Film and theatre are traditionally considered two distinct art forms, only capable of merging through adaptations or filmed stage productions. This notion, however, is being challenged by Chicago-based shadow puppetry troupe Manual Cinema, whose piec …Read more

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, I meet up with Jasper Grant, artistic director of B-Side Productions for a chat at Amy’s Bakery in Hell’s Kitchen. Although it is gloomy outside, sitting at a small café table with Jasper is like being surrounded with su …Read more

Ensemble Studio Theatre’s 35th Marathon of One-Act Plays is nearing the finish line with the opening of its third and final Series, C, last week. This leg of the race is just as varied and interesting as its predecessors, featuring CD store employees …Read more

With scathing dialogue and nasty characters, Joshua Harmon wowed critics three years ago when his Bad Jews opened at the Roundabout Underground space. Months later, the show, which New York Post critic Elizabeth Vincentelli called, “delicious, nasty …Read more

Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, written in the run-up to his murder in 1593 at the tender age of 29, was and still is a notorious and influential work. “These metaphysics of magicians, / And necroma …Read more

Audiences have the opportunity to become voyeurs at The Qualms, an uproarious one-act comedy at Playwrights Horizons. Written by Bruce Norris, author of the Tony, Olivier, and Pulitzer Prize winning Clybourne Park, The Qualms is a compelling, thought …Read more

There is a scene in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria that perfectly encapsulates its nihilistic worldview, as we see a group of television executives asking a character what famous actor would play a person he once knew. As the character being interrog …Read more

“I fear I am not in my perfect mind,” says King Lear in Act 4, Scene 7, but one can read William Shakespeare’s most perfect tragedy as one in which insanity leads to clarity. When Lear disowns Cordelia, his closest advisor Kent warns him, “see better …Read more

Let’s talk about racism.  No, let’s really talk about it. Let’s look at racism in America through the eyes of the corporate boss, the elitist, the slightly self-righteous and the masses apathetically do nothing to promote love and healing. Tall order …Read more

Two-handers surrounding taboo, cultural and generational crossed-lines and a bit of frothy spectacle and are on order for the last installment of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Marathon of One-Act Plays. Now boasting a special Drama Desk for supporting ne …Read more