The three plays in the “Meet Miss Baker” Project, "The Price of Thomas Scott" in 2019, "Chains" in 2022 and now "Partnership" in 2023 are quite different. While Partnership is the only one you could call a conventional comedy, and a romantic one at that, it offers the least social commentary of the three. At first seeming to be a study of the Shavian “New Woman,” it ultimately makes little or no statement about women’s roles or rights at the time. Women theatergoers may appreciate a period play which puts the female roles front and center, but this play is ultimately too bland and inoffensive. [more]
All eight stories are engagingly woven into a pattern that illustrates the things that help us understand what it is to encounter a fear of death or even a fear of living. David Dean Bottrell is a storyteller of great skill. He effortlessly gains the attention of his listeners and gently, lovingly carries them through 80 minutes of engaging and thoughtful moments in his adventurous life. [more]
The subtitle of Patrick Page’s absorbing and informative one-man show "All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain” is an actuate description of the content of his presentation. In a kind of lecture-performance it is Page’s credible contention that Shakespeare took the Vice character (the villain from the Middle Ages' Morality plays through Christopher Marlowe) and added psychological realism. Eventually in his last play, "The Tempest," Shakespeare was dealing with a character with a very worthy justification for revenge who finds compassion and empathy instead. [more]
"Chasing Happy," written by Michel Wallerstein and directed by Alexa Kelly, is a five-character comedy about a gay love triangle. It unravels like a pilot for a television sitcom that borrows characterizations from other sitcoms. Despite the efforts of a skillful, hard-working ensemble, the show never rises to the challenge of solid character development within a believable story. It was not a well-spent two hours for this reviewer. [more]
Not only is Jeremy Tiang’s "Salesman 之死I" an important document of a classic American play, it is also an illustrative reminder of the cultural differences between China and the United States. Under the direction of Michael Leibenluft, the cast of six is always engaging and always convincing playing both men and women alternately. The design puts the audience directly into the rehearsal room from March to May 1983. The play also allows us to watch major American playwright Arthur Miller as he explores and rethinks a play he had written over three decades before. The fact that the Chinese actors eventually did so well with this typically American text demonstrates the universality of Miller’s greatest play. [more]
Sometimes good intentions do not have the best results—at least in theater. Such is the case with "Scrambled Eggs" at the Gene Frankel Theatre. Presented to bring immediacy to the issue of domestic violence, the play written by and starring Reginald L. Wilson, MFA, is a vivid domestic melodrama, an R-rated afternoon special, which hammers the audience over the head. Perhaps, audiences need to be smacked to comprehend the direness of the subject matter and, perhaps, this is the means to that end. [more]
Nathan Alan Davis’ "The Refuge Plays," if one pays attention, is exactly about refuge: growing up with it (because someone else has lovingly created it for you), seeking it (if you feel you must create your own), and coming back to the refuge you have always known (once you come to terms with the realization you’ve had no success trying to create it somewhere else). Davis, for the most part, has given us characters that we can easily fall in love with, each with their own path to refuge. [more]
Lee Blessing's "Down The Road" is a tale that explores what can happen when "normal" people are confronted with the psychopathy of evil in the form of a charming, ego-centric serial killer. Skillfully directed by Chris Ryan, the story introduces a husband and wife writing team that their editor has assigned to do a book about a notorious killer responsible for the deaths of at least 19 women. It is not a play about the motivations behind a killer's acts. It is about what happens to rational, focused people when dealing with psychopathic evil. It is that examination that this production gets right from the slow unraveling of the couple's relationship with each other to the emotional and intellectual seduction of the killer. It is an engaging, chilling look into a heart of darkness. [more]
"Helen." is a new play by Caitlin George based on Greek myths that is being given a terrific production at La MaMa by SuperGeographics in association with La MaMa and the storied company En Garde Arts. The acting is top-notch, the direction excellent, and the lighting (by Jackie Fox and Connor Sale) is atmospheric and evocative. [more]
To say that Krymov works like no other director is an understatement not to be taken lightly. He is known for his inventive Russian adaptations, but he has also been earning a reputation for tackling American literature with the same whimsical and sometimes fourth wall-smashing approach that emphasizes the pure act of theater making. It is at first quite disarming in its playfulness, yet never loses sight of sincere treatment of works of literature. Here we find two Ernest Hemingway short stories, "Hills Like White Elephants" and "A Canary for One," both written in the late 1920’s, matched with two scenes that serve as dense character portraits from Eugene O’Neill’s "Desire Under the Elms," circa 1924. They are not your normal fare when you consider the expectations of the term “love story.” [more]
Director Garry Hynes (a co-founder of the Druid) heightens the portent of this bellicose rhetoric, as well as O'Casey's mockery of it, by having a fractious collection of barroom denizens stop their arguing to silently imbibe the outside speechifying with upturned faces (hauntingly lit by James F. Ingalls). As for a verbal rebuke, a biting one comes courtesy of Rosie Redmond (Anna Healy), a prostitute, who pragmatically declares she won't "fight for freedom that wouldn't be worth winnin' in a raffle!" With O'Casey, female wisdom, unfortunately, is never heeded, which inevitably has dire consequences for female sanity and female safety. [more]
