OFF-BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

Playwright/director Aaron Mark has a habit of leaving audiences in the dark. Not that his plays are especially hard to grasp, but the author who specializes sending chills up and down spines with his solo theatrical thrillers seems to enjoy having audience members sitting in pitch blackness for at ...

I will be in Hell because I don't love my mom, the central character of Max Posner's comedic drama THE TREASURER causally admits to the audience with unemotional matter-of-factness....

Regarded by The Public Theater's artistic director Oskar Eustice as a resident company of the Astor Place venue, Elevator Repair Service's niche has always been productions with a clear focus on words, such as their fully staged complete-text reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby,' titl...

For over twenty years, artistic director Dan Wackerman's Peccadillo Theater Company has specialized in mounting handsome productions of infrequently revived Broadway fare of notable pedigree, such as Elmer Rice's COUNSELLOR AT LAW, Dorothy Parker and Arnaud d'Usseau's LADIES OF THE CORRIDOR and, mos...

The New York City premiere of No Wake, written by William Donnelly and directed by Veronica Brady is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters through Sunday, October 15. This is an affecting drama, one that truly captures the emotions of people who are dealing with an indescribable tragedy....

It may have been underestimated how popular TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS would prove to be when it opened at The Public's Shiva Theater last November. Actor/playwright Nia Vardalos' warm, funny and endearing adaptation of the same-named book of collected advice columns written for the literary website The...

If director Alexandra Spencer-Jones' intention was to stage an erotic word ballet that finds beauty in the well-chiseled male form through highly-stylized acts of choreographed violence, then the latest offering at New Work Stages certainly fulfills that goal....

To say that there are no dramatic highs and lows in Amy Herzog's touching new drama, Mary Jane, is by no means a criticism. It's more of a recognition of the beautifully understated naturalism in both the playwright's text and in director Anne Kauffman's production....

The beloved and classic premise of an idealistic teacher determined to reach out and help a classroom full of troubled and disrespectful students ('Up The Down Staircase,' 'To Sir, With Love') gets a fresh and surprising variation in Philip Dawkins' terrific new comedy/drama, Charm....

While Suzan-Lori Parks' ferocious drama from 2000, FUCKING A, enjoys an excellent new production at Signature Theatre, across the lobby of their multi-stage center, her more sensitive 1999 exploration, IN THE BLOOD, also receives a solid remounting....

It wasn't long after Mary Martin took her first Broadway flight as Peter Pan that Ann, the central character of Sarah Ruhl's sometimes-whimsical/sometimes-philosophical new drama took her own crack at the role as a 10-year-old....

Small World is an insightful and appealing play, one that will challenge your ideas about art in its different forms. Written by Frederick Stroppel and directed by Joe Brancato, the New York City Premiere is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters. This two-hander is an absorbing, entertaining, and informativ...

For over forty years, the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players have been Gotham's go-to company for high-quality G&S productions produced with full choruses and orchestras in the traditional D'Oyly Carte style....

The Violin, now onstage at 59E59 Theaters, is a drama that gives audiences a compelling reason to go to the theatre. Written by Dan McCormick and directed by Joseph Discher, this highly anticipated World Premiere is an intriguing play about three men and how their lives intertwine....

British playwright Simon Stephens scored big his first time on Broadway, taking the 2015 Best Play Tony Award for THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME two years after receiving the same honor at the Olivier Awards....

Moshe Yassur's direction is bold and intelligent. Eli Rosen's translation is clear. Susannah Norris-Lindsay's costumes are simple and effective. Unfortunately most of the performances are delivered in one mode: whiny, angsty, and loud....

The thunderclap of energy that opened LOVELESS TEXAS on Friday evening was enough to jolt even the most tired of businessmen awake. Almost everything about this joyful musical is first rate, from the production values to the amazing tech crew to the excellent performers who belt it out to the rafter...

'All the world's a stage / And everybody's in the show. / Nobody's a pro.' Those words, sung at the opening of Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery's thoroughly enchanting musical adaptation of Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT, were especially poignant at the Delacorte Theater this past weekend, where, since...

LOVE IS DEAD! is a modern day penny-dreadful, though with more South Park style than Grand Guignol wit and style to balance it out....

Charolais, a truly unique and engaging show, is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters through September 24. Written and performed by Noni Stapleton, this one-woman production cleverly captures passion, heartache, and deep feelings about motherhood from multiple perspectives....

Snuggled at the curve of a quiet little Greenwich Village side street, the quaint and historic Cherry Lane Theatre is a perfect spot to engage in a quiet little drama....

While the underrepresentation of women playwrights in contemporary American theatre remains an important issue, the Mint Theater Company, those invaluable specialists in rediscovering interesting obscurities from authors who are no longer with us, continue their practice of highlighting their season...

Now being performed by the Nu•ance Theatre Co. (in association with John DeSotelle Studio) and under the direction of John DeSotelle, Proof is the Pulitzer-Prize winning play by David Auburn that provides audiences with much to think about…even if we understand little of the actual theorems them...

It doesn't take long before Nancy Opel starts tearing your heart out as the title character of the new musical, Curvy Widow....

'If you knew in advance exactly what was going to happen in your life, and how everything was going to turn out, and if you knew you couldn't do anything to change it, would you still want to go on with your life?'...