FRUITING BODIES at Theatre Row

FRUITING BODIES, a new play by Sam Chanse, is a call to the wild parts of ourselves that have been starved of oxygen. It's a hunt to find the elusive, the dangerous, the long buried...The familiar family drama finds a different setting away from the dinner table to the forest floor with it's mercurial mycology. It's a thought provoking transformation play where the troubled characters enter the shifting forest, the unknown, and emerge somewhat altered. There are secrets to be revealed, hero's to be tested and dream fragments to confront. The Ma-Yi Theater Company takes us mushroom hunting into the

SOCRATES at THE PUBLIC THEATER

Lecture, exhortation, dissertation, harangue. These are all synonyms for “talking”, which is what the subject of actor/director/playwright Tim Blake Nelson’s new play Socrates --- now playing at The Public Theater extended through June 2nd as the anchor of Onassis USA Festival 2019: Democracy is Coming --- is best known for. In fact, he made a life, death and immortality out of being a relentless orator, so much so that a man born in 470 B.C.E. is still a topic of modern tongues and his tradition of thought, theories and philosophies are taught as required curriculum at any liberal arts school

Merce Cunningham Centennial Celebration

Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) April 16 marked the centennial of choreographer Merce Cunningham's birth.  His artistic legacy is that his modern dances, many set to music by his creative and life partner John Cage, will forever be modern. Following Cunningham's directive, his company disbanded after his death at 90 - but not the teaching, training, archiving and performing spanning 70+ years.  The Merce Cunningham Trust's world-wide celebration included a definitive program April 17-21 at the Joyce of three classics performed by three companies.   The Merce Cunningham Trust defines the Cunningham Technique as "a rigorous form of training designed to create strength and flexibility of both the body and

Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Spring Weekend

A selection of European stage readings in NYC, Bohemian National Hall, May 10-12, 2019 In spring 2019, the REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH theater festival, honoring Vaclav Havel, will add a weekend of contemporary European stage readings to their yearly program. The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation (VHLF) partners with the Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association to create a showcase of young European playwrights. The selection process includes choosing Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian and Slovak plays that have been translated into English and reflect on current social and political issues of the region. The RFT Spring Weekend presents dramas in translation, showcases the work of

Diary of One Who Disappeared at BAM Lingers With Themes of Familiarity, Longing and Obsession

Obsession, fixation, unrequited love, chasing the muse and being haunted by a longing that can never fully be realized or consummated, but nevertheless continues to ignite flames of desire and creative sparks, are pervasive themes in Diary of One Who Disappeared. Muziektheater Transparant — a Flemish company devoted to sharing old-meets-new opera and musical theatre expressions for a wide audience — returns to their exploration of the autobiographical tormented love story of Czech composer Leoš Janáček’s enchantment with Kamila Stösslová, a married woman nearly 40 years his junior and from a very different background to whom he wrote over 700

THE DAY I BECAME BLACK: Interview with Bill Posley

THE DAY I BECAME BLACK is currently running at The SoHo Playhouse to great acclaim and is created, written and performed by Bill Posley (CBS’s “The Neighborhood,” Netflix’s “Glow”) and directed by Bente Engelstoft (“The Ellen DeGeneres Show”). The production blurb: "Bill Posley grew up biracial, happily identifying as both black and white. But at 10 years old he learns the world does in fact judge a book by its color, and even though he’s half white he’s labeled 100% black. Does a young comedian have to get rid of his whiteness to be the color people expect him to be?" I

Shareholder Value at Theater For the New City

  SHAREHOLDER VALUE is a fast paced docu-style drama from playwright Tom Attea. Or it could be aptly  titled, "The Stockmarket Crash - for Dummies" or "A Change of Heart". We are placed right at the desk of a high powered CEO pre-, during and post the financial crisis of 2008. it's a hot seat. Financial jargon hurtles towards us like buckshot. We catch fragments, concepts and business speak in the heady atmosphere of the office of a titan of industry. Billions of dollars are made and lost in mere sentences. You feel the adrenaline, the fever, associated with transacting with vast

‘The Cradle Will Rock’ at Classic Stage Company

l-r: Sally Ann Triplett, Ian Lowe, Lara Pulver, Kara Mikula. Photo: Joan Marcus

And some of the best people in town. Now I know what the dirty foreigners feel like. What is this, Russia? We don’t have to listen to talk like that. You’ve only got to hint whatever’s fit to print; If something’s wrong with it, why then we’ll print to fit. For whichever side will pay the best. The above vitriol is not from the president's Twitter account, Fox News or sticky bitter corners of the Internet and AM radio.  They were written in 1937 by Marc Blitzstein for The Cradle Will Rock.  His 90-minutes of persuasive theatre in protest as musical wearing a big red heart on

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