542 stories by "Mark Blankenship"
How improv comedy gives “5 Lesbians…” its crackling energy You could say that Marjorie is the key to understanding 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, even though her character doesn&#…
The secrets of “Picnic’s” set design Madge disappears in the house, and the next time we see her, she’s sitting in an upstairs window, primping. A couple of me…
How the director stages both worlds at once Water By the Spoonful is mostly realistic, but sometimes, it hovers just above the actual world. Sometimes, when people struggle with addiction, t…
The tension and terror of “Bethany” at Women’s Project Theater If you accept the prevailing wisdom about new play development in this country, then the silent scenes in Bet…
Taylor Trensch’s body tells a gay kid’s story in “Bare: The Musical” Welcome to Building Character, TDF Stages’ ongoing series about actors and how they create …
In Broadway’s “The Other Place,” Sharr White controls our sense of reality One of the most audacious scenes in The Other Place is completely realistic—just two people…
Amy Herzog on the intentional mysteries in “The Great God Pan” Full disclosure: I love Amy Herzog’s play The Great God Pan, which is now in previews at Playwrights Horizons…
If you’re looking to buy gifts for theatre lovers, then you can’t go wrong with a great theatre book. Whether they’re behind-the-scenes photo collections or collections of …
Broadway is still hopping during Christmas week, but many Broadway shows have an unusual performance schedule. To find out when your Broadway favorites are playing from December 24 to Decemb…
Mastering the language in “My Name is Asher Lev” They rise from the script like elegant mountains—the monologues that drive My Name is Asher Lev. An actor has to climb them…
Inside the new Broadway dramedy The Broadway premiere of a new play is always a major event, but sometimes, it can feel refreshingly modest for the artists involved. Take Dead Accounts, the …
Inside a crucial moment of the August Wilson revival At first, it’s just an entertaining bit of music, and then you realize it has changed the play. In the first act of August Wilson&#…
Hello TDF Readers, I am thrilled to announce the debut of TDF’s Theatre Dictionary, your video guide to theatre lingo. Here’s how the new site works: (1) We make videos about the…
Murder Ballad turns viciousness into sexy entertainment It’s right there in the title. By the end of Murder Ballad, someone’s going to die. But that crime isn’t what define…
Justin Sayre’s The Meeting* tackles the serious and the frivolous in gay culture — Is there a universal gay culture? Is there an aesthetic sensibility that unites gay people acro…
After Sandy, “A Twist of Water” has new resonance For the next few weeks, almost everything that happens in New York will be refracted through Hurricane Sandy’s lens. A rid…
Inside her performance in Broadway’s “The Heiress” Welcome to Building Character, TDF Stages’ ongoing series about actors and how they create their roles — Judi…
Why Disgraced balances fiery debate with pleasant conversation — The politics are so volatile in Ayad Akhtar's play Disgraced—the arguments are so intense as friends navigate the…
Colman Domingo’s “Wild With Happy” finds its voice If you think the middle of Wild With Happy, Colman Domingo’s new play at the Public, feels like a caper movie, then…
Kyle Soller masters the language in Broadway’s “Cyrano” The theatre itself is at the heart of Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmund Rostand’s classic 1897 play, now in a Broadwa…
Jon Kern’s new play finds dark humor in vicious deeds You never know what will happen during preview performances: You could start with a goofy comedy and end with a dark rumination on…
How the young troupe is developing its style When you watch PigPen Theatre’s The Old Man and The Old Moon, you watch an aesthetic being born. The company has been emerging since 2010, …
Three actors explain how the magic is made — When you see War Horse on Broadway, you might forget you’re watching puppets. The story of a British boy’s remarkable relations…
The subtle secrets of the “Virginia Woolf” set On the surface, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? seems like a strange match for set designer Todd Rosenthal. Edward Albee̵…
How the actress shapes her performance in “Red Dog Howls” Welcome to Building Character, TDF’s ongoing series about actors and how they create their roles Kathleen Chalfant…
