New York

TICK, TICK… ENCORE! LARSON’S TRUNK SONGS SHINE If you’re a fan of potent post-Golden Age theatre music, you should check out a show that just officially opened downtown last night. There’s a lot to see, a lot to hear, and a lot to like when it comes to The Jonathan Larson Project—so head to the…

WHEN CHILDREN’S THEATER IS A BEAUTIFUL THING Two “P” words—“professional” and “pleasant”—describe the stage production in Greenwich Village with two “B” words in its title: Beauty and the Beast. One might also use two “E” words—“earnest” and “eager”—to characterize how its characters dive into the action and moral of the story. The genre of theatre…

GHOSTS WILL POSSESS YOU The world is full of ghosts, and some of them are still people. —Peter Straub, The Throat Outstanding performances from a first-rate cast and Jack O’Brien’s expert direction make his staging of Mark O’Rowe’s new version of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, currently playing at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center,…

Danny Brown’s two-hander opens with an orgasm and closes with a cathartic cleansing. Between these bold bookends lies 90 minutes of small talk—covering everything from sex and relationships to the kitchen sink. Adam (Ephraim Birney) hosts David (Joel Meyers) in his Upper West Side studio for what he hopes will be a quick, no-strings-attached encounter….

Metamorphoses is the third show by Dmitry Krymov and Krymov Lab NYC that I have seen (the first was Three Love Stories Near the Railroad; the second Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” In Our Own Words), and despite the fact that this production mostly fails, I remain a hopeful fan. Mr. Krymov creates absurdist works that look…

FOR ALL IT’S GIRTH Sumo is a Japanese sport in which two bulky Japanese wrestlers clutch and grab at each other within a circular ring. The goal is to either eject the opponent from the ring or knock him on his back. The typical match runs a few seconds and rarely as long as a…

HOW TO URN AUDIENCE SYMPATHY This one-man show is described as an “immersive” experience, and the immersiveness begins right at the entrance of the particularly fitting venue, the oh-so-appropriate First Reformed Church in the cozy neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. Audiences are invited to play along with the premise that they have gathered not to…

A SHOUTING SHAME On the Evolutionary Function of Shame—which Second Stage Theater opened on February 26 at The Pershing Square Signature Center—ambitiously tackles complex themes of identity, family, and the moral dilemmas surrounding gender dysphoria, transphobia, and eugenics. While undeniably thought-provoking and timely, its execution at times overwhelms with excessive dramatics and shouting. Elizabeth Ramos…

A THILLER IN REVERSE “It’s the story of a kid who just wanted to make a difference…” But what price does he pay for it? Boubs (short for Boubakar), the narrator of Rajiv Joseph’s gripping new play Dakar 2000 who utters that introductory line, is a devoted Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal. It’s December 1999,…