Off-Broadway Plays Archives

  • The Iceman Cometh

    Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane                                      photos by Richard Termine                                           By Eric Grunin The magnificent production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh now at BAM is a must-see for any lover of the play, the playwright, Nathan Lane, Brian Dennehy, or great acting in general. I have never in my life seen so many fine…

  • Churchill

                                               by Dorothy Marcic A play brightened by the performance of its writer Ronald Keaton, who confidently inhabits the spirit of the leader who stood alone against the Nazis during the early years of WWII replete with his vibrant oratory. As a History Lesson, Churchill, which opened at the New World Stages Wed. Nov. 18, is…

  • The Bullpen

    Joe Assadourian                                               (© Bella Muccari) Funny, skillful, and short, this monologue gives you more truths about the justice system in an hour than any cable drama gives you in a whole season. The Central Park Five, the group falsely arrested in 1989, spoke after the performance Joe Assadourian, writer and sole performer of The Bullpen was…

  • A Month in the Country

     Taylor Schilling and Peter Dinklage                                                                    Photo: Joan Marcus                       by Dierdre Donovan Small-screen stars Peter Dinklage and Taylor Schilling bring high-voltage to Ivan Turgenev’s Month in the Country at Classic Stage Company’s latest production.  And those who want to see these luminaries up-close and personal now have their chance on this intimate stage in the…

  • Sticks and Bones

    Ben Schnetzer, Holly Hunter, Bill Pullman and (standing) Raviv Ullman  Photos: Monique Carboni                                by David Schultz A revival of playwright David Rabe’s Tony Award winning play Sticks and Bones (1971) may prove to be the most moving and gut wrenching play in New York City at the moment. This seriously demented twist on the…

  • The River

    Hugh Jackman as The Man in THE RIVER, a new play by Jes Butterworth, directed by Ian Rickson, at Circle in the Square Theater (50th Street between Broadway and Eight Avenue). © Richard Termine                       by David Schultz What can the typical theatergoer expect when seeing the new play entitled  The River ? That’s presuming…

  • The Belle of Amherst

    Joely Richardson stars in William Luce’s The Belle of Amherst, directed by Steve Cosson, at the Westside Theatre. (© Carol Rosegg)                                      By Deirdre Donovan Joely Richardson brings 19th Century poet Emily Dickinson alive in her one-woman performance at the West End Theatre. William Luce’s one-woman play about the great American poet Emily Dickinson arrives at…

  • Major Barbara

    Dan Daily, Hannah Cabell and Richard Gallagher                                      by Deirdre Donovan When you see the folks from the Salvation Army ringing their bells this year for donations to the poor, you just might muse upon Shaw’s young ambitious heroine Major Barbara, the titular character from George Bernard Shaw’s play of the same name.  It is…

  • The Oldest Boy

    by Eugene Paul Sarah Ruhl, whose bewitching, off-beat plays, The Clean House and In The Next Room both produced by Lincoln Center, resulted in the commissioning of a new play by Ruhl, has responded at last despite a spate of other works that have taken her precious time. The Oldest Boy is that curious result,…

  • Billy & Ray

      Larry Pine , Vincent Kartheiser,                             photos by Carol Rosegg                                       By Michall Jeffers  It’s hard for us to imagine a time when film noir was considered daring and even dangerous. We’ve seen so many parodies of men in fedoras with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, growling “Stick with me, Baby.” Billy & Ray…