“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” – William Shakespeare (Sonnet 18) Globally, it is an easy time to quit. It is an easy time to quit believing in equality under the law; to quit believing in justice; to quit believing in freedom, equal pay for equal…
At the interval of the Saturday June 22nd performance of Tennessee Williams’ “The Two-Character Play,” a seemingly perplexed patron approached a member of the house staff at New World Stages and asked if she could “go into one of the other theatres because this play is not my cup of tea.” The staff person informed her she could only re-enter…
The new play “Rantoul and Die” is playwright Mark Roberts’ debut with the Amoralists and one can only hope that this outstanding collaboration is only the beginning of a long relationship. This latest production now playing at the Cherry Lane Theatre strikes a perfect chord in the harmony between script and actor while still completely supporting the theatre company’s mission…
In the new play “Charles Ives Takes Me Home,” playwright Jessica Dickey tackles an old theme of parent child conflict choosing to elaborate on the relationship between a professional violinist father and a strong willed, sports minded, basketball playing daughter who are both consumed with their individual passion. The twist lies in the introduction of a third character, the composer…
There are only five more opportunities to see “Bunty Berman Presents” presented by The New Group at the Acorn Theatre on Theatre Row through Saturday June 1, 2013. Ayub Khan Din’s new musical counterpoints traditional Bollywood music and dance with its more traditional Euro-American cinematic counterparts as it carefully unfolds the story of film producer Bunty Berman (Ayub Khan Din)who…
On Tuesday May 14, the SoHo Playhouse hosted a talkback following the performance of the critically acclaimed “The Drawer Boy” by Michael Healey. The topic of the talkback was “The Making and Fate of Off-Broadway.” Ironically, just two days following the talkback on May 16, The SoHo Playhouse and Artistic Director Darren Lee Cole announced the premature closing of “Drawer…
On the surface, “Basilica” is about choices gone awry: Father Gil (Alfredo Narcisco) chooses to return to his hometown to pastor the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Of San Juan del Vale in San Juan, Texas; despite the admonition from Lela Garza, his high school sweetheart, the good Father chooses to make a connection with Ray Garza…
Lifeboat Ethics collides with and colludes with evolutionary theory’s “survival of the fittest” and places the audience adrift in a moral sea in Mike Bartlett’s “Bull” currently playing at 59E59 Theater B. On the surface, “Bull” seems to be about office downsizing drama. Tony’s (Adam James) team of two – Isabel (Eleanor Matsuura) and Thomas (Sam Troughton) – are a…
I do not care if that day arrives/That dream need never be, If the ship I sing doesn’t also bring/My own true love to me, If the ship I sing doesn’t also bring my own true love to me. “My Ship” (from “Lady in the Dark”) by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin Music has given humankind strength, hope, and courage…
“After the ball is over/After the break of morn After the dancers’ leaving/After the stars are gone Many a heart is aching/If you could read them all Many the hopes that have vanished/After the ball.” “After the Ball,” Charles K. Harris (1892) A group of brave and talented women left hearts aching after their performances: aching men’s hearts; aching women’s…