It seems that this year in FringeNYC more than a few offerings are based on, connected to, or somehow resemble “Waiting for Godot” and almost all contain notes in the programs from the directors or authors explaining what makes their particular production different from the absurdist classic that is in constant revival. The new play “Is That Danny DeVito? (and…
Playwright James Hindman invited a group of playwrights to write short scenes all set in Watkins Glen, New York in a roadside motel that – although it might have “seen better days” – is still frequented by those looking for some semblance of self, by those looking to get married, by those looking for “something new,” and by those who…
Steve (played with a sincere and charmed ambiguity by James E. Smith) has a lot on his mind. His important story is stalled on his editor’s desk at work and has not yet been published. His fiancé Katie (played with a bubbly ferocity by Sarah Moore) is apparently pregnant – Steve comes home from work early to change his soiled…
Self-described foul mouthed talking, pill popping, lady loving Molly “Equality” Dykeman (Andrea Alton) is back – again it turns out according to the ratings on Yelp – at Enchilada Shelly’s for a friend’s wedding. Molly is a butch security guard at P.S. 339 in the Bronx who, unapologetically, sports a mullet and an orange vest – she wears the vest…
Anyone who is inclined to have a penchant for New York City history might be drawn to a new play entitled “Dementia Americana” telling the story of what is billed “the Crime of the Century,” when Harry K. Thaw murdered architect Stanford White, shooting him three times in the back of the head point blank. The crime took place at…
Gay-themed plays have been a staple of the New York theater scene for decades, including the Fringe Festival, which offers over forty shows this year alluding to all aspects of gay life and history. Through the years, the content, impact and impression of these plays has changed considerably as has the struggle, acceptance and civil rights of the LGBTQ community….
At some point on “Off Track,” – it might have been in a phone conversation with his ex-boyfriend just before his phone died – Ian (Matthew Trumbull) says, “It’s too late to fix it.” This phrase could easily describe James Comtois’s “Off Track” several scenes earlier when it was already too late to fix his FringeNYC 2016 play currently running…
Serious political and socio-economic themes have always been an acceptable genre for playwrights in the contemporary theater landscape but more recently this subject matter is becoming a more prevalent subject matter in musical theater. Shining examples of this art form are the mega musical hits such as “Hair,” “Rent,” and “Les Miserable” that manage to find the perfect balance between…
Falling somewhere between a cheap Penny Dreadful and a horrific Sci-Fi B-movie, Michael Paul Wirsch’s “The Curse of the Babywoman” (hereafter “The Curse”) has found its way onto the stage of the Lower East Side’s Teatro SEA as part of FringeNYC 2016. The residents of Shrubtown live in fear of the hoard of shapeless, formless babies who haunt the woods…
There is really nothing fresh in the new play “Pucker Up and Blow” by Daniel Reitz, being presented as part of the N.Y. International Fringe Festival. It is vulgar, exploitive, offensive, contains full frontal nudity and is a play within a play, mirroring the play being performed. So what’s new? It has certainly all been seen and done before, on…