8,501 stories from Backstage
This evocative 50-minute performance piece by Tim Crouch, part of the 2009 Under the Radar festival, is about relative values.
Though the acting is often impeccable and the writing beautifully lyrical, one leaves this evening of eight dramatic monologues by Ella Hickson with a reaffirmed belief in the adage "Less is…
This drama by Australian playwright Andrea James is a heartfelt cry for justice.
Young Jean Lee's "The Shipment" seems to present familiar stereotypes for your entertainment -- but look again: There's more here than meets the eye.
The title of Reggie Watts' latest postmodern performance mash-up implies that the singer turned comic performance artist is working toward something. Unfortunately, this slapdash entry in th…
Lemon Andersen's excitement and coolly comic nonchalance captivate instantly, and his grip on theatregoers continues for nearly two hours in this lyrically moving one-man piece that recounts…
As energetically directed by Gavin Quinn, this spiritedly acted imagistic evening of lost souls sows confusion -- which apparently is the point.
Ignited by brisk kinetic energy, startlingly eloquent employment of plain wooden chairs, and fervent Astor Piazzolla tango music, the Sadari Movement Laboratory's "Woyzeck" is a highly stimu…
The more they grappled with and teased their material, the more these members of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players began to loosen up and fly right, realizing that they weren't present…
An injured foot was the break Matthew Risch needed to climb into the leading man's shoes in Pal Joey.
This disarmingly intimate "intercontinental phone play" by experimental German theatre artist Rimini Protokoll is legitimate and, oddly, honest.
The people inhabiting Mike Leigh's gray 1979 London live in a world cornered by disappointment, compromise, and futility -- and possibility, perhaps. Yet it's an engaging play, here staged w…
In an age when urbanity is a trait often considered past its time, you can only hope the very urbane Steve Ross will find appreciative audiences for his tribute to the equally if not even mo…
An air of familiarity hangs over Jack Gelber's "The Connection," currently being revived by the Living Theatre under the direction of Judith Malina.
Clove Galilee and Jenny Rogers deserve high marks for their creativity in taking Maria Irene Fornes' "Fefu and Her Friends" and transforming it into the enjoyable if uneven "Wickets."
Gina Gionfriddo is interested in how people deal with the aftermath of dramatic confrontations. She also creates characters who are neither altruistically pure nor black-heartedly manipulati…
As regional theatres gird for tough times, experts offer their insights.
There's any number of people who'll tell you that at the moment there's no better purveyor of standards in America than Wesla Whitfield. I'm one of them.
Writer David Hare returns to postwar upheavals in 'The Reader.'
Steven Polito makes a living saying what many of us might want to say in certain situations but would never bring ourselves to say. His creation Hedda Lettuce keeps the crowd howling, even w…
So the cabaret year doesn't end with a bang but with a band, big and contemporary style - not with a whimper but with a winner.
The talking segments of Barbour's nearly two-hour show are like the house party he wants it to be. He has no affectations. But when he sings, he can't resist grandiose-ing things up. In othe…
Two Los Angeles theatre companies debut impressively.
Just as George W. Bush is leaving office, A.R. Gurney doesn't quite perform the theatrical equivalent of hurling his shoes at the departing president, but he does toss a few bread rolls his …
Jordan Lage steps up after Jeremy Piven strikes out.
