We grow up, seek partners and then we die. That’s the storyline of “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town”. There’s very little cutesy and kitschy about the play which begins in 1901 in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire. So why has it become a classic? These are …Read more
Jez Butterworth’s latest play, “Hills of California” moves so smoothly that you are never aware of its 2 hours and 45 minutes running time. Arriving on Broadway after a successful London run, the drama is expertly directed by Sam Mendes. The play beg …Read more
They say you can’t go home again. Yet in “Good Bones,” the new play by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright James Ijames (“Fat Ham”) that’s what Aisha (Susan Kelechi Watson) is doing when she and her chef husband Travis (Mamoudou Athie) buy a home in th …Read more
Cephus Miles never wanted to leave his home in Crossroads, North Carolina. The central figure of the beautiful revival of Samm – Art Williams’s “Home” presented at Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre, Cephus loves the farm where his grandpa and uncle ra …Read more
Brian Friel’s play “Molly Sweeney” directed by Charlotte Moore is staged in the simplest form imaginable. The three major characters are seated in chairs on stage. They speak directly to the audience and never to one another. The staging works partic …Read more
Imagine you are the fly on the wall in a recording studio. One of your favorite groups is scheduled to record its latest album. It’s the 1970’s, and the group has an album on The Billboard charts. That’s what it’s like sitting in the audience at “Ste …Read more
The revision of “Uncle Vanya” at Lincoln Center is notable for two reasons. One is that it has been modernized by Heidi Schreck (“What the Constitution Means to Me”) making it more relatable to the audience. More significantly, the show marks the Bro …Read more
As we approach Mother’s Day, it was fitting that two of the plays I saw this week had mothers as central characters, and they could not have been more different. “Mary Jane” is loving, self-sacrificing and always positive, while Phyliss in “Mother Pl …Read more
It’s good to know that classical theater continues to be relevant. Although “An Enemy of the People” by Henrik Ibsen was written in 1882, it feels pertinent today, and as I sat in the Circle in the Square watching the latest revival, I considered how …Read more
If you ever watched “The Office” (and is there anyone who hasn’t?) you know Holly Flax, the HR person who becomes Michael’s girlfriend. Played by Amy Ryan, she is always smiling, optimistic and a bit goofy. It was hard to envision the same actress as …Read more