Directors of Shakespeare’s ostensiby problematic comedy The Taming of the Shrew have long found ambiguity in that taming—recently, for example, Ann Arbis mounted a “post-feminist” revival that hewed to a more equitable vision Kate and Petruchio’s power dynamic. It is no surprise, then, that Kiss Me, Kate should soon follow suit. This delightful Cole Porter and […]
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An Inspirational True Story of Hope and Forgiveness Theatre Row – 410 W 42nd St. NYC http://www.MiracleInRwanda.NYC Miracle in Rwanda—a play by Leslie Lewis and Edward Vilga about one young woman’s remarkable survival during the Rwandan genocide 25 years ago—returns to New York City this April following an acclaimed world tour. This multi-character solo play stars […]
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“I’m not obsessed with sex,” the unnamed narrator of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s one-woman show, Fleagbag, says early in her sixty-five minutes. “I just can’t stop thinking about it.” For this character, played by Waller-Bridge, sex is something of a numbing agent. She masturbates compulsively—”Especially when I’m bored or angry or upset. Or happy”—and picks up men to […]
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There is an unmistakable hunger to their first encounter. Andre (Alan Cumming) is old and rich and white, Franklin (Ronald Peet) young and Black. Dubbing him “Naomi,” after the supermodel, Andre buries his face in Franklin’s legs, purring, “Smooth. Like the sweetest chocolate.” But Franklin is distracted by Andre’s wealth, by his infinity pool and […]
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On the eve of partition, Donal Davoren (Adam Petherbridge, the understudy, in the performance I attended) is just trying to write some verse. Living in a cramped Dublin tenement visited by a rotating cast of caricatures, Davoren is constantly interrupted by the havering of his neighbors, who are under the impression that he is an […]
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When Merrily We Roll Along opened in 1981, Frank Rich wrote, “to be a Stephen Sondheim fan is to have one’s heart broken at regular intervals.” However, this time around, it was not simpy the songs that led to the heartbreak. “Mr. Sondheim has given this evening a half-dozen songs that are crushing and beautiful—that soar […]
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