"The Lights Are On," written by Owen Panettieri and directed by Sarah Norris, is a psychodrama that plays with two ideas: are we really who we think we are, and what are the reasons we do what we do? It explores the light and dark of personal psychology, our perceptions of those around us, the events that shaped those people, and ultimately, ourselves. Panettieri’s script and Norris' actualization result in a solid theater piece. It is a well-conceived and solidly acted play whose every minute is worth experiencing. [more]
Does it matter how autobiographical Amy Crossman’s "The Great Divide" at the HERE Arts Center is? A production of the Boomerang Theatre Company, "Divide" is Crossman’s one-person play about a relationship that proved to be as beautiful as it was problematical. The situation is clichéd, but the presentation is first rate. [more]
Both Garelik and Samuel’s performances as teens are fully formed and not stereotyped; their portrayals as young adults at their ten-year high school reunion are just as authentic. Direction by Rebecca Martínez is terrific, guiding both actors organically through their curiously intimate and emotionally climactic moments, at both stages of their characters’ young lives. Pipes has written an excellent play; she draws the disparate socio-economic and racial lines between Nathan and Melody with a fine pen. The arc and landscape of their friendship and its ultimate struggle is carefully wrought and effective. [more]
"The Making of a Great Moment" by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and directed by James Barry is a play about a pair of actors who are the principal players and only members of a bicycle theatrical touring company. It is a delightfully light-hearted story that takes us with them as they travel across New Hampshire with a show exploring the idea that "Great Moments" can happen unexpectedly. It is a show worth spending time with, although there are occasional bumps, flat tires, and rain storms in the journey. [more]
Elinor T Vanderburg’s "Bloodspot" is a fascinating attempt to create a film noir play for the stage. The visuals do not live up to the script’s promise, but it remains entertaining and engrossing. The schizophrenic characterizations, half realistic and half outrageous, are distracting in their inconsistency; however, it does not take away from the final effect. While the production by SheNYC Arts, “a femme-led nonprofit organization fighting for gender equality in the arts and entertainment industry across the United States,” is deficient in several ways, the play augurs an impressive future career for talented playwright Elinor T Vanderburg. [more]
LaBanca’s performance in his own play defies superlatives. Including us in his choir at the beginning of the show says it all. We are relieved that he still finds joy in teaching. As he puts it, “I packed up my classroom and as God would have it, I was invited to move everything to a public school. Also in my neighborhood.” He takes comfort in an accidental meeting with a priest who was asked to step down and move to another parish. “It’s ok. Matthew, just remember. The church isn’t God.” [more]
Krymov’s production is a rapturous love letter to the making of theater. He unearths how we really tell our stories by our emotions, what we hide, as much as what we reveal. He uses his stagecraft to develop new work from what has existed for decades but now through what must be the most meticulous, yet fresh, improvisatory stage vocabulary. His new company’s forthcoming seasons will be must-see events of the highest order. [more]
David Dean Bottrell is both a craftsman and an artist, as evidenced in his delightful and exquisitely entertaining show "Dear Mr. Bottrell, I Cannot Possibly Accept This." From his Prologue about the shape and size of a certain object to his adventures in New York and Los Angeles, and with his family in Kentucky, he takes us on a journey through the twist and turns of his life, and what a life it has been. [more]
An alternate title for Albert M. Tapper’s Clifford Odets-esque "Bettinger’s Luggage" might be "The Flood." In Tapper’s period piece, a flood destroyed the eponymous shop, an event around which Tapper’s tale of a family-owned business on Delancey Street in the Lower East Side of 1974 revolves. Solidly directed by Steven Ditmyer, "Luggage" is a classic story of one generation disappointing another with unreasonable expectations, with a touch of Jaime Sánchez’s character in the "The Pawnbroker"’s self-sacrifice tossed in for emotional heft. [more]
"The Jester’s Wife," written and directed by T.J. Elliott, is a fanciful attempt at reconstructing the source of the myth of Dymphna, a legendary medieval Irish saint who is considered the patron saint of mental illness. In telling the tale's origins, two characters create the framework what is to become the myth, and the third offers editorial commentary on their effort. While it is an intriguing idea to show how legendary myths were often created, this show does not measure up. The primary issue is the lack of a compelling interaction between the Jester and his Wife, leading to the creation of the story of Saint Dymphna. [more]
Sweitzer inhabits over a dozen characters in this play entitled "20 Seconds: A Play with Music," albeit two of them are him when young and him telling us the story now…two people he knows intimately. He is never so broad as to suggest caricature. His female characters are vibrant and flesh-and-blood enough for you to suspend disbelief that you aren’t actually seeing his mom Kathy, and Erdean, and Ms. Ruth, the fleabag hotel manager, and Denise, the girl next door, and finally his creation, Vivian Delgrosso, a drag homage to the Italian women his mom’s age. He brings the same depth to his male characters, with the masterpiece being his sadistic, yet eventually repentant father Tom. [more]
