‘In the Heights’ Review: An Exuberant Revival of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Musical by Helen Shaw

This concert staging of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s 2005 musical is like driving through the streets of New York with the windows down.

How Patrick Stewart Brought Shakespeare to ‘Star Trek’ Fans by Helen Shaw

On “Star Trek” and elsewhere, Stewart gave millions a theatrical master class, often delivering richly spoken classical language to express cosmic hope or grief.

In ‘I Became We,’ Many Voices Exalt One Very Personal Decision by Helen Shaw

For her latest autobiographical work, Mona Pirnot collaborated with Jack D. Coen on beautifully composed classical song-cycle.

A Sparkling ‘Imaginary Invalid,’ With Bill Irwin, Is the Cure for What Ails You by Helen Shaw

Bill Irwin, who may well be our greatest living clown, stars in his own adaptation of Molière’s 1673 play about a domineering hypochondriac paterfamilias.

Review: Todrick Hall’s Audacious ‘Midnight’ and a Curious ‘Benjamin Button’ Musical by Helen Shaw

Todrick Hall’s overstuffed quasi