Hurricane Diane
Written by Madeleine George
Directed by Leigh Silverman
New York Theatre Workshop
March 12, 2019 Production website
ππ out of 5.
You are not going to expect this one!Β Part homage to HGTV and part send up on Greek mythology, you just donβt know what you are getting.Β A god, Dionysus, now named Diane and described in the text as a βbutch charm factorβΒ is a very lively trans performer who is a bit all over the place.Β She has lots of energy but I am just not sure to what point. Β Continue reading Hurricane Diane→
King Lear
Starring Glenda Jackson
Written by William Shakespeare
Music by Philip Glass
Directed by Sam Gold
Cort Theatre
March 11, 2019 Production website
πππ out of 5.
This is a major chew for an audience. Β For a crowd that is going to the theatre expecting all to be would up in a 90 minute intermission-less night, Lear coming in at almost three hours and thirty minutes is a test. Β Of course to see the incandescent Glenda Jackson take on this role of lifetime at the age of 82 is worth the wait!
Fiercely Independent
Written and Directed by Kathleen K. Johnson
Soho Playhouse
March 10, 2019 Production website
β Β out of 5.
This is total crap! Β God help you if you find yourself sitting here for 80 too long minutes. Β I did think the premise had promise. Β Take Β a married couple that is having trouble and put them in a hotel and go completely off the grid, off the booze and off the insults for 24 hours and see why comes of it. Β A day without technology – totally loving it from just this idea.
BUT, this couple had so little to say above the cliche’s that you “don’t hear me” and “I need your attention” and “where did we go wrong” and “I think it went bad long ago” and and and and. Β Continue reading Fiercely Independent→
Blue Ridge
Written by Abby Rosebrock
Directed by Taibi Magar
Atlantic Theatre Company – Linda Gross Theatre
January 4, 2019 Production website
ππ out of 5.
Tell me this isnβt a provocative Β blurb offered about the play – – βA progressive high-school teacher with a rage problem retaliates against her unscrupulous boss and is sentenced to six months at a church-sponsored halfway house, where she attends to everyoneβs recovery but her own.β
I love to see new work and Atlantic Theater is a home to some of the best in the city.Β Blue Ridge is one of those new plays written by Abby Rosebrock and nurtured by the Atlantic Theatre Company.Β I am not the biggest fan of realism on stage.Β Sometimes I feel like I am watching a television show on stage. Continue reading Blue Ridge→
American Son
Written by Christopher Demos-Brown
Directed by Kenny Leon
Starring Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale
Booth Theatre
January 3, 2019 Production website
πππππ out of 5.
This was by FAR the best play that I have seen in many months.Β In only about 75 tight moments on stage this play prepares you for a kick in the gut that my entire row in the theatre AUDIBLE recoiled at the playβs conclusion.Β It started with a slow wind-up as the mother (Kerry Washington) paces around the stage in complete agitated silence checking her cell phone again and again.Β It seems like forever.Β The lady next to me actually thought someone had forgotten to enter.Β But the pain of the wait was oh so necessary. Continue reading American Son→