Jonah written by Rachel Bonds Directed by Danya Taymor Roundabout Theatre Company/Laura Pels Theatre February 2, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉 out of 5.
Jonah is a quiet, frightening play that covers familiar territory for contemporary theatre with a new and rather fresh approach. Jonah tells the story of Ana who is leading multiple story lines on stage. In one story line, she is a college student that is striking up a beautifully innocent and simple relationship with Jonah – a relationship almost too simple and beautiful to believe that it is actually true. Then 30 minutes into the play we are introduced into another world for Ana in which she is the stepchild of a highly abusive stepdad that regularly and increasingly terrorizes her step- brother. These scenes get more and more brutal until incest and suicide raise their ugly heads.
Russian Troll Farm by Sarah Gancher Directed by Darko Tresnjak Vineyard Theatre February 1, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Russian Troll Farm was an amazing night in the theatre. It far exceeded any expectations I had as I took my seat. Based on an actual Internet Research Agency in Russia – – we follow professional internet trolls working for days at a time to influence American popular opinion, creating the illusion of consensus—or conflict. There are floors for Twitter, for Facebook, memes, fake news, and comments sections. Mis-information is big business indeed! The play focuses specifically on months leading up to the election of Donald Trump and the defeat of Hilary Clinton. Russian Troll Farm imagines the daily lives of these trolls/workers as they invent characters, stage conflicts, and create conspiracies. What happens to your grasp on the truth when your whole job is lying? How does your identity shift when you impersonate Americans for a living?
Sabbath’s Theater adapted from the novel by Philip Roth by Ariel Levy and John Turturro Directed by Jo Bonney The New Group December 9, 2023 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
I was told that I was going to be offended by the content of Sabbath’s Theatre. The press said this – even signs outside the theatre said this – so I was ready- – and I have been offended many a time in the theatre. And most of the time, I was perfectly fine with it. But this was just too much even for me! It was a super uncomfortable afternoon in the theatre.
The Night of the Iguana Written by Tennessee Williams Directed by Emily Mann James Earl Jones Theatre December 8, 2023 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
The Night of the iguana is one of Tennessee Williams’s later and less successful plays. It takes a haphazard group of people and really just spends too much time with them going repeatedly over the same themes. The story focuses in on Shannon who is struggling with his sanity as he leads a travel group of prim Baptist ladies from America through the backroads of Mexico. Having committed an act of statutory rape on the youngest member of the group he is losing his mind, and, it this is not helped by a group of obnoxious Germans staying at a hotel. The only possible lifeline is Hannah, a well-spoken penniless artist from Nantucket traveling with her 97-year-old frail old poet grandfather.
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.
