Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Great art is meant to bring the viewer into another universe, perhaps allowing them to -- if only fleetingly -- experience previously unimagined scenarios, feelings and worldviews. It has the power and potency to connect us to the broader spectrum of emotions that make up the human condition. But what happens when this art is a semi-autobiographical piece of essentially heightened, poeticized and dramatized non-fiction that could be and has been regarded as “a 75-minute suicide note” (Michael Billington, The Guardian), such as 4:48 Psychosis -- the stark, often brutal, occasionally darkly comedic and deeply unsettling post-mortem work of English
Reviews
Remote Theater Project debuts at LaMama with Amir Nizar Zuabi’s ‘Grey Rock’
The single set across LaMama's The Downstairs is the Wall. Not a mock-up of the geographically impossible one threatened for the U.S./Mexico borders, but the equally controversial Israel−Gaza security barrier. A lightning rod in U.S-Middle Eastern diplomacy, in Amir Nizar Zuabi's Grey Rock, it cannot block creativity or dignity. Zuabi, who also directed his play for the newly-formed Remote Theater, provides a blast-off point for The Occupation. Part of the wall opens revealing Yusuf (Khalifa Natou), a retired TV repairman and former political prisoner, studying blueprints in his shed. Without telling his daughter Lila (Fida Zaidan) or young friend Sheik (Motaz Malhis), Yusuf is
Mike Dillon, Gateway Comedy, And 17 Years Producing Comedy On Long Island
For several years now I have had the occasion to write about Long Island Comedy. Many of the most preeminent comedians around have come out of Long Island, Eddie Murphy, Lenny Bruce, Kevin James, Satan, all the greats. In all seriousness anyone who knows comedy knows that the Long Island comedy scene caters to shows all over the country and essentially has made the world laugh since the inception of the understanding of what is funny in America. I'd be willing to bet that even during the American Revolution Long Island was making strides in comedy. Am I still allowed
Big Chuckles Productions and The Strange Foundation Bring The Pain with “Da High M.O.M Show”
I'm someone who no longer says "no" to anything. It's yes all the way. I've cultured myself to a grand scale by saying "yes" all the time. Because of this I get the opportunity to find myself in a slew of footings one might not usually find themselves in. This past Saturday evening was no exception. After I was bumped from a show at a local Comedy Club because of an excessive amount of comedians, I decided my time would be better served elsewhere. After some careful introspection I found myself heading
ZviDance at New York Live Arts
ZviDance, under the direction of founder/Artistic Director Zvi Gotheiner, appeared December 19-22, 2018 at New York Live Arts. Their program included two provocative world premieres reflecting how effectively dance communicates the interior and exterior. The timing for presenting Bears Ears couldn't have been more ironic. The 1.35-million-acre Utah national park - sacred land to several Native American peoples - is threatened by the Trump administration twofold. As a slap to President Obama for officially declaring Bears Ears a national monument, the administration wants to reduce its size and drill it for oil. Then there's the partial government shutdown commencing during ZviDance's run
Guilty Pleasures Cabaret: Christmas Show at The Duplex
Photo Credit Mike Skigen Merry Christmas to me!!!! This past Friday December 14th at 9 pm at the Duplex, 91 Christopher Street @ 7th Ave, I had the occasion to participate in some of the most lively entertainment I've ever gotten to be part of during the holiday season. Looking back it seems almost providence that timing was fortuitous enough to allow me to be invited to peer at Guilty Pleasures Cabaret. Created and Produced by the incredibly talented Bridget Bose and stunning Andrea Palesh who both also perform in the production, along
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York City Center
In the Becoming Ailey video opening every performance this 60th Anniversary Season, Alvin Ailey is heard describing how he "always danced" during his childhood in Texas and young adulthood in Los Angeles. His passion led to the founding of an inclusive African-American modern dance company that is a cherished and integral part of American culture. Mr. Ailey died in 1989, but his legacy lives on due to the previous leadership of legendary dancer/Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison and current Artistic Director Robert Battle. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre comprises the main company, their home on West 55th Street that
TJ Dawe: A Canadian Bartender at Butlin’s at the Soho Playhouse
The Soho Playhouse has gifted us with encore performances of some of the finer productions from this year's New York International Fringe Festival. TJ Dawe is performing a one-man, autobiographical show discussing his life in general and in particular his time in England as a bartender at a Butlin's holiday camp in Bognor Regis. Dawe is a charming raconteur and his adventures in the UK offer a great opportunity for fish-out-of-water stories. Butlin's, for those unfamiliar with the chain, was an English institution, up there with mushy peas, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and losing in the
‘The Making of King Kong’ at The Doxsee at Target Margin Theater
Lisa Clair’s The Making of King Kong, now playing at The Doxsee at Target Margin Theater thru December 15, is not a documentary about the 1933 horror/sfx classic or slick offsite pop-up for King Kong The Musical. For one thing, the only glimpses of the Brooklyn version of the "Eighth Wonder of the World!" who tore up Manhattan are of his giant (and very busy) paw and on video screens. The other is that none of the previous versions have a song remotely like "King Kong Plays Ping Pong With His Ding Dong". That alone is reason to revisit Skull Island
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: at the Fringe Encore Series, Soho Playhouse
This is my favorite kind of theater –physical, inventive, ingenious and funny. Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg’s comedic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is theatrical catnip – you just can’t get enough of it. This multi-talented duo has written a sophisticated comic-tragedy, produced it and performed it – excelling in every area. It’s the kind of work I would also prescribe for all drama students to see as it is a prime example of performance skill, innovative design and clarity of directorial intention all rolled into one exceptional “fringe” performance. In a