Created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, “Indecent” could not have opened at the Vineyard Theatre at a more auspicious time. In the midst of an increasingly frenzied discussion about what is and what is not decent in contemporary American society and culture, this remarkable and stunning play – based on true events surrounding the 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem…
The New Group has announced four productions for its 2016-2017 Season. The company’s new season begins in Fall 2016 with the musical “Sweet Charity,” with choreography by Joshua Bergasse, directed by Leigh Silverman and featuring two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster in the title role. The New Group’s season continues in January 2017 with the U.S. premiere of Wallace Shawn’s “Evening at the Talk House,” directed by Scott Elliott; followed by the…
Currently running at 59E59 Theaters as part of the Brits Off-Broadway Series, Richard Bean’s 1999 “Toast” slices its way through layers of delicious intrigue to a tasty core of surprises that make the journey more than worthwhile. This is drawing room farce sans the drawing room. The swinging doors here connect the unseen bakery to the break room where the…
Armed with the promise of her therapist’s willingness to offer phone support and clutching a bottle of sedatives from the same therapist, Hiro (played with a steely vulnerability by Satomi Blair) flies from New York to Kentucky to convince her younger sister Sophie (played with a charming but confident core by Sasha Diamond) not to marry Da’Ran (played with exquisite…
The main issue with playwright Justin Kuritzkes’ new work “The Sensuality Party” is that it seriously lacks sensuality and it certainly is no party. In fact, perhaps the young author needs to get out more, see a few things, interact and experience what might be happening since the earlier sexual revolution that he (through Speaker’s words) actually claims to not…
The current offering from The Director’s Company at the Duke on 42nd Street is a world premiere penned by Australian playwright Wendy Beckett entitled “A Better Place.” It turns out to be an urban synonym for the old suburban aphorism “the grass is always greener.” Only in this case, rather than a healthier lawn, it is a larger apartment in…
The only barrier between immersing oneself in Ramesh Meyyappan’s brilliant “Butterfly” is attempting to connect the wordless well-choreographed “dance” of love, betrayal, and redemption with its namesake “Madame Butterfly” or with the interesting connections to the lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov. One needs to grapple with the piece itself and accept it as a unique piece of experimental theatre replete with stunning…
The Jerusalem of 1192 in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s “Nathan the Wise,” currently running at Classic Stage Company, is not unlike the Jerusalem of the present: still a divided city with the three major world religions vying for supremacy and claiming with pride a unique claim on being the “sole purveyors of divine revelation.” The Templar (Stark Sands) admonishes Nathan (F….
“After great pain, a formal feeling comes -/The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-/The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, And Yesterday, or Centuries before?” (Emily Dickinson, #341) Educators and academics have been trying to determine why schools fail for decades and have yet to identify successfully a formula for preventing the pandemic failure of education – particularly in…
The New Group proudly presents “The Sensuality Party” as part of its 2015-2016 season. This New York premiere of a new play by Justin Kuritzkes was developed through The New Group’s New Group/New Works play development program. Directed by Danya Taymor, this production will play 18 performances only at college campuses across all five boroughs of New York City, with venues including Brooklyn College, LaGuardia Community College, Gallatin School (New York University), Baruch College, Lehman…