“Oh, Mary” Written by Cole Escola Directed by Sam Pinkerton Lyceum Theatre October 15, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
Essentially, the premise of the play is, “What if Mary Todd Lincoln was an absolute c***? That’s the premise and the tone of the play. It puts Mary as a Real Housewife, repressed cabaret singer trying to get validation and support from her presidential husband – and although her machinations lead to him being shot in that infamous theatre box seat scene – it does return her to the god-awful cabaret world she longs for . .
All of Me by Laura Winters directed by Ashley Brooke Monroe The New Group at Signature Theatre June 11, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
All of Me is a boy-meets-girl romantic comedy that follows the love story between Lucy and Alfonso, who have a sweet first meeting outside in a hospital parking lot. Lucy, who dreams of being a jazz singer, and Alfonso, a healthcare researcher, face hurdles that have plagued lovers since time immemorial, including race, class, and disapproving mothers. But their story has an added layer: The dynamic pair use mobility devices and text-to-speech device and apps to communicate. It is interesting that what is very new to the audience – at least to me – is the text-to-speech device that gives that unmistakable “Stephen Hawking voice” is not what is the source of the conflict. The complex disability is really not the disability.
The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood Directed by Sarah Benson Atlantic Theatre June 9, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
This has to be the most gruesome, vile, horrifying play that I have seen in a good long time. It is bloodier than many of those bloody Irish plays! Set in 1759, on the night of Halley’s Comet passing, a dozen rural women are enlisted to decide the fate of a young woman (a horrible human being herself) convicted of murdering the young daughter of her wealthy employer. The alleged murderer claims that she is pregnant and, if true, she will escape being hanged in the public square. Thus, the men of the town have locked 12 matrons of the town in a room with the alleged murderer to determine if she is indeed pregnant and thus innocent.
Mary Jane by Amy Herzog Directed by Anne Kauffman Manhattan Theatre Club June 4, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
I think I way be developing a cold, cold heart. After watching The Notebook and feeling less then moved at the conclusion and now leaving the theatre of Mary Jane with the same blank feeling I am worried. The play Mary Jane tells the story of Mary Jane as she struggles through the mundane and unimaginable struggles of a mother caring for her chronically ill son, Alex. Along the way she is helped by a community of women from many walks of life including her building superintendent, visiting nurse, attending physical, fellow grieving patient – and even a music therapist.
Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III Public Theatre June 2, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
Sally and Tom
This play was a slow burn for me. It took me a good long time to see the value of the play and to start to care about the characters but thankfully, near the end of the first act I was hooked in. The story of Sally and Tom focuses on a group of actors playing members of Good Company, a ragtag theatre company putting on a show called The Pursuit of Happiness, written by Luce, who also plays Sally (the 14 year old slave owned and impregnated several times by President Jefferson), and directed by her white romantic and creative partner Mike. He is playing the man they refer to as TJ (President Thomas Jefferson).
