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…
Life secrets and surprises are somewhere on the menu at the way-upstate New York diner where Paul (a quiet, thoughtful, and intense Anthony Edwards) has “good coffee made with a bad machine” nearly every morning except Sunday. Paul and server Katie (a perceptive and secretive Susannah Flood) have exchanged what might be described as casual conversations for the past two…
“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…
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…
In “Exception to the Rule,” currently playing at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center, is playwright Dave Harris more concerned about what might be the exception to the rule in his play’s inner-city high school classroom or what is the rule that looms over classroom one eleven’s detainees on the last day of the week…
Racism, sexism, economic disparity, and stagnation roil beneath the surface Caroline Thibodeaux’s (an embattled yet resilient Sharon B Clarke) deep unhappiness, disappointment, and resistance to change in Tony Kushner’s “Caroline, or Change.” Currently enjoying a successful revival at Roundabout’s Studio 54, the Kushner/Tesori musical focuses on Caroline’s long days in the Louisiana “under water” basement of the Gellman family. “Sixteen…
Bloody, gory, horror films certainly have been around for quite a while and have been successful in creating a cult audience that supports the genre. Transforming one of these for the stage would certainly be an audacious task. To go one step further, choose the horrific tale of Macbeth penned by William Shakespeare and take some extreme liberties to create…
Sarah Bernhardt (an intense and commanding Janet McTeer) struggles with her decision to play Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” not because of self-doubt or weakness, but because she is not sure William Shakespeare wrote the tragedy all that well or fully understood the play’s protagonist. During rehearsals for the play and for Bernhardt’s groundbreaking role as Hamlet, she argues with her cast about…
Thrown under the bus by her ex-husband Greg, a carping, selfish, completely self-centered Jodi Isaac (Idina Menzel) takes the red-eye from Los Angeles to New York City to “celebrate” her a self-assured father Elliot Isaac’s (Jack Wetherall) birthday. However, the real reason for her visit is that she “just, like couldn’t physically be in LA knowing” Greg and his new…
In the new play “Amy and the Orphans,” disability, dysfunction, and delusion are the contentious components that drive an anomalous family unit to a place they were not expecting to visit called reality. Presented by Roundabout Theater Company at The Laura Pels Theatre, the play is carefully and skillfully penned by Lindsey Ferrentino, is inspired by her own family members,…