Vigil reviewed by ADAM PERLMAN

The plot of this two-hander screams "sentimental weepy," but excellent direction and deeply felt performances by Malcolm Gets and Helen Stenborg make it funny and moving.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Love, Loss and What I Wore REVIEWED BY DAVID SHEWARD

Nora and Delia Ephron's play about women's relationships with their clothing is a perfect fit for Off-Broadway.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Superior Donuts REVIEWED BY DAVID SHEWARD

The plot may be a familiar one, but Tracy Letts' new play, set in a Chicago doughnut shop, is populated with believable, lovable characters. Tasty and fresh as a doughnut right out of the ov…

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

MAHIDA'S EXTRA KEY TO HEAVEN reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

This metaphor-driven play explores the dynamic between America and Islam through the lens of characters with less as well as more in common than any of them may think.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A STEADY RAIN reviewed by DAVID SHEWARD

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, a pair of movie action heroes, get down and dirty in Keith Huff's explosive two-hander, proving theater can still whup film's ass.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

<cite>Luck</cite>, reviewed by Mitch Montgomery

Neither a typical monologue nor a freeform performance piece, Megan Riordan's one-woman Las Vegas extravaganza, Luck, goes all in by drawing on aspects of both.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Reviewed by David Sheward

Avant-garde director Peter Sellars offers a baffling interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy of obsessive jealousy complete with cellphones, TV monitors, and a confusing composite character.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Killers and Other Family REVIEWED BY ADAM R. PERLMAN

Lucy Thurber's violent family reunion play covers familiar territory, but features a believable stage couple.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Boy and His Soul REVIEWED BY DAVID SHEWARD

Colman Domingo's energetic solo show explores the connection between family, identity, and soul music.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Kristina (in Concert) REVIEWED BY EIK HAAGENSEN

A concert version of a new musical from the ABBA team has strong singers and some soaring melodies, but the drama is missing.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Groovaloo - Reviewed by LISA JO SAGOLLA

The Groovaloos, a fresh-faced, 14-member Los Angeles-based troupe of expert hip-hop artists, is presenting a spiffy 85-minute show of locking, popping, free-styling, and spoken-word poetry.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

LOL - Reviewed by MARK PEIKERT

Here we are in 2009, with pop culture overrun by Facebook status updates and endless celebrity tweets on Twitter. So what better time for a show about cyber sex?

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

<cite>In the Daylight</cite>, reviewed by Adam R. Perlman

I'll never understand why so many writers can't get out of their own way. Take Tony Glazer, an obviously talented playwright with a penchant for witty zingers and hearty American family drama. It might well be possible to combine the two—his last effort, Stain, showed signs of doing just that—but in In the Daylight, his big themes and his milieu of family reunion, serious boozing, and dark secrets percolating are rendered ridiculous by a left turn into tawdry potboiler territory.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Complete - Reviewed by TOM PENKETH

Andrea Kuchlewska's play "Complete" tackles how language can be used by individuals either to liberate emotion within themselves or to help stifle it.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Thunder Above, Deeps Below - Reviewed by MARK PEIKERT

This odd, fragmented play about three homeless youths who battle men on the DL and nightmares for bus fare is saved by a rich performance from Jon Norman Schneider.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Fathers and Sons - Reviewed by DAVID SHEWARD

This 90-minute play gave me the feeling I was switching channels from a soap opera to Lifetime, so prevalent were the clichés.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

In-I - Reviewed by LISA JO SAGOLLA

"In-I" is a tedious experiment in which two mesmerizing performing artists, Juliette Binoche and Akram Khan, venture into unfamiliar expressive territories with lackluster results.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The River Crosses Rivers: Series A - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

It takes a real love of fleeting moments in the human experience to fashion short plays as generally insightful as these.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Provenance of Beauty - Reviewed by LEONARD JACOBS

A trip through the South Bronx, a part of New York City audiences rarely see. Is gentrification good or not? The author's ambivalence demands that outsiders decide.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A Short Wake - Reviewed by KARL LEVETT

At the wake of their much-hated father, two estranged Irish-American brothers dissect the past and struggle toward an understanding.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Blind Lemon Blues - Reviewed by DAVID SHEWARD

This music-stuffed show won't leave you singing the blues, but you will want to know more about its fascinating subject.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Aftermath - Reviewed by ERIK HAAGENSEN

Simple isn't easy, but playwrights Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank prove just how powerful it can be in their disquieting, moving, intensely human docudrama.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

MilkMilkLemonade - Reviewed by PAUL MENARD

Like an unruly child, Joshua Conkel's cheeky queer fantasia may not be perfect, but it certainly knows how to have fun.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Lizzie Borden - Reviewed by MITCH MONTGOMERY

Took an Axe Productions has repurposed the 19th century's could-be killer as a hard-rock goddess in its brazen, rambunctious production.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

The Hole - Reviewed by JASON FITZGERALD

Going to see "The Hole" is a bit like arriving all decked out at the hottest spot in town only to find out it's Christmastime and the fun people are on vacation.

SOURCE: Backstage at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