THE HANGOVER REPORT – Signature’s searing production makes a strong case for Dominique Morisseau’s PARADISE BLUE

Yesterday, I caught the Off-Broadway mounting of Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue at Signature Theatre Company. I had seen the Detroit-set play about a tortured jazz musician previously in Chicago courtesy of the … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – TFANA is serving up a low-frills, transparent TWELFTH NIGHT

Last night, I caught The Acting Company and Delaware Resident Ensemble Players’ solid production of Shakespeare’s perennial comedy Twelfth Night at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn. Over the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Is the age of avant-garde performance over?: Nikos Karathanos’s THE BIRDS and Meg Stuart’s UNTIL OUR HEARTS STOP

Are we living in a world in which the avant-garde is obsolete, a mere caricature of what it has historically been? Or have we simply been desensitized to a degree … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The anticipated Irons/Manville-led revival of O’Neill’s LONG DAY’S JOURNY INTO NIGHT is proficient but lacks pungency

This weekend saw the opening of Bristol Old Vic’s revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The production is the second major … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Encores! revival of the joyous, old-fashioned ME AND MY GIRL is a sheer delight

This afternoon, I caught Encores! utterly delightful revival of L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, and Noel Gay’s Me and My Girl at New York City Center. Warren Carlyle’s joyous, old-fashioned production marks … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nicola Wren’s REPLAY is a potent solo show about deep-seated grief

The Brits Off Broadway festival continues its winning streak at 59E59 Theaters with Replay, a solo show about deep-seated grief written and performed by Nicola Wren. Although the play has a … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – HAMILTON inspires and engages 1,300 public high school students, in various ways

This week, 1,300 students from New York-area public high schools were invited to spend the day partaking in a workshop at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. That’s right, it’s the venue … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Alan Ayckbourn’s masterfully-structured A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN is an unexpected romance

Last night, I caught Alan Ayckbourn’s latest play – his staggering 81st – at what has become the playwright’s New York base, 59E59 Theaters. The production, one of the center pieces of … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Clare Barron’s incisive DANCE NATION investigates the conflicting motivations of adolescence

Ever since her cathartic You Got Older a number of seasons ago at HERE Arts Center, I’ve kept a close eye on the budding career of young playwright Clare Barron. Like the living … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Caryl Churchill’s sprawling LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE is unruly and depressingly relevant

Last night, New York Theatre Workshop’s revival of Caryl Churchill’s sprawling Light Shining in Buckinghamshire opened Off-Broadway. If the piece lacks the focus and incisive poetry that marks some of … Continue Reading →