8,501 stories from Backstage
How much comic mileage can you get out of a dead woman's stupidity?
Charles Garo's new play feels dated. Still, it's engrossing and provocative, drawing distinctive characterizations of its American and German World War II fliers gathered for a memorial dedi…
Accomplishing what it sets out to do is the chief virtue of "The Dershowitz Protocol." In less than an hour, author Robert Fothergill, director Anthony Frisina, and a four-person cast throw …
Updating a Dostoyevsky tale without ignoring its origins, "A Nasty Story" is a literary exercise that perpetuates the eternal employer-employee theme.
As directed by "Saturday Night Live" veteran Ana Gasteyer, the 50-minute show is one long SNL audition.
Michael McQuilken is clever, attractive, charismatic, athletic, and funny - which makes it that much easier to overlook the fact that his one-man multimedia talent show lacks an original or …
Clunky, obvious revelations and mixed performances take away from Le Wilhelm's insightful characterizations of fascinating - and often disturbing - artists.
New Yorkers don't scare easily, and "The Mole People"'s awkward attempt at auditory story theatre isn't exactly chilling.
Detective work and intuition pay off in a family story beautifully brought to the stage.
Although "Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl" is geared primarily to youngsters, there are solid reasons for adults to see this spirited Elephant Ensemble Theater production.
It's a risky business, portraying not only the white-bread schoolteacher you are but also two of your most problematic inner-city pupils. But actor-author Jack Freiberger offers detailed, ro…
Playwright-director-star Caroline Lesley isn't even convincing as a bad actor in her new one-woman show about the dangers of meeting one's doppelganger.
When word gets out that the president of Gardenia's homeowners association likes to visit a naturalist resort, much shade is thrown in this charming if inoffensive new tuner.
Some playwrights use peculiar experiences to stoke their art. Yet I'd conjecture that few have been through anything like Stephen O'Rourke's experience working with the mentally ill for the …
Do I really believe Michael Phillis, who wrote and performs in "Wish We Were Here," really watched a genie pop out of a hookah while smoking marijuana? Well, no, but it turns out to be an am…
Had playwright Jessica Hinds written her new play with a steadier hand, she'd have a very funny look at the lives of 20-somethings today and the insidious power of television to change their…
The voices in his head are just the beginning of Brian's problems in Halley Bondy's gripping, imaginative drama.
Montserrat Mendez's sequel to Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a comic masterwork.
Though really a collection of loose vignettes, "Creena DeFoouie" doesn't lack entertainment value.
Using a fine and resourceful sense of theatricality, David LeBarron offers an insightful string of meditations on living and loving the gay life.
Aja Nisenson is a natural storyteller, with an ear for impersonations and an eye for glamorous and gritty detail.
Fortunately, "Galatea" is not just another tiresome reinterpretation of "Pygmalion"; playwright Frank Tangredi brings a fresh perspective to the old tale that is revelatory and moving.
This "long-form sketch show" has intimations of silent-film comedy or maybe Mutt and Jeff.
"Kansas City or Along the Way" is much like the journey it describes: Though fraught with problems, it nevertheless manages to transcend them.
Justin Swain and Jess McLeod turn Joyce Carol Oates' 2005 novella "The Corn Maiden: A Love Story" into a solid, spooky little thriller.
