict and the White Whale as a haunting symbol of narcotic oblivion. The reframing lands with seismic force, compelling us to reconsider not only Melville’s obsession-driven narrative, but our own self-destructive relationships with nature, legacy, and escape. [more]

1+1

March 12, 2023

Eric Bogosian’s latest play to reach New York is his 2008 "1+1" which feels like a made for television movie written without taking into consideration the #MeToo movement that has occurred since then. While its Hollywood milieu of pornography, drugs, and easy money exists, this seems like a rather simplistic view of it all. Director Matt Okin, founder of The Black Box theater company of Englewood, N.J. which has coproduced the play now at the SoHo Playhouse, has done the actors no service allowing for a kind of soap opera acting. The minimalist production values undercut the discussion of the perks and glitz of the film world. [more]

Ludwig and Bertie

October 3, 2019

"Ludwig and Bertie," written by Douglas Lackey, gives us insight into the relationship of two of our greatest twentieth century philosophers, the younger Jewish Ludwig Wittgenstein and the 20-year-older atheist Bertrand Russell. Bertie, played smartly by Stan Buturla, is the wise old professor at Cambridge when he meets the almost half his age young student Ludwig, poignant, headstrong and hungry for more knowledge, insight and truth, played passionately by Connor Bond. [more]

Women Behind Bars

March 31, 2019

Referencing the 1950 women’s prison drama "Caged" and synthesizing all of the conventions of that cinematic genre, the late playwright Tom Eyen crafted the 1975 camp classic "Women Behind Bars." It’s been hilariously revived at the historic 13th Street Repertory Theatre in a punchy production lovingly directed by Joe John Battista. [more]

Dress of Fire

April 23, 2018

The epic myth of the Trojan War gets a fanciful treatment in playwright Nina Kethevan’s "Dress of Fire." Lasting about 95 minutes, it still packs in a lot of incidents with 12 actors sometimes declaiming classical text often directly to the audience. The visually superb production makes for a rather pleasurable experience even if one can’t keep track of everything, grows restless listening to long soliloquies or is not so enamored of the genre. [more]