8,501 stories from Backstage
Unfortunately, quantity doesn't always equal quality, and such is the case here, with promising premises stretched to the breaking point, repeatedly straining the audience's patience.
"Television is stupid." Well, duh! That seems to be the big message of "Our House," Theresa Rebeck's slipshod satire on modern media.
Playwright Theresa Rebeck strikes a balance between critical acclaim and popular entertainment.
Even at a mere 60 minutes, Elizabeth Battersby's new one-woman musical threatens to outstay its welcome.
The Amoralists is a theater company that claims not to be "concerned with the principals of right or wrong, good or bad," an attitude that could endanger the success of its productions. And …
Goofball antics have deeper meaning in "Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines," a three-man caper that starts off hysterically but ultimately becomes a tedious exerc…
The fascinating Bill Pullman on the creative art of acting
In her determination to write a complex, poetic, political drama about neglected subject matter, Naomi Wallace takes a potentially fascinating situation, story, and characters and, sadly, dr…
Theater Mitu takes the fascinating idea of dramatizing the philosophies of eight master acting teachers and ends up demonstrating the term "sophomoric."
Is it possible to do something with faint praise other than damn? The play doesn't work-it doesn't come close, really. Still, there's enough polish and playfulness-two characteristics any th…
In writer-director Jessica Bauman's adaptation, an overreliance on video to craft a commentary on warfare in the electronic age immeasurably dilutes the power and potency of Shakespeare's wo…
Lanford Wilson's classic play about the disillusionment of flower children in the aftermath of the Vietnam War is currently receiving a sparkling revival courtesy of T. Schreiber Studio.
"In the Silence of the Heart" is a marriage of direction and writing made in hell.
Leslie Ayvazian's new play deserves an audience, but the one at the performance I saw isn't the one it needs.
"Asclepius," which is subtitled "an epic opera," has all the hokey charm and good intentions of a 16th-century masque created by high school students. It is colorful, earnest, and on the nos…
Susan Yankowitz's new play is heavy with clichés, and every plot twist is a dramatic setup rather than an organic outgrowth of character or action.
Though occasionally spinning its wheels by doubling back on itself in form and substance and sprinkling red herrings along the way, "Next Fall" is shot through with such sincerity, such dept…
In bringing to the stage Neil Gaiman's through-the-looking-glass adventure, playwright David Greenspan, composer-lyricist Stephin Merritt, and director Leigh Silverman have created a polishe…
While conjuring up convincingly colorful characters, playwright Carlyle Brown profoundly re-examines slavery, the contradictory relationships it created, and the notion of freedom itself.
The play has serious faults, but Natalie Venetia Belcon's performance is sharp, wise, and moving.
Playwright Theresa Rebeck strikes a balance between critical acclaim and popular entertainment.
A roundtable chat about craft and career with six nominees for Broadway's biggest honor
