Palmer Hefferan

Broadway Review: “Grand Horizons” at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater

Plays parsing the viability of monogamy are nothing new. The “sacred” tie that binds “one man and one woman” have been under scrutiny since the mythic Adam and Eve stumbled out of the garden shortly after their creation and subsequent fall from grace. The current hype about the sanctity of heteronormative coupling makes the issue even more relevant despite the…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Seared” in the Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space

Successful entrepreneurs like Harry (an overzealous but hypersensitive Raúl Esparza) typically attempt to guard their “art” from “commerce” for as long as possible. They feel frightened by the prospect of commercial success overwhelming their sense of artistic integrity. At least that is Harry’s point of view in Theresa Rebeck’s “Seared” currently running in the Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Something Clean” at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre

Charlotte and Doug Walker’s son Kai will be home from prison in three months to begin his court remanded probation. Kai is a white university student athlete who was convicted of raping a black female student behind a dumpster at the school and is half-way through his six-month sentence. Kai’s transgression has shaken the Walker’s world and rent any sense…

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Off-Broadway Review: “BLKS” in the Newman Mills Theater at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space

Poet-playwright Aziza Barnes puts many ingredients into their script blender to whip up a “comedic look” at the lives of Octavia (Paige Gilbert), Imani (Alfie Fuller), and June (Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, three twenty something black women living in New York City – a city where black lives seem not to matter and where, for that reason, it has become difficult for…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Eddie and Dave” at Atlantic Stage 2

The present-day social climate in the theater world has fervently addressed non-traditional casting, gender identity, and diversity as part of an effort to be inclusive and accepting. When a production exhibits a little gender bending, there should be a valid explanation or reasoning behind the decision, whether it be historical, social, or dramatic persuasion. In the case of “Eddie and…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties” at MCC Theater’s Lucille Lortel Theatre

By agreeing to carefully examine the sex-role stereotypes attributed to women, five disparate women named ‘Betty’ cautiously approach self-acceptance and self-understanding in Jen Silverman’s “Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties” at MCC Theater’s Lucille Lortel Theatre. Their collective rage about their loneliness, their fears, their submission, and their dismissions by men is a welcomed examination of gender and sexual…

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Off-Broadway News: Extension Announced for “Sugar in Our Wounds” at Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center – Stage II

Due to popular demand, Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director and Barry Grove, Executive Producer) is pleased to announce one additional week of performances for the world premiere of of Sugar in Our Wounds, a new play by Donja R. Love, directed by Saheem Ali (Twelfth Night for the Public Theater’s Mobile Unit), at The Studio at Stage II –…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Pride and Prejudice” at Primary Stages at Cherry Lane Theatre

Kate Hamill has done it again. The ‘it’ in question, is her remarkable ability to adapt Jane Austen’s iconic novels for the stage. Her adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility” had a successful Off-Broadway run of over two-hundred and sixty-five performances. Her current adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” which is playing at Primary Stages at Cherry Lane Theatre should enjoy the…

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Off-Broadway Review: “Charm” at MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

“A compliment brings the charm to the surface. When we say that a certain color compliments your eyes, we mean it brings them out. You want to bring the other person out, make them feel special.” – Mama At first glance, Philip Dawkins’s “Charm,” currently playing at MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, is a heartfelt play about Mama…

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