THE HANGOVER REPORT – Ira Fuchs’ sturdy new play VILNA is workmanlike and ultimately quite affecting

Yesterday, I attended a matinee performance of Ira Fuchs’ new play Vilna Off-Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clement’s. Set in the Polish city of Vilna, the play depicts the turbulent two-and-a-half … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Little Lord’s SKINNAMARINK channels early childhood, menacingly and playfully

Before ending its brief run this weekend, I was able to catch Little Lord’s Skinnamarink, one of the many offerings of New York Theatre Workshop’s Next Door series. The show uses “McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers” … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Wooster Group’s THE B-SIDE still conjures ghosts of the past

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to catch the Wooster Group’s The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons” at St. Ann’s Warehouse. The staging is a remounting of a production … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – WHITE NOISE: Suzan-Lori Parks as ambitious and provocative, as ever

Last night, Suzan-Lori Parks’ highly anticipated new play White Noise opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater’s Anspacher Theater. At its heart, the play tells the story of Leo (played by Daveed Diggs, a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Influences collide in Tori Sampson’s exuberant IF PRETTY HURTS UGLY MUST BE A MUTHAFUCKA

I recently had a chance to catch up with Tori Sampson’s lively new play If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muthafucka at Playwrights Horizons. Set in the West African village … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Chisa Hutchinson’s spare, tender SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY is lifted by Jay Mazyck’s disarming performance

This weekend at the newly-renovated Theatre Row, I caught the New York premiere of Chisa Hutchinson’s Surely Goodness and Mercy, courtesy of Off-Broadway’s Keen Company. Set in Newark, NJ, the play tells the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Michael McKeever’s AFTER efficiently, mechanically examines marriage, bullying, and gun culture

Last night, Michael McKeever’s new play After opened Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, in a co-production with Penguin Repertory Theatre. On the surface, the work calls to mind Yasmina Reza’s Tony-winning play … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Plexus Polaire’s ASHES beguiles via haunting, expertly rendered puppetry

I’ve long had a fascination for puppetry. There’s something intensely theatrical about taking inanimate objects and injecting them with the spirit and spontaneity of life itself. This past January as part … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Roundabout’s smashing, recalibrated KISS ME, KATE! puts the emphasis on real love

Last night, Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Cole Porter’s classic musical Kiss Me, Kate! opened on Broadway at Studio 54. The musical was last seen on Broadway in 2000 starring the regal, … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Haruna Lee’s SUICIDE FOREST makes for terrifically strange, emotionally naked theater

As an Asian American, I’ve gone out of my way to seek out works by people like myself, whose stories are unfortunately rarely represented in the theater, by and large. … Continue Reading →