Marie Mullen as Mag Folan and Aisling O’Sullivan as Maureen Folan Photo Credit:Richard Termine by Deirdre Donovan A bit of Grand Guignol to start off the New Year? Admirers of Martin McDonagh now have a chance to see a revival of The Beauty Queen of Leenane at The Brooklyn Academy of…
Joan Marcus From left, John Douglas Thompson, Michael Potts, Anthony Chisholm and Brandon J. Dirden By Ron Cohen One of the first things that may strike you in watching Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s lovingly directed production of Jitney is the joy his company of nine actors seems to bring on stage in performing August Wilson’s…
Melody Grove (Photos by Jenny Anderson) By Ron Cohen Is Hell really next door to a Costco parking lot? Whether true or not, that intriguing factoid is put forth with a completely straight face in The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart. It’s one of the many elements, both large and small, that make…
Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh (JOAN MARCUS/©2016 JOAN MARCUS) By Ron Cohen Libidos run amok, fueled by a flood tide of wine and vodka, in Sydney Theatre Company’s luminous production of The Present. But before all that sexuality breaks loose, there’s plenty of talk…talk that often grabs the intellect and plucks at the…
by Deirdre Donovan Savion Glover needs no introduction. On a 5-foot by 8-foot stage at the Blue Note Jazz Club, Glover furiously tapped and tore up the boards with his famous “hitting” technique for an hour plus change. No rangy movements were possible on the tiny raised wooden platform. But the legendary…
Andrew Dawson in GOREY (c) Jenny Anderson. By David Schultz A more than passing interest and knowledge of this macabre illustrator would be helpful before attending this slim play. But writer-director Travis Russ infuses the piece with an obvious love and affection for this offbeat artist, so by the end of this 75-minute production…
A Review by Deirdre Donovan Actor-playwright Jack Fry returns to New York with his solo show that scratches beneath the skin of a famous physicist. Will the real Albert Einstein please stand up? That question may seem odd to ask today given that the famous physicist died over 60 years ago. But as actor-playwright…
Top to Bottom) Matthew Wages, Sarah Caldwell Smith, Stephen Quint , Cáitlín Burke and David Macaluso by Deirdre Donovan Well, chalk one up for the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players! The company has pulled off a Herculean feat by retooling The Mikado and turning it into a work that embraces all ethnic…
Colonel Tewfiq Zakaria, forefront (Tony Shalhoub) (photo credit Ahron Foster) by Deirdre Donovan Weary of the razzle-dazzle and special effects that go along with most Broadway musicals? Well, The Band’s Visit, which opened Off Broadway on December 8th at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater, might be the best antidote to that…
Simon Green and David Shrubsole on piano Photos by Heidi Bohnenkamp, 2016 by Eugene Paul With almost a Cowardian flair and an almost Cowardian performer as his star, pianist, composer, lyricist David Shrubsole has created an intimate pastiche for star Simon Green, its full title, Life is for Living: Conversations with Coward, giving…