Alex Simmons

A CLASS STRUGGLE WORTH REVIVING A stirring ensemble and inventive staging give this 1935 union drama a contemporary pulse “You can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union,” rings the chorus of “Union Maid,” the labor anthem by Woody Guthrie. Labor solidarity is harder to find in the 2020s, a landscape controlled by holders of…

LOVE, LIES, AND ALGORITHMS Deft direction and strong performances elevate an inventive premise If you could build the perfect romantic companion, made exclusively to make you happy, would you? Such a machine would need to learn human behavior by watching humans in intimate relationships. Such a machine might be able to observe and memorize human…

NO COUPLE IS AN ISLAND Joshua Owen’s warm and funny tragicomedy finds two marriages weathering storms of very different kinds A marriage can be its own world, with inside jokes, shared memories, and shared rapport. In Joshua Owen’s Human Things, making its world premiere at the West End Theatre, a couple’s world is their own…

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE WORLD OF TECH An inventive immersive experience turns startup culture into an office you may not want to leave Starting a new job can be stressful, but luckily for audiences at The Whole Sky All Diamonds, most of the work will be done by the “real” employees in the cast. You’ll…

A WINTER’S TALE FOR ALL SEASONS Raúl Esparza anchors a spirited, grandly theatrical production of one of Shakespeare’s trickier plays Let’s face it, fellas, who among us hasn’t had our best friend stay with us and our wife for a few months only to suspect maybe bestie and wife got a little too friendly? Such…

SACRED GROUND, SHIFTING FOOTING Bubba Weiler’s quietly affecting drama finds two boys questioning far more than their faith For generations, serving as an altar boy has been one of the most visible ways young Catholics participate in the life of the Church. Altar boys assist the priest by preparing for Mass, ringing bells, burning incense,…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Dave Hanson’s clever one-act turns awkward honesty into comic gold First dates can be anxiety-inducing to begin with, but what if your first impression became a Tower of Babble? Welcome to Café d’Automatique, where candor is always the order of the day—and perhaps the only order you’ll receive. When Erin (Katie Aldhizer)…

A CLASSIC THAT STILL DELIGHTS Strong performances and lively staging carry the day Small Boat and kotto Productions bring Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Taming of the Shrew to life in La MaMa‘s downstairs Club Space. An onstage bar before curtain sets the tone for the evening, and by the end of the night, you may have…

JANGLED JAM SESSION This coming-of-age ensemble never quite finds its rhythm In an age where most pre-teens and teens have the world in the palm of their hand via their smartphone, growing up happens faster than ever. Such speed may have benefited ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| at the Vineyard Theatre, which tells…

READING BETWEEN THE LINES OF FAME Broadway’s funniest staged reading proves that truth is often stranger —and funnier—than fiction Yevgeny Yevtushenko famously wrote, “A poet’s autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote.” Judging by the material on display at the opening night of Celebrity Autobiography, many celebrities probably should have stopped at…

A TRIAL FOR LENNY—AND SOMETIMES THE VIEWER A courtroom drama that probes language, censorship, and the cost of pushing boundaries Unique among the performing arts, standup comedy is the only craft that cannot be sharpened without an audience. And, ironically, the only performing art that we allow, even expect, to deeply offend. Who ever heard…

LET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN AND AGAIN A high-energy revival proves this cult classic still knows how to party Unless you grew up in a monastery, had a severely conservative upbringing, or are just too young, you’ve probably seen or at least heard of the drag-tastic cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Maybe…

MAY THE FUNNY FORCE BE WITH YOU A solo show that blasts fandom toxicity into hyperspace Plot a course, prime the hyperdrive, and punch it, Chewie! A sci-fi multimedia solo show lands in the 2026 FRIGID New York City Fringe Festival. “Ahsoka Tano is arguably one of the most Millennial Star Wars characters to ever…

A DANGEROUS STORY, TOLD FROM THE OTHER SIDE A provocative two-hander that shifts the lens onto the older man in a fraught relationship Teacher-student affairs are a classic subject of drama for novels, stage, screen, and beyond, from works like The History Boys to Parallel Lines to Notes on a Scandal. First staged in 2020…

A FEMINIST REFRAME Peculiar Works Project’s ambitious reimagining offers striking ideas but struggles to make its case with uneven execution Alessandra Lopez There’s an ancient folktale of a hero who arranges a proper burial for a corpse, whose spirit—the “grateful dead”—would later come to the hero’s aid. A common story passed around to emphasize the…

BIGFOOT! BRINGS DOWNTOWN MUSICAL MISCHIEF UPTOWN A raunchy, campy comedy with big laughs, big fur, and a surprisingly sharp anti-capitalist bite It’s not every day downtown theater energy comes uptown; when it does, it’s almost always sanitized and robbed of the charm and authenticity that made it so deliciously twisted in the first place. Luckily,…