Patriots by Peter Morgan Directed by Rupert Goold Ethel Barrymore Theatre April 12, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Simply brilliant! Patriots is everything a play should be: a smart play that gives causes you to think and feel – excites your imagination – is fun and clever – dangerous and radical – challenges your view of history – and causes you to think about your future! All that in 2 glorious hours. Set in 1991 as the Soviet Union is morphing into the new Russia, oligarchs are taking over the government and billionaire Boris Berezovsky (brilliantly, brilliantly played by Michael Stuhlbarg) looks to an unknown deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin (equally brilliantly played by Will Keen) to serve as the eventual successor to President Boris Yeltsin – Putin seems to be the perfect puppet to serve this king-maker – – or is he?
Created by 600 Highwaymen for Talking Band Featuring Ellen Maddox & Paul Zimit Perelman Performing Arts Center February 16, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
The Following Evening was a piece of theatre history and theatre magic. Theatre legends were working alongside the cutting edge of theatre present. The production was created by 600 Highwaymen – one of perhaps the most exciting experimental theatre companies in the world stage today. Highwaymen (Abigail Browde & Michael Silverstone) have been making performances since 2009. Their work – which blends theater, dance, contemporary performance, and civic encounters – illuminates the magic and potential of people coming together.
All the Devils are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain created and performed by Patrick Page Directed by Simon Godwin DR2 Theatre February 10, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
All the Devils are Here
This masterpiece of theatre takes its title from The Tempest, in which William Shakespeare famously wrote, “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” And the magic of the night is that we get to see all of devils in Shakespeare’s world played out by Patrick Page, a master actor with one of the most beautiful bass voices with academically brilliant commentary in chronologic order. I loved it!!! Time flew in the theatre! The space was very small, the props and stage effects were almost non-existent – it truly was just the actor, stage and audience. As a one man show, it is much more than a mere collection of villain monologues; it’s a crash course in Shakespeare—showing us how he created these corrupt, covetous, conflicted, and just plain evil characters, and how his villains evolved as he progressed as a playwright.
Stereophonic Written by David Adjmi Songs by Will Butler Directed by Daniel Aukin Playwrights Horizons December 5, 2023 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
I was really NOT looking forward to seeing Stereophonic. It was one of those shows that was offering a good price at the right time in my schedule. But boy was I wrong. This turned out to be the best show out of the 10 that I saw for this particular trip – – In fact, this show had one magical aspect that I’ve had with so few shows in New York – – There was a span of time in the show, when I truly, truly forgot that I was watching a play; I believed that I was in a recording studio, watching singers, actually working on an album struggling to find the right way to present it. I was not in the theater. I was not watching a play. I was watching real life unfold in front of me. That happens almost never for me in the theater. It was magical.
Waiting for Godot Written by Samuel Beckett Directed by Erin Arbus Theatre for a New Audience December 3, 2023 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Waiting for Godot is my absolute favorite play. When asked by my students for all my years of teaching, what was my favorite play? I was always proud to answer, waiting for Godot. I think it is the most perfect play that illustrates the most central core of human experience: waiting. Waiting is something that we all do and actually spend most of our life doing. Waiting for Godot illustrates that perfectly. I must have seen this production over 20 times – – sometimes good – – sometimes bad – – sometimes ugly – – but each time I’ve learned something new about the play . Here in the hands of Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks. I felt I really saw the quintessential version.
