Terry Morgan – Stage Raw One of the main pleasures of history-based plays is reexamining subjects from a new perspective. The life of Mozart was forever altered in people’s perceptions after Amadeus opened. The term “witch hunt” to describe something other than the Salem trials likely was influenced by The Crucible. John Ross Bowie’s sharply … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw As in Elizabeth Irwin’s compelling My Manana Comes, produced at the Fountain Theatre in 2016, La Cocina focuses on the lives of overworked and underpaid restaurant employees who struggle to make a living while clinging to their dreams….. But while Irwin’s play presents fully fleshed-out characters and a pronounced moral … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw On the page, Sukkot starts out a tough sell……But it only takes a minute or two of relishing Robinson’s earnest, distracted and irresistibly likable older gentleman for misgivings about the production to fall away. Read more… Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move In SUKKOT, playwright Matthew Leavitt reminds us … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Playwright Steve Yockey has one of the most original and distinctive voices in modern theater. His work is often suffused with dark humor and weird or supernatural elements, but he’s equally adept with serious issues and relationship drama. He’s quite prolific (Reykjavik, Very Still and Hard to See, and The … Read more
Philip Brandes – Stage Raw That darkness remains far too subtextual, however, to convincingly plumb the depths of Cash’s artistic soul, let alone his biographical one. Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The play is a familial drama framed by the consequences of a violent act, and while its backdrop politics are sketchy, its vital characters and the combustion they engender make for compelling, relatable drama. Read more… Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move Isaac Gómez’s new play, ‘RADICAL or Are … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Although there are problems with this play, it must also be said that it’s intelligent and attempts to deal with many issues — such as theology and literary criticism — that most modern works don’t ever touch upon. Fans of Shakespeare may well enjoy the erudite wordplay, and a scene … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Lines in the Dust is very much an expository play, its conflict turning on the impassioned desperation of a parent prepared to do most anything to secure for her daughter the future that she herself was once denied. Read more…
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Ethan tells us that he disdains liberal bleeding hearts (whom he perceives as self-serving hypocrites) — but otherwise he never articulates – and the play never explores — exactly why he and his wife (Cameron Meyer) have thrown their support to Donald Trump. As Ethan, the watchable O’Connor projects an … Read more
Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move “How to Ruin a Relationship in One Easy Step,” is a definitive alternate title for, THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, a smart, little 80-minute, light drama written by Samuel Balm, directed by Darko Tresnjak, currently at the Geffen Playhouse, Gil Cates Theater. And I say “light” because it’s not a … Read more