New York

ACTING ON THE POLITICAL STAGE “Another play about Chekhov?” I thought as I settled into my seat for Neva, written and directed by Guillermo Calderón.   Contemporary theater often seems plagued by insularity: artists write plays about other artists, which in turn attract an audience of artists. Rather than direct our attention to the world beyond…

NO RESURRECTION HERE While the snow is thawing and the flowers are getting ready to shoot out of the soil, the August Strindberg Repertory Theatre, a newly-formed company that’s dedicated to bringing Strindberg to American audiences, presents an ambitious production of Easter which is sure to get you reflecting on, and perhaps preparing for, the…

THE PRINCE OF PEARL Through ribald jokes and fiery speeches, spit flies during The Pearl’s solid and satisfying production of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1. The second part in a tetralogy of history plays (encompassing Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V), Henry IV is a work of epic proportion, well…

GO TO THE DEVIL With his lanky limbs draped over a rocking chair, the Devil has an undeniable magnetism. This storyteller exudes a Southern, gentlemanly charm – but dark motives lurk behind his twinkling eyes. “Sit with me, friends,” he lures the audience in. “Let’s wait for somethin’ to happen.” The “somethin’” that follows is…

CALCULATING, BLUNT, DISTURBING AND INTENSE The name Amy Herzog seems to be on the tip of every theatergoer’s tongue lately. Hot on the heels of The Great God Pan, 4000 Miles and After the Revolution, New York Theatre Workshop brings us Herzog’s newest play Belleville – a disturbing domestic thriller. In a chic bohemian apartment…

THE PARADOX OF A CONTEMPTUOUS PLAY AND ITS AFTEREFFECTS Early in Act II of Paul Downs Colaizzo’s incisive new play Really Really, my theatergoing companion Liz let out an audible sigh of frustration at the same moment as I slouched in my seat and crossed my arms. All too predictably, this is where the drama…

THIS IS NOT YOUR TEXTBOOK BRECHT While productions of Brecht’s plays are often weighed down by theatrical theory and didactic political messages, The Foundry Theatre jolts the audience to attention with a fresh and vibrant production of The Good Person of Szechwan. The Foundry Theatre plays free and loose with this translation by John Willett,…

AN ARTISTIC PLEA FOR CHANGE In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the Blizzard Nemo, global climate change is increasingly palpable. As inclement weather infringes on our day-to-day activities, we should consider the human action that has propelled our world into these storms. Cynthia Hopkins’ sweeping multimedia musical work This Clement World is a mixed…

A DULL DESCENT INTO HELL The charisma and passion Ethan Hawke brings to the title role, Vincent D’Onofrio’s powerful stage presence, a gnarly set by Derek McLane, lovely songs by Latham and Shelby Gains, and evocative lighting (Jeff Croiter), sound (Shane Rettig) and costumes (Cathrine Zuber) all fail to save Jonathan Marc Sherman’s new play,…

FUNNY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DEATH Hamish Linklater’s very funny, sharp and tender new play The Vandal begins on a cold winter night as a down-on-her-luck middle-aged woman waits for a bus on a deserted street. A skinny high-school boy appears and starts up a conversation. Precocious and lively, he quickly overcomes the woman’s reluctance to participate….

A GAMBLE WHICH DOESN’T ALWAYS  PAY OFF Flashing, fluorescent lights, glitzy blazers, showgirls galore, and an immodest display of drama and decadence are the background for… wait… is that Dean Martin?   No, the handsome and rakish would-be villain of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, played rapturously by tenor Piotr Beczala, is the Duke of a casino.   Set in…

If The Concert is any indication, than the contemporary musical theater scene is overwhelmingly characterized by pop rock stylings and a crazy high belt. Celebrating the launch of the Directory of Contemporary Theatre Writers, The Concert at Second Stage Theatre on Monday, January 21, presented an array of new musical theater songs performed by a…

A PLAYFULLY PROFOUND MASTERPIECE “Oh my God, I can’t believe we’re doing this. Okay :” Warm laughter of recognition spread across the audience. This thought had undoubtedly crossed all our minds more than a few times during Life and Times: Episodes 1 – 4, an eleven-hour theatrical event devised by the Nature Theater of Oklahoma…

THE ANTICHRIST IN A COLLEGE DORM The Amoralists’ staging of Lyle Kessler’s new play Collision, directed by David Fofi, is an admirable but flawed effort to explore the motivations of a young white middle-class cult leader and his followers. Featuring dialogue packed with popular philosophical notions and a main character who, in spirit at least,…

AS HARMLESS AS A PICNIC Roundabout Theater Company’s revival of William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Picnic is the perfect show to take your mom to. I know because I did. An excellent cast – which includes Ellen Burstyn, Mare Winningham, and Reed Birney – solid staging, topnotch stagecraft elements, and a well-crafted, thoughtful script full…

BREAKING THE LANGUAGE BARRIER The French expression “C’est du Chinois” means “It’s all Greek to me” – or, literally translated, “It’s Chinese.” The phrase is typically flippant and dismissive of cultural differences, marking a refusal to engage a linguistic barrier. Yet the play C’est du Chinois, conceptualized and directed by Edit Kaldor, creates a rather…

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL The virtuosic Fleur Elise Noble (performer, director, and set designer) constructs a world of artistic possibilities in 2 Dimensional Life of Her. Across a series of flat surfaces – the shadow of a woman standing atop a chair, large panels spanning the back of the theater and stage right, sheets and signs and crumpled…

NOTHING HOLLOW ABOUT IT Is it possible for a person of color to have a “neutral narrative”: A story untainted by race or gender, disentangled from the ghosts of the past, unaffected by theory and –isms? Is it possible for a person of color to have hollow roots, and if so, is an empty heritage…