Purpose Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Directed by Phylicia Rashad Hayes Theatre May 16, 2025 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Purpose begins the evening with its protagonist waning the audience to, “Buckle up,” and he is not kidding. On stage we are about to experience three hours lacerating, biting and totally unforgettable family drama. At first, you believe you are going to go down the well-worn path of a conventional family reunion. The snow is falling, roads are closed, and the wayward son has returned. But it is here that playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins takes a most distinct point of view: he introduces black history and his peerless use of language to plumet this funny, deep and provocative work. Purpose is a dramatic vivisection of the Jasper family and so much more.
Nicole Scherzinger Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard Book and Lyrics by Don Black & Christopher Hampton Directed by Jamie Lloyd St. James Theatre January 1, 2025 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
It comes down to a debate whether you like your Sunset Blvd with a lavish set that becomes a morbid decrepit character, much like its protagonist Norma Desmond – – – or whether you prefer the stripped bare, sexy, sleek, dangerous stage and Norma of the current Sunset. I must admit that it is a bit odd to see this Norma as so much younger and more attractive than Normas of the past but this reiteration of Norma sure gets at the psychotic killer that Norma soon becomes.
Our Class Written by Tadeusz Slobodzianek Directed by Igor Golyak Adaptation by Norman Allen Classic Stage Company October 13, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
This was a truly masterful piece of theatre and one of the best I have seen this year! It was a true story of the stage and used the experience of being on the stage with a live audience to the fullest. 1,600 Jews were massacred in the small Polish town of Jedwabne in the summer of 1941. Such is the starting-point for this play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek which follows recent research by attributing the slaughter not to the occupying Nazis but to the local community.
Dark Noon by Peter Morgan Written & Directed by Tue Biering Co-Directed & Choreographed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu St. Ann’s Warehouse June 7, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Experimental theatre can be a real risk. It can either be the best of theatre or the kind of theatre that makes you want to chew your arm off to escape the trap of sitting there having to endure another hour of watching it. Dark Noon was the very BEST of experimental theatre. This group of South African actors (one white male, one black female, and the remainder black males) created a piece that set out to tell the history of white America from the founding of the country through the end of the Gold Rush and the Wild West.
Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen a new version by Amy Herzog Directed by Sam Gold Circle in the Square Theatre June 6, 2024 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Enemy of the People was a lean, mean fighting machine of a play. This new version of the play as edited by Amy Herzog resembles her production of last season’s Doll’s House in that it is a stripped down production that gets to the heart of the story in the fewest steps needed. All of the window dressing is gone. The play uses the full theater-in-the-round experience that Circle in the Square can uniquely provide so you really feel close to the action itself. Of course, you do have the problem of the actors turning their back to you at times and the occasional chandelier that is in your line of sight, (I swear, I wanted to climb on stage and take that chandelier down, but . . . ) but this is a very small price to pay for this front row opportunity to see this drama.
