New York

ENDURANCE, MANIA, AND THE WILL TO SURVIVE A raw solo performance that turns lived experience into hard-earned clarity Bipolar disorder, marked by its vertiginous highs and devastating lows, is an incurable condition that exacts a profound toll on those who live with it. Yet within this relentless struggle, many who are afflicted demonstrate a remarkable…

ALL TELL AND NO SHOW MAKES FOR A DULL OUTING Jake Shore’s thriller talks itself into submission ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ It’s the middle of the night when Joe (Ryan Tramont) hears pounding at his door. It’s his friend Barry (Brad Fryman), summoned in a panic because Joe claims…

AN EXCEPTIONAL ENSEMBLE IN A CROWDED PLAY Immigrant stories echo through a Queens basement — and across decades ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Queens is a New York borough unlike any other, celebrated as the most linguistically diverse place on Earth. Between 160 and 500 languages are spoken across its…

WHEN SUPERPOWERS SING Broadway’s new revival of Chess thrills more than it confounds ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ “Welcome to our Cold War Musical!” That greeting — from the narrator (aka Arbiter) of Chess, the famed rock opera now being revived on Broadway with a starry cast and new book…

A BELOVED CLASSIC REBORN WITH BELL CHOIRS, SNOWFALL & HEART ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Are you fond of bell choirs, Christmas carols, indoor snow, and classic holiday tales? Then you’ll want to make your way to the PAC, where the Old Vic’s production of A Christmas Carol opened last…

GOTTA SEE THIS SHOW! ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ I’ve been a fan of American Dance Machine since I was a kid in the 1980s—a company devoted to restaging Broadway choreography with museum-level precision and theatrical verve. Part artifact, part history lesson, and wholly a celebratory toast to Broadway’s golden-age…

A PLAY HELD TOGETHER BY BANDAGES: SCALPAL, PLEASE Colt Coeur’s world premiere of The Surgeon and Her Daughters, written by Chris Gabo, is a play of ideas—debates volleyed across generations, races, and cultures. Yet for all its verbal sparring, very little actually happens over the course of its two hours. It isn’t until the end…

“TOWN OF NASTY” AND OTHER THINGS WE BLURT OUT FOR FREE SPEECH Immersive pulp fiction where the audience writes the filth The world premiere of Dirty Books is an immersive play written and directed by Mara Lieberman, which opened November 13 at Bated Breath Theater—a decidedly Off-Off-Broadway adventure. Part art installation, part scripted play, part…

THE MARATHON OF MAKING ART A process piece that asks as much of the audience as the ensemble Perhaps the title of Nazareth Hassan’s new play Practice, which opened at Playwrights Horizons tonight, was inspired by the old joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.” Fittingly enough, the play follows a…

WHERE LONELINESS ECHOES AND CONSTELLATIONS ARE CALLING She gets up at dawn and is asleep by eight. She lives alone and doesn’t like people. Nobody at the hospital (where she’s worked for forty years) likes her. She watches TV and complains non-stop. In short, she’s thoroughly disagreeable. But what can you do if she’s your…

GLAMOUR BEFORE THE FALL A pansexual Richard II struts through power, pleasure, and ruin in the 1980s In its current staging at the Astor Place Theatre, Red Bull Theater serves up a Richard II for 2025 with lots of flash and style (some over substance). Director Craig Baldwin, who also adapted Shakespeare’s history play, leans…

THE SANDWICHES THAT COULD HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD A wickedly funny revision of history delights even as it faces catastrophe All they ever wanted was a sandwich… That’s the revised motivation for the young Bosnian conspirators who plotted to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in 1914. It’s posited by playwright Rajiv…

“It will never be forgiven.” With those chilling words, delivered just days ago, the UN climate chief branded our reckless indulgence in fossil-fueled destruction as a transgression so grave it stains the conscience of humankind, and he is not being dramatic! From Stratford-upon-Avon to London’s West End, and now at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater…

THE ONLY THING STRAIGHT IN THIS ROOM IS THE LINE TO THE CREDENZA Messy White Gays—which opened November 2 at Off-Broadway’s Duke on 42nd Street—is a contemporary drawing-room comedy, a modern spin on the comedy of manners, built on witty exchanges, social commentary, and the absurdities of its characters. Classic models include Oscar Wilde’s The…