The following lines are dedicated to playwright Jonathan Spector, director Teddy Bergman, and the brilliant and resilient cast of “Birthright.” “In the beginning was the Collective Unconscious and that Collective Unconscious was all the gods that ever were or ever will. The Collective Conscious became Human and dwelled among us around the sacredness of the table.” David’s retelling/reimagining of John…
“Disruption” a new play by Andrew Stein which had a short run in London in 2023 is making its New York premiere at the Pershing Square Signature Center, presented by Jack DePalma. Hersh Ellis directs the stellar veteran cast competently, with some minor distractions and “disruptions”. Scenic design by Zoë Hurwitz is sleek and confined, more retro tech than futuristic,…
David Zinn’s remarkable set design of the altar area of small Midwestern Roman Catholic Church is exactly where that altar would be in the church that is now the Atlantic Theatre where Bubba Weiler’s “The Saviors” is currently playing. The important ritual of confession, forgiveness, and redemption that occurred in that former Chelsea church is not present in Weiler’s play…
“Did You Write This Scene or Did I?” THE UNKNOWN at Studio Seaview When critics dismissed David Cale’s “The Unknown” as a solo thriller with a “tired twist,” they revealed more about their own jadedness than about the play’s achievement. At Studio Seaview, in a production directed by Leigh Silverman, Sean Hayes delivers a performance of such psychological precision and…
Many plays are based on factual events that had a great impact on society during the time they took place and usually make the protagonist the person who was responsible for the course of action. Such is the case of “Marcel on the Train,” penned by Marshall Pailet and Ethan Slater, now playing at Classic Stage Company. The plot revolves…
After garnering mostly rave reviews in London’s West End and Stratford-upon-Avon, “Kyoto” by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson is currently running Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater. The play spans 1989-1997 and is narrated from the point of view of Don Pearlman (Stephen Kunken), an American oil lobbyist who works to sabotage UN climate negotiations. It’s framed as…
Isabelle Scutley is the main character in a new Broadway play that stars a riveting Jean Smart. She prefers to be called “Izzy” even though her husband Ferd disapproves. Fred is also psychologically and physically abusive, hindering Izzy’s artistic and academic endeavors. To avoid confrontation and harm she is often found in the bathroom, scribbling her poetry on sheets of…
Act One of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” currently running at the Palace Theatre takes place at a well-apportioned Chinese restaurant. Skillfully navigating Mamet’s iconic wordy text with rapid-fire delivery – in both monologues and dialogues – five realtors, their office manager, and a client with buyer’s remorse provide the exposition needed for the audience to parse Act Two. This…
Yet another new production enters the current Broadway season boasting a well-known film and television star, a large movie screen, and several television screens that surround the proscenium to provide close-ups of the actor. It is an adaptation for stage, from a movie bearing the same name. The well-known star is George Clooney, making his Broadway debut, and the show…
Two half-brothers half a world apart face the decline of their mother in Samuel D. Hunter’s “Grangeville” currently on at The Pershing Square Signature Center’s Alice Griffen Jewel Box Theatre. The mood of the conversations between forty-something Arnold (Brian J. Smith) who lives in Rotterdam and his older half-brother Jerry (Paul Sparks) who still lives in Grangeville, Idaho range from…