Each generation gets its own version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the classic vampire horror story, that possibly reflects its needs of it own time. The latest version now called "Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors" by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen is a hoot, both a parody and a comedy, a cross-dressing hilarity in the style of both Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company and Monty Python. A fabulously talented cast of five led by buff, sexy young James Daly in the title role get a workout with the other four playing many roles in quick costume changes. Greenberg’s production with its witty script and design makes this a must-see entertainment. After the pandemic and other recent horrors, this is just what the doctor ordered. [more]
Gilman's triteness and predictability combine to poorly serve a talented acting quartet, all of whom originated their roles in a 2022 production of "Swing State" at the Goodman Theatre under the usually steady hand of that institution's former Artistic Director Robert Falls, a Chicago legend. For whatever reason, Falls has kept his directing duties for the Off-Broadway run, too (a nice dinner at Minetta Tavern perhaps?). But it was a wasted trip for everyone, likely motivated by tragic topicality, the reputation of a world-class theater company, and a local sense of obligation to peek outside the New York bubble. [more]
From the playing style, as directed by Josiah Davis, the play seems to be a spoof. Unfortunately, it is not funny though the actors cheerfully mug their way through Horwitz’s text as though they find it hilarious. Its Middle Ages protagonist Mary played by Haley Wong is so naïve and unsophisticated that it is difficult to believe her portrayal. Much of the dialogue is very repetitious and becomes tedious while the plot is so emaciated that it is a wonder that it takes 80 minutes of playing time. [more]
Clearly, "Zoetrope" often becomes difficult to follow for non-Spanish speakers. The dearth of realistic sets makes knowing which location is which confusing, despite the occasional descriptive titles. Then, the fact that most of the actors—all of whom are terrific—play several parts in a rapidly time-shifting plot makes figuring out who’s who and who is in a relationship with whom difficult to ascertain. Why is Puerto Rican independence glossed over? How does Claudio become a filmmaker? It’s the debut of his movie that ends "Zoetrope." [more]
Somewhere there are rules for what theatre is supposed to do: it should entertain, it should instruct, it should provoke. To say that Annie Dorsen’s "Prometheus Firebringer" checks all the boxes is an understatement of what she has done here. It is a brilliant reactionary, and yes, even cautionary, piece that takes a 2,500-year- old play that doesn’t really exist anymore (what is left of it is the title and a fragment or two – the rest has been lost over time) and thrusts it into an exercise for the unwitting specter of Artificial Intelligence. The results are fascinating, yet unremarkable; provocative, yet giddy. [more]
Ever since Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker adapted 'Uncle Vanya" for a 2012 production at the Soho Rep, her plays like "The Flick," "John" and "The Antipodes" have becomes more Chekhovian: not a great deal happens but characters live out their daily lives. In her new play "Infinite Life," she has gone even further with the silences and the pauses that she has become famous for. Under James Macdonald’s superb direction, we watch five women and one man read, sleep, talk and sip water or juice on the patio of a wellness clinic in Northern California trying to deal with their chronic pain. Not much happens but, on the other hand, these people reveal their whole lives before they complete their treatments and go back to their previous existences. [more]
Max Wolf Friedlich’s "Job" is as tense as a thriller, as compelling as a psychological drama and as up-to-date as tomorrow’s headlines. As directed by Michael Herwitz, Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon are living their roles, rather than just acting them. While the play will grab you by the throat while you are in the theater, it will give you a great deal to think about after you leave. In that it resembles other two-character plays by such authors as David Mamet and Harold Pinter. It is to be hoped that the play will be extended or better yet moved to a larger theater so that more people will be able to see it. [more]
This play demands attention to the smallest details and a thoughtful encounter with what truth is being hidden and revealed in both the spoken text and the silent actions. It leaves one with a need to make sense of the experience and the feelings that it engenders. It is drama to be experienced and savored. See the show if you like intense, thoughtful, well-acted drama. [more]
Shaye tells of a pot and drug-addicted couple who are totally disgusting parents to a two year old. That’s just not acceptable even though it is told as a funny hippy-dippy anecdote. Even so, Shaye is a great storyteller, her narration a perfect substitute for the absent camera. However, she is a poor developer of characters. Her insights end with naming the drugs each character takes. None of the characters seem to have any means of support, however colorful they are. [more]
"alt-Hamlet," written and directed by Suzanne Willett, loosely uses "Hamlet' 's plotting and character types in a carnivalesque/grotesque black comedy. Inspired by the US Supreme Court's 2022 decision on abortion rights, Willett penned an indictment of the court’s imposition of legally sanctioned restrictions on women’s control over their bodies. She uses Hamlet as the vehicle for the story since it was a play centered on the Elizabethan view of inheritance as a right. Her play centers on a woman’s right to control her body. She also uses pregnancy and "morning-after" and "abortion" pills as elements in the story. While the topics dealt with are important, this production does not effectively deliver on those topics, not for want of trying, but because of the venue and some directorial choices. It reads better than it plays. [more]
Elisha has written a refreshing new take on Anne Frank’s life. Called "Anne Being Frank" (a title that should, perhaps, be reconsidered), the one-person, multi-character show posits a surreal possibility, that Frank managed to survive the War and decided to rewrite her oft-expurgated famous Diary [more]
