“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” –Edgar Allen Poe “The Raven” is one of Poe’s most famous and recognized works. It has been turned into parody poems, comic books, cartoons, several films (including a 2012 thriller depicting …Read more

While leaving last night’s performance of “Why Bother?” at the Paradise Factory, a friend (and theater neophyte), remarked, “It was very funny. But it wasn’t a comedy.” And that is very succinctly the heart of the four-story play directed by Andrew B …Read more

There is a good deal to say for Michael Thomas Walker’s one-man play, “Bubba”, not the least of which is how Walker manages to be true to the South without rendering it cartoon-ish. As the actor/playwright takes the audience through his journey home …Read more

Fairy tales are hot stuff.  Fractured within the surreal landscape of Rocky and Bullwinkle, probed to menacing depths by Bettelheim, and reconfigured to suit the irony and artistry of Sondheim, it would seem, in fact, that there isn’t much left in th …Read more

When it comes to Elena Zucker’s dark absurdist play “O Walter, My Walter”, timing is everything. In light of the recent Veteran Affairs scandal, a play inspired by the uncovering of Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s criminal neglect of its veteran pa …Read more

“I’m an alien to New York.”  “I fail and continue to fail every day.” These are the words spoken in “Halfway Through the Story of Our Life”, a play written, directed, and produced by Alexandra Zelman-Doring presented by Throes Theater. Set in modern …Read more

“A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes”, a new play at Dixon Place, is a story about a family dinner that’s as familiar as Mom’s legendary Thanksgiving gravy but with a dash of surprising twists thrown in for goo …Read more

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre and The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s 50th Anniversary production of “Dutchman” is a compelling contemporary portrayal of one of Amiri Baraka’s most powerful, yet controversial pieces of literature. In th …Read more

Second Stage Theater might easily be one of my favorite companies in New York City, offering diverse and prevalent theater for modern audiences.  The stakes and tensions run high in their production of Jon Robin Baitz’s “Substance of Fire”, a phenome …Read more

Tongue in Cheek Production’s “Buffalo Heights” is a mostly funny look at what can happen in small town Buffalo, NY when a new French teacher is brought in to take over the high school class that a Congress woman’s daughter thinks she controls. Heads …Read more