OFF-BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

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?'...

After Florenz Ziegfeld spent the early decades of Broadway's 20th Century 'glorifying the American Girl,' a young composer/lyricist named Jerry Herman spent a good hunk of the second half showcasing extraordinary women....

Summer Shorts 2017 is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters. We attended series B and enjoyed each of the short form theatre pieces that featured superb playwriting, expert direction, and outstanding performances....

Given her distinguished career that includes such significant works at PAINTING CHURCHES, COASTAL DISTURBANCES and PRIDE'S CROSSING, a new play by Tina Howe is certainly a noteworthy event....

The World Premiere of 'A Real Boy' is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters through August 27. Written by Stephen Kaplan and directed by Audrey Alford, this cleverly staged show provides a view of how parenting, education, and government policy can affect a young child....

Peter and Will Anderson, the brilliant musicians known as The Anderson Twins, have produced and created Songbook Summit at 59E59 Theaters with presentations that celebrate great American Songbook composers during the month of August....

New York City wasn't exactly the most magical place for a child to grow up in back in 1975. Crime and poverty rates were inhumanely high and when the city begged for federal assistance, the president, at least according to a Daily News headline, replied 'Drop Dead.'...

It was fifty years ago that The Summer of Love attracted throngs of lunatics, lovers and poets to New York's Central Park in a free-spirited embrace of life's passions and pleasures. That same spirit is now joyously celebrated in the park's Delacorte Theater, where director Lear deBessonet's luscio...