8,501 stories from Backstage
Sarah Ruhl's new play is as unsatisfying as an overheard conversation: We've only been given part of the story.
Under Trip Cullman's assured direction, the ensemble turns in beautifully observed performances in Gina Gionfriddo's incisive and intriguing new play.
Metaphors and symbols and allusions, oh my! In the world of Charles Mee's "Paradise Park," you might find what's in the Emerald City besides the wizard of Oz. Or what's at the bottom of the …
Folding Chair Classical Theatre's bracing production of Timberlake Wertenbaker's play features strong and moving performances.
This solo performance portrayed and conceived by Chris Harcum packs little punch.
Rick Vorndran's fast and enjoyable "Chosen" recalls 1960s Nichols-and-May-style cabaret. What it lacks in penetrating satire, it makes up for in energy and spirit.
Like her titular heroine, an African-American girl raised in Ireland by adoptive parents, writer and performer Melle Powers encounters (and creates) a few obstacles in this solo show.
Through precise delivery and the sheer force of their concept and subject material, the protagonists of this Nonsense Company production captivate their audience even as they disorient it.
Marisa Wegrzyn's "Diversey Harbor" artfully weaves together four stories of a mysterious Chicago night, blending the serious and comic.
Lacking humorous or poignant moments, the actors eagerly -- and at times expertly -- engage in an insulated improvisational world that doesn't seem to be intended for audience pleasure.
In this monologue, James Braly touches on the fact that he's attracted to unstable women but doesn't analyze his own motives deeply enough.
While watching Robert Lawson's "Hiroshima: Crucible of Light," I kept wondering if there might be some way to protect myself from the pretentiousness of this multimedia rumination on the A-b…
If Roi "Bubi" Escudero's Frigid New York festival entry were presented as a college class project, it would probably receive an A for effort.
This enchanting, flawlessly rendered production sparkles with the heartwarming energy of Americana musicals from a bygone era.
"Passing Strange" is electric musical theatre dispensing punch-in-the-gut wisdom.
Heretofore an actor as devoted to Chekhov as to showbiz glitter, Young has an unprepossessing manner and a trained voice that he treats with respect.
Alan Palmer is an engaging, talented performer, one you would like to see more of in a longer or at least more coherent piece.
Klausner proves there's nothing she can't do with her pure, silvery voice in this completely satisfying act.
With perky enthusiasm worthy of an "Up With People" cast member, Dina Martina (the alter ego of performer Grady West) drags audiences kicking and screaming through cracked-out karaoke, audie…
How do you make something as provocative as online pornography boring? Playwright Joseph Gallo achieves the difficult task by using stale romantic-comedy tropes until he all but destroys any…
