Gregory Fletcher

“In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest.” ’•  William Penn Itamar Moses (The Band’s Visit) is a playwright we should all be listening to. His new play The Ally, which opened tonight at the Public Theater, is so timely and relevant, it acts as a master class in fully…

THE HUNT IS ON, BRUTAL AND UNMISSABLE The Jungle. Volcano. Life & Times of Michael K. In the last year alone, the venerable St. Ann’s Warehouse has hosted stunning theater from around the world. But last night came the most powerful, provocative theater imaginable. Not to be missed, the U.S. premiere of London’s Almeida Theatre…

FUNNY FIVE SENDS-UP SIX To the worldwide fanbase of the Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s Six, fear not — the new Off-Broadway parody Five pays loving homage to the girl-power musical sensation that brings the six wives of Henry VIII together for a competition to decide which one had it worse. In Six, each queen…

A MATTRESS THAT REVIVES AND RENEWS When Encores! announced Once Upon a Mattress as part of their season’s concert series reviving American musicals, my first thought: Does this nutty chestnut need reviving? After all, there have been numerous in-your-neighborhood productions (for decades, Mattress was one of the most-produced musicals in high schools, colleges, and community…

STAGED AT AN EMOTIONAL DISTANCE, OUR CLASS IS A HARROWING REMINDER OF ONGOING ANTISEMITISM At a recent viewing of Joshua Harmon’s Broadway play Prayer for the French Republic, French Jews no longer feel safe with the overt antisemitism in Paris and ultimately ask themselves, “Why do they hate us?” In Our Class by Tadeusz SŠ‚obodzianek…

THE WHOLE PICTURE Joben Productions presents The Whole of Time by Romina Paula, an Argentinean playwright and multidisciplinary artist. The play was translated by Jean Graham-Jones, a scholar of Argentine theatre and performance, and directed by Tony Torn with a downtown, raw, intimate approach. Part of the fun of attending this 70-minute performance is getting…

NO LONGER JUST ROLLING ALONG, MERRILY HAS LANDED WHERE IT BELONGS: BROADWAY It’s fitting that Merrily We Roll Along, which originally opened on Broadway in 1981 to mostly negative reviews, has been refurbished in the equally restored Hudson Theater. Both the theater and production make the perfect classy pair — stunning theater at its best…

SWING…AND MISS The Chicago Tribune review of Swing State, as advertised on the production poster, charged me with excitement in seeing Rebecca Gilman’s new play. “Perhaps the first of the great American plays of this decade. It blew me away!” Well, I wish I had that same experience. Mary Beth Fisher and Bubba Weiler The…

INFINITE PLAYWRITING Co-produced by Atlantic Theater Company and National Theatre, the one-hour and 45-minute production (no intermission) is Annie Baker’s best play to date. At least from my past three experiences of the admired Circle Mirror Transformation, The Flick, and John. The play is set two hours north of San Francisco. The set design by…

AN INTRUSIVE NEW MUSICAL Presented by Howard Alter and Tom Giachetti of Gotta Believe Theater Group, Relapse: A New Musical by J. Giachetti (Book and Lyrics) and Louis Josephson (Music and Additional Lyrics) opened last night at Theatre Row for a limited three week run. Sheryl Liu‘s set has six blue chairs in a semi-circle,…

EL MAGO POP CUTS THROUGH THE CHEESE WITH AN ASTOUNDING BROADWAY DEBUT At 37, the celebrity illusionist Antonio Diaz, AKA “El Mago Pop,” may or may not be the youngest illusionist to appear on Broadway (the press says he is, but I saw 27-year-old Doug Henning when The Magic Show opened in 1974, and Paul…