988 stories by "Darryl Reilly"
Author Lizzie Vieh's brilliant play "The Loneliest Number" initially appears to be a slight off-beat comedy about a swinging couple's encounters but after its first third evolves into a prof…
In the moving and affirmative final sequence, journal entries from 1989 to 1990 are projected as text that details deaths of friends. Kelly is on the floor silently drawing shapes with white…
Conceived by the Axis Company, this treatment oddly renames the characters which is just one of its many baffling qualities that perhaps seeks to comment on the present. It's really "High No…
Director Jessica Burr's fast-paced yet thoughtful staging includes over-lapping dialogue, rapid entrances and exits all over the space and striking visual flourishes. Ms. Burr's tremendous g…
The homeowner Pete is wearing gym shorts and a T-Shirt and is a biology teacher with an Associate's Degree who wanted to be a paleontologist. Bo is his childhood best friend. Pete has broken…
Employing an authentic and strong Southern dialect, Ms. Meadows sounds and looks like she really is a person in the 1840's. This vocal expertise combined with Meadows' altering of her physio…
Writer-performer Bob Martin recycles his sweater-clad disaffected "Man in the Chair" character from his 2006 Broadway musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." The conceit is that he's a disgruntled E…
The production is not helped by William Carden's heavy-handed direction. Scene transitions are punctuated by sound designer and composer Shane Rettig's blaring, pulsing and overwhelming …
Darryl Reilly, Critic Maureen Stapleton by Raphael Soyer (1968) This striking portrait of Maureen Stapleton was painted by Raphael Soyer in 1968, a pivotal year in her life and career. It's …
Mr. Cusumano has crafted a scenario that though familiar is gripping. The timeless craving for lost souls seeking a purpose in life by handing over their existence to charlatans is fresh…
"September" by Earth, Wind and Fire was gorgeously mashed up with Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" and was the soaring opening number of The New York Pops' exhilarating rhythm and blues …
The first act is a faithful and skillful hour-long condensation of "The Seagull." The second act is a clever hour-long vaudeville-style amalgam of "The Cherry Orchard," "Uncle Vanya" and "Th…
Classic movies such as "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Moonstruck" are citied in the play and author June Daniel White is clearly inspired by and seeks to emulate them…
"I never met a peanut butter junkie" is one of the many sharp zingers in Fran Handman's romantic park bench meetup, "A New York Encounter" (directed by Elowyn Castle) between an older man an…
Playwrights Kevin Armento and Bryony Lavery take the well-known facts that have been explored in documentaries and in the feature film "Battle of the Sexes" and shovel on a cascade of imagin…
Whether bantering with the audience, displaying energetic dance moves, reciting factual details or performing Bobby Darin's signature songs, the boyish Groff was sensational. "Splish Splash,…
Soviet born actor Ilia Volok is quite personable and definitely commands the stage; his performance is heroic but it is so intense and his accent is often intrusive. Comical and sensitive po…
Murky, glacial and hypnotic, "Sheila" is a dreamy reunion drama among two 28-year-old women who haven't seen each other in 10 years. It recalls the sort of off-beat female-centric play direc…
Ms. Orlandersmith skillfully organizes the material into short monologues that are revelatory, insightful and often tinged with humor. Â Visually striking with her animated facial features…
Dull, smug and interminable," The Undertaking" is a multimedia play written by Steve Cosson that explores the meaning of death. Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp and Greek mythology are tr…
With the support of film director, screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute, the St. Louis Actors' Studio has held an annual festival of one-act plays since 2013. This is the third year t…
Darryl Reilly, Critic Harold Pinter "He's a fucking fine actor," said Harold about the actor who had just ruined an otherwise excellent production. "It's a fucking hard job, acting. I've don…
Playwright Robert O'Hara's fertile premise might have made for a provocative, sober sci-fi take on gender roles, sexuality and parenthood. Instead, it's broadly conceived and lame. The flat …
Shaw employs the gruff cadences of George C. Scott and Weaver has the calm and measured tone of Peter Sellers and both are thoroughly delightful. Their tremendous rapport is most evident…
Darryl Reilly, Critic Doric Wilson circa 2011. "Making magic out of nothing," is how Doric Wilson described his 50-year devotion to the penury of alternative theater. Why am I writing about …
