The Public Theatre is currently offering the North American Premiere of “Deep History,” written and performed by David Finnigan, which addresses the critical subject of global warming and climate change. The playwright hales from Ngunnawal country in Australia and works with climate and earth scientists, to create theatre and games that may shed some light on the current situation the…
Something old becomes new again with the current production of “Yellow Face” by Roundabout Theatre, which has been produced nationally, and internationally since it opened off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in 2007. That premiere production was directed by Leigh Silverman, who takes the helm in this current incarnation on Broadway. Penned by David Henry Hwang, it is difficult to decide…
In Jez Butterworth’s “The Hills of California,” the four Webb sisters gather in the summer of 1976 at Seaview the guesthouse on the outskirts of Blackpool, an English seaside resort on the Irish Sea, where their mother Veronica (a once demanding and selfish Laura Donnelly) lies dying upstairs in what was their childhood home. Jill (an angst-ridden and spinsterish Helena…
The latest revival to open on Broadway is the classic “Once Upon a Mattress” with music by Mary Rogers, her first Broadway show, and an adapted book by Amy Sherman-Palladino, from the original by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller. As soon as the on-stage orchestra begins the overture, the audience is reminded of, or in many cases introduced…
The newest offering at Second Stage’s Kiser Theatre is a production of a new play penned by Alexis Scheer titled “Breaking the Story” which centers around a war correspondent who is actively reporting from the front line. The production directed by Jo Bonney was a bit confusing for this audience member, finding the elements of magical realism not clearly defined….
The most recent offering at MCC Theater is a new musical entitled “The Lonely Few” with music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak and a book penned by Rachel Bonds. Basically, it can be considered a rom com musical with a simple plot that takes a bit too long to develop especially since the predictability level is very high. The length…
“Doubt” can produce several similar congenial feelings such as uncertainty, suspicion, uneasiness, apprehension, distrust and confusion. Usually there is a situation or event that occurs that may be the cause, or possibly misinformation that may initiate speculation and accusation. The striking Broadway revival of John Patrick Shanley’s riveting drama, rightfully titled “Doubt,” now playing at the newly named Todd Haimes…
Asaf and the members of the audience are the unwitting protagonists of Itamar Moses’s “The Ally” which is currently running at the Public’s Anspacher Theater. Asaf Sternheim (a well-meaning but uncommitted Josh Radnor) is Jewish, a writer, and an adjunct professor of writing at a prestigious American University in a struggling American city where his Korean American wife Gwen Kim…
According to the dictionary, there are several definitions of the word ‘appropriate,’ but there may possibly be one that could be added, that being “a brilliant play by Brandon Jacob-Jenkins.” which is now having a stunning production mounted on Broadway by Second Stage Theater. Aptly titled “Appropriate” follows the ultra-dysfunctional Lafayette clan back to their family plantation home in Southeast…
The time “Jonah,” currently running at Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre, takes place is described in the program as “The past and the present. But everything is slippery.” ‘Slippery’ is the operative word here. Everything is slippery in “Jonah” in addition to the time: the series of bedrooms in Wilson Chin’s cerebral and surreal design; the changeability and moodiness…