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Monday, November 2, 2015

Review: 'Rear Window,' the Perils of Voyeurism, With Kevin Bacon by Ben Brantley

Mr. Bacon stars in Keith Reddin's adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's crime story that also became a Hitchcock classic.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:38PM[SHARE]

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Review: In 'King Charles III,' Glimpsing the Near Future of Monarchy by Ben Brantley

Mike Bartlett's prize-winning play comes to Broadway from London with its cast, Shakespearean stylings and free verse intact.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37PM[SHARE]

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Review: In 'Thérèse Raquin,' Keira Knightley as a Baleful Adulteress by Ben Brantley

Destiny never releases its grim stranglehold on the characters in this play, based on Ã‰mile Zola's novel, which represents Ms. Knightley's Broadway debut.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:51PM[SHARE]

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Review: Visiting 'Houseworld,' and the Perils and Pleasures of Immersive Theater by Ben Brantley

Stiff drinks and sexy demons in a mazelike setting aren't necessarily our critic's cup of tea. But his attitude is: If you go to immersive theater, you may as well immerse.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:28PM[SHARE]

Review: Children Growing Very Old in 'Before Your Very Eyes' by Ben Brantley

Gob Squad's production at the Public Theater stars a group of 9-to-14-year-olds who age into their 70s and beyond onstage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:25AM[SHARE]

Friday, October 23, 2015

Review: 'texts&beheadings/ElizabethR,' the English Queen in Her Multifaceted Majesty by Ben Brantley

Four actresses, each taking a turn in the spotlight, portray Elizabeth I, using the queen's own letters, prayers and speeches.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:26PM[SHARE]

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Review: In 'First Daughter Suite': Unelected but Still Under a Microscope by Ben Brantley

This musical, at the Public Theater, looks at the younger inhabitants of the White House.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:25AM[SHARE]

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Review: 'Ripcord,' a Comic Tale of Adversaries by Ben Brantley

Two women of opposing temperaments share a room in a retirement home, in David Lindsay-Abaire's play, from the Manhattan Theater Club.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:33PM[SHARE]

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Review: 'Underneath,' an Embrace of Irish Ghosts by Ben Brantley

This solo performance piece by Pat Kinevane at the Irish Arts Center has a freshly risen corpse as its narrator, and she has a story to tell.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:25PM[SHARE]

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Review: 'Travels With My Aunt' Taps Into a Hidden Sense of Adventure by Ben Brantley

The Keen Company's revival, a stage adaptation of Graham Greene's frolicsome 1969 novel, is on Theater Row.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37PM[SHARE]

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Banned in Belarus, but the Shows Go On by Ben Brantley

A critic's journey into the politically charged world and productions of the Belarus Free Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:49PM[SHARE]

'First Daughter Suite,' at the Public Theater, Shows Young Girls in a Fishbowl by Ben Brantley

The show explores life in the White House for the likes of Amy Carter, Tricia and Julie Nixon, and Susan Ford.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:49PM[SHARE]

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Review: In Miranda July's 'New Society,' the Audience Makes the Show by Ben Brantley

Ms. July, a self-conscious practitioner of self-consciousness, has an improbable gift for turning the initially irritating into the charming.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:09PM[SHARE]

Friday, October 9, 2015

Review: 'Fool for Love,' a Kinship That Breaks Hearts and Knuckles by Ben Brantley

Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell tear up the scenery (and each other) in Daniel Aukin's definitive revival of Sam Shepard's drama.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:24AM[SHARE]

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Review: In 'Sisters' Follies,' Basil Twist Conjures Two Avant-Garde 1915 Benefactors by Ben Brantley

Starring Julie Atlas Muz and Joey Arias, this spooky production blends surreal projections, hoisting harnesses and puppets to depict the 1915 founders of the Abrons Arts Center's playhouse.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:39PM[SHARE]

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Review: 'Old Times,' Where the Past Is a Dangerous Place by Ben Brantley

This Harold Pinter revival is not an "Old Times" for purists, but it has its pleasures.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:07PM[SHARE]

Monday, October 5, 2015

Review: 'Cloud Nine,' a Comedy of Fluid and Complicated Couplings by Ben Brantley

This Atlantic Theater Company revival of Caryl Churchill's play is set in the Victorian age (for its first act) and in 1979 (for its second).

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:22PM[SHARE]

Friday, October 2, 2015

An Appraisal: Recalling the Eloquent Loneliness of the Playwright Brian Friel by Ben Brantley

Discussing Mr. Friel's work, Ben Brantley reflects on the elusiveness of great art and the pain of the artist who creates it.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:13PM[SHARE]

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Debating 'Otello,' Blackface and Casting Trends by Ben Brantley and Anthony Tommasini

Ben Brantley and Anthony Tommasini weigh in on the debate set off by the Metropolitan Opera's decision to forgo darkening makeup in its latest production.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:04PM[SHARE]

Monday, September 28, 2015

Review: 'Fondly, Collette Richland' Offers Open-Eyed Dreaming by Ben Brantley

Elevator Repair Service takes on a script that appears to pose seemingly insurmountable difficulties for a stage director.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:27PM[SHARE]

Review: Revisiting Gertrude Stein's Writings in 'Reread Another' by Ben Brantley

Hearing words in a new way is part of the experience of "Reread Another," a 1921 avant-garde play by Gertrude Stein.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:27PM[SHARE]

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Review: In 'Antigone' at BAM, Agony and Despair in Inexorable Motion by Ben Brantley

Ivo van Hove's doom-steeped production stars Juliette Binoche as the fatally rebellious daughter of the house of Oedipus.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:34PM[SHARE]

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Review: At Hartford Stage, Expectations of Love and the Weight of Memory by Ben Brantley

Two people who almost had an affair 20 years ago have another chance in Christopher Shinn's "An Opening in Time" at Hartford Stage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:22PM[SHARE]

Monday, September 21, 2015

Review: Thomas Bradshaw's 'Fulfillment,' on One Man's Ceiling, and His Frustrations by Ben Brantley

This deadpan drama by the shock artist Thomas Bradshaw is more of a slice-of-life narrative than his previous ventures into new frontiers of outrage.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:55PM[SHARE]

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Theater Review: Review: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Tailored for Multitaskers by Ben Brantley

A cast of five plays all the roles in Shakespeare's uproarious comedy of romantic confusions.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:36PM[SHARE]

Friday, September 18, 2015

Theater Week Ahead: 'Daddy Long Legs' at the Davenport by Ben Brantley

Megan McGinnis and Paul Alexander Nolan star in a musical about pen pals from Jean Webster's 1912 novel best known as a 1955 movie with Leslie Caron and Fred Astaire.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:30AM[SHARE]

Thursday, September 17, 2015