Public Obscenities written and directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury Soho Reperatory at Polonsky Shakespeare Center February 6, 2024 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
Public Obscenities
Public Obscenities is one very big play coming in at over three hours. Our playwright involves as many themes, histories and possibilities as he can possibly put into the space given. Truthfully, this play would be best done as a mini series where all of the pieces could fit together and find their proper resolution. The play is at once to long for the audience and two short to wrap up all that it opens up. The play centers around a Bangla, American student, who has returned to his native India, for a oddly defined academic project at the PhD level in which he claims to want to study English, anthropology, performance, gender and cinema – – although how that all comes together for one PhD package is a bit hard to figure out.
Wounded by Jiggs Burgess Directed by Del Shores P3 Theatre Company February 4, 2024 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
Wounded is one of the rare productions at a Fringe Festival that is a traditional play with a protagonist and a forward moving plot. The story revolves around a “wounded” man, Carrol, who over-compensates with everything (food, affectation, gossip, babble, etc.) to make up for feeling like a nobody. Soon to enter is his high school classmate, Robert, equally “wounded” now an addict, living with the parents – – in his fifties unable to get started in life. The play focuses on how an unhealed past simply feasters and feasters until it damages everything its path.
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.
Purlie Victorious a Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch Written by Ossie Davis Directed by Kenny Leon The Music Box December 7, 2023 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
I was just not “invited” to this play. From the very first moment, this play just roared on by. Leslie Odom, Jr. just exploded on stage – – speaking and moving so fast that I could barely understand what he was saying and what was going on. I really have no idea what was gained by this storm of behavior. It took a good long time before the play settled down so that I could understand what was going on. I just felt that everyone in the play was working too hard – and not to the betterment of the story. They were squeezing each line to get just as much as they could out of each word – – which ended up making all words of equal importance. It was truly hard to connect with any of the characters; they were so busy acting.
