VIEWPOINTS – Deeply internalized trauma through a surreal lens: Renae Simone Jarrett’s DAPHNE and Gisèle Vienne’s L’ÉTANG

In recent days, I was was able to take in a pair of fascinating shows, both of which depicted deeply internalized trauma through a surreal lens. Read on for my … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Sondheim’s final musical HERE WE ARE finds the late master still questing to stretch the limits of the form

Last night, Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are opened at the Griffin Theater at The Shed. Co-written with playwright David Ives — who provided the musical’s substantial book — … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Laurie Anderson’s upbeat LET X = X and Gregory Maqoma’s transcendent BROKEN CHORD kick off BAM’S Next Wave 2023 with a bang

This week, the 2023 version of the Brooklyn Academy of Music‘s Next Wave Festival kicked off with a bang with a pair of memorable offerings (see below for my further … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Basking in Black joy and rage via rip-roaring satire: Ossie Davis’s PURLIE VICTORIOUS returns to Broadway

Earlier this week at the Music Box Theatre, I had the chance to catch up with the Broadway revival of Ossie Davis’s Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Observing Western classics through specifically feminist lenses: Jeremy Tiang’s SALESMAN之死 and Caitlin George’s HELEN.

Opening last night were a pair of new Off-Broadway plays, both of which happen to investigate Western classic through specifically feminist lenses – to fascinating (albeit at times uneven) results. … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Superb specimens of downtown theater this fall: Dmitry Krymov’s BIG TRIP at La MaMa and Max Wolf Friedlich’s JOB at SoHo Playhouse

This autumn, I had the great pleasure taking in superb specimens of downtown theater that had me reeling with their exceptional quality. Here are my thoughts on them. BIG TRIPLa … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Director Garry Hynes’ DRUIDO’CASEY brings searing authenticity and muscular poetry to Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy

Over the past decade or so, director Garry Hynes — the first woman in 1998 to win the Tony Award for Direction for her staging of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In the immersive and stylized (PRAY), nicHi douglas empowers Black women to preach their own truths

Last night, Ars Nova and National Black Theatre’s co-production of (pray) opened Off-Broadway at the Greenwich House Theatre. The brainchild of nicHi douglas, the immersive work – self-described as a … Continue Reading →

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jocelyn Bioh’s exuberant JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING is a blast of feel goodness, until it’s not

This week, Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by Joscelyn Bioh opened on the Great White Way at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The production marks the … Continue Reading →

VIEWPOINTS – Style over substance: Emma Horwitz’s MARY GETS HERS and Abhishek Majumdar’s 9 KINDS OF SILENCE

Sometimes stylized storytelling gets in the way of a theatrical work’s underlying intent. This was the case with a pair of new Off-Broadway plays I recently caught. Read on for … Continue Reading →