The Effect
by Lucy Prebble
directed by David Cromer
Barrow Street Theatre
June 25, 2016
Production website

💉💉💉 out of 5.

Is it dopamine or is it love? That is a new question for the stage. The Effect is a fascinating story of a drug trial clinic that uses both a male and a female as guinea pigs. They are both (?) given increasingly larger doses of a new, experimental anti-depressant to test its effect and side effects. And as they become attached to each other, they question the source of this attraction . . . Continue reading The Effect →

Shining City
book by Conor McPherson
with Matthew Broderick
directed by Ciaran O’Reilly
Irish Repertory Theatre
June 25, 2016
Production website

💉 out of 5.

I love the wonderful ghost stories of Conor McPherson – but, lordy, I didn’t find much to enjoy here. Matthew Broderick, in the pivotal role , just falls flat for me. I couldn’t figure out if he was a flat and plastic actor content to just be himself for this withdrawn character or whether he was actually working to be flat and plastic – but the result was certainly flat and plastic. Continue reading Shining City →

The Purple Lights of Joppa, Illinois
written and directed by Adam Rapp
Atlantic Theatre Company
June 22, 2016
Production website

💉💉💉 out of 5

This is one brutal little play. From the beginning of the play that finds a man meticulously picking up unseen specks from a carpet to the end in which that same man stares at his torchiere light – afraid that it will move. The premise is rather simple. A man has just been released from a psychiatric correctional institute to return home and plan for a special meeting. Soon the door rings and two teenage girls enter – – danger, danger – we know something bad is going to happen. Continue reading The Purple Lights of Joppa, Illinois →

Skeleton Crew
by Dominique Morisseau
directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Atlantic Theatre Company
June 19, 2016
Production website

💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.

This story took me to a world I have never been. It introduced me to an occupation I had never considered – to a city I would never want to live in – to a group of people that I would never think twice about and likely judge and dismiss – to struggles that I will likely never face – – and here I was lapping up each and every moment. I was sitting in my seat through the entire production KNOWING exactly where this story was going – and being WRONG each and every time. Continue reading Skeleton Crew →

Indian Summer
by Gregory S. Moss
directed by Carolyn Cantor
Playwrights Horizon
June 19, 2016
Production website

💉💉💉 out of 5.

In that I teach high school, I am always concerned when a production begins with a teenager sitting on a mound of dirt emptying his shoes. I can just smell the expected angst and “teen issues” that the play will move toward. But I was surprised and delighted with Indian Summer. Continue reading Indian Summer →