Val Vigoda Is a Fiddling Firecracker in "Ernest Shackleton Loves Me," Saheem Ali Celebrates Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" by David Finkle

Val Vigoda is a compact bundle of talent. She plays a strapped-on electric violin like a demon. She sings with a voice that

J. B. Priestley's Rediscovered "The Roundabout" a Must-See, "Marry Harry," a Musical Less So, Randy Sharp's "Dead End" R by David Finkle

Here’s great news. A forgotten J. B. Priestley play has just resurfaced. It’s The Roundabout, and it hasn’t been seen since

Dianne Wiest's Winning Winnie in Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" by David Finkle

Whatever else it is, Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days is without doubt a test that many of our most formidable actresses give

Stephen Karam's Nerds Revenge "Speech and Debate" Comes to Screens by David Finkle

The nerds have been having their revenge for a few decades, and Stephen Karam introduces three more in Speech and Debate

In Lucas Hnath's "A Doll's House, Part 2" Nora Finally Breaks Down That Door by David Finkle

Providing sequels to classics is a great temptation, particularly for authors who don’t necessarily believe that characters

"Bandstand" Boasts an Upbeat Downbeat by David Finkle

Bandstand is being promoted as “a swing musical,” and that’s what it joyfully is, as director-choreographer Andy (Hamilton

"The Antipodes," Annie Baker's New Play About Story-Telling, Tells an Only So-So Story by David Finkle

What the hugely gifted Annie Baker is getting at in The Antipodes, her new play at the Signature Center, is something I think

Anastasia May Not Be an Imposter, But "Anastasia" the Musical Is by David Finkle

Full Disclosure: I have not seen the 1997 20th Century Fox animated cartoon Anastasia for which several screenwriters apparently

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" Encounters Assembly Line Glitches by David Finkle

The 8- or 9-year-old girl farther along the aisle from me at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory told me she was having a good

Zayd Dohrn's "The Profane" a Fair-to Middling Families Feud by David Finkle

American drama overflows with dysfunctional families, and those plays often require a living room set with a couch facing

Patti LuPone, Christine Ebersole Slather the Make-Up Excessively in "War Paint" by David Finkle

Friedrich Schiller decided that even though Elizabeth I and half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots never actually met, they really

Harvey Fierstein Deftly Rows Martin Sherman's "Gently Down the Stream by David Finkle

Forty-two years ago with International Stud, Harvey Feinstein introduced the first of the three plays that eventually became

Kevin Kline in Perfectly Funny "Present Laughter" by David Finkle

At the risk of joining the critics crew who toss out the adjective ”magnificent” far too frequently, I’m going to say that

Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" in Richard Jones's First-Rate Vision by David Finkle

Let’s get right to it: Richard Jones’s grappling with Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape (1922) is without question the production

William Inge Looks Twice at the Hot, Anxious Mid-West by David Finkle

There are playwrights who are brought up among women and, as a result, shape their works from that perspective. A prime example

John Leguizamo's "Latin History for Dummies" is Whip-Smart by David Finkle

It’s fascinating how much theater literature includes a father-son theme. Perhaps unexpectedly, that’s at the heart of John

"Miss Saigon" is Back and Weirdly Imposing as Ever by David Finkle

It may be the most famous coup de theatre in Broadway history: The appearance of the helicopter in the second act of Miss

The Perfect "Murder on the Orient Express" Right on Track by David Finkle

Princeton, New Jersey—For a guaranteed good time, get to the McCarter Theatre, where Ken Ludwig has adapted Agatha Christie’s

"Spill," the BP Oil Disaster Story, Casts Its Frightening Spell by David Finkle

Once you realize that Leigh Fondakowski was the head writer on The Laramie Project, you can assume that Spill, her new stage

Ethan Lipton's "The Outer Space," Noah Mease's "Omega Kids," Jen Silverman's "The Moors" by David Finkle

Ethan Lipton’s new cabaret piece, The Outer Space, could pass muster as a one-man musical—or four-man musical—since saxophonist

Debate Society's "The Light Years" Sheds Some but Not Enough Bright Light by David Finkle

When a play opens called The Light Years, it may not come as too much of a shock if the lighting designer is the first singled

First Nighter: Five London Offerings Worth Considering by David Finkle

London—Here’s a small sampling of what’s going on at local theaters, but seemingly in smaller numbers. To boost business

First Nighter: Three MusicalsTune Up the Town by David Finkle

London—The town’s jingling with musicals at a time when it seems offerings are slimmer than they usually are. The word is

First Nighter: Christopher Demos-Brown's First-Rate "American Son" Confronts Troubled Race Relations by David Finkle

First Nighter: Tanya Saracho's "Fade," Geoff Sobelle's "The Object Lesson," Robert Holman's "Jonah and Otto" by David Finkle

First Nighter: Anna Jordan's 'Yen' Forcibly Plugs for Troubled Youths by David Finkle

Easy Watching: Agatha Christie's "The Witness for the Prosecution" in Must-See New Television Version by David Finkle

First Nighter: Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" Jacked Up to Today, New York Neo-Futurists Attempt "The Great American Drama" by David Finkle

First Nighter: "Yours Unfaithfully" Yet Another Sparkling Mint Theater Company Discovery by David Finkle

Jason O'Connell Talks Batman in "The Dork Night," Benjamin Evett Is the Ancient Mariner in "Albatross" by David Finkle

First Nighter: Harriet Walter's Prospero in Phyllida Lloyd's Blazing "The Tempest" by David Finkle