In between his masterpiece, “Falsettoland,” and his hugely popular “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” composer-lyricist William Finn penned a very personal off-Broadway musical. Co-written and directed by James Lapine, A New Brain, premiered a …Read more

Aw, It’s hard to be a playwright. The mounting pressure of “the ending” staring you in the face throughout the entire creative process, screaming in your ear, “No one will forgive a crap ending no matter how rich the tapestry of Act I and II!” The Im …Read more

Musicals about sports are as rare as musicals about showbiz are common; perhaps the usually frenetic nature of sports makes them intense enough without the added emotional weight of music, or perhaps musical theatre composers are immune to the appeal …Read more

When it comes to interactive theatre, it’s hard to think of a better staging location than a bar. The creative team behind the ’60s sci-fi musical dance party extravaganza Wild Women of Planet Wongo chose well when they set their immersive showcase i …Read more

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

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