Writer
Journalist Deirdre Donovan has written for the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, among others. Her theater writing has been published in The Brooklyn Paper, Our Town, West Side Spirit, Curtainup, Theaterscene, and Offoffonline.
Carmen Cusack photos by Joan Marcus by Deirdre Donovan Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Bright Star arrives at the Cort Theatre with a glowing cast and the twangy sound of blue-grass music. Directed by Walter Bobbie, and set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, it hopscotches between the 1920s and 1940s–and…
(from Left to Right): Henry Stram, Nadine Malouf, Christian Conn, Christian DeMarais, Ramsey Faragallah Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg by Deirdre Donovan Pssst! There’s a scandal brewing at the Lucille Lortel Theater. And anybody who wants to learn who the latest victim is–deserved or not—should head downtown and catch the wickedly delicious revival of The…
Murray Abraham as Nathan photos by Richard Termine by Deirdre Donovan Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan the Wise is not a play to pass quick judgment on. At first blush it might seem the dramatic equivalent of watching paint dry. But those audience members who stay for the entire 2-hour production at the Classic…
(L-R) Susannah Flood, George Demas, Kati Brazda and Carter Hudson in ‘The Effect’ Courtesy of Matthew Murphy by Deirdre Donovan Lucy Prebble’s provocative new play The Effect, is a brain-teaser with a heart. Superbly directed by David Cromer, and under the aegis of The National Theatre of Great Britain’s North American wing, it’s…
by Deirdre Donovan The Actors Theatre Company (TACT) and the Gingold Theatrical Group (GTG) join hands and mount George Bernard Shaw first play Widowers’ Houses. Under the direction of the GTG’s Artistic Director David Staller, this is a rare opportunity to see Shaw’s maiden play staged with meticulous care. The program’s cover neatly…
Reed Birney, Jayne Houdyshell, Cassie Beck, Sarah Steele and Arian Moayed in The Humans. Photos by Joan Marcus by Deirdre Donovan Stephen Karam’s new play, which originated at the Laurel Pels Theater in 2015, has settled in snugly at Broadway’s Helen Hayes. And if you haven’t seen this gem, put it on your must-see list. …
A Review by Deirdre Donovan Teaser: Kecia Lewis resurrects Brecht’s iconic character with gutsiness and daring at the Classic Stage Company. “Still tough as nails, I see; but that’s what I like about you.” The Cook’s words to Mother Courage in a late scene in Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children might well apply…
Sara Topham and Christian Coulson by Deirdre Donovan Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling is one wild and wooly play. Part tragedy, part comedy, part suspense-thriller, it’s altogether a Jacobean morality play that will make you gasp with horror—and even occasionally giggle. Jesse Berger, the intrepid artistic director of the Red Bull Theater…
Darius de Haas, Betsy Wolfe, Elena Shaddow, Aaron C. Finley, Ann Harada, Greg Hildreth by Deirdre Donovan Kathleen Marshall hosts the 92 Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists series and gives the juice on some of Broadway’s classic songs. Love at first write? Hardly. Broadway songs rarely get inked in a blink. Like that…
Susanne Sulby Photo credit: Carol Rosegg) by Deirdre Donovan Sanctuary is a solo show with a conscience. Written and performed by stage and film actress Susanne Sulby, this play unfolds, in turn, like a docudrama, news broadcast, and surreal play. Now in a brief run at Theater Row (at the Lion Theatre), Sulby draws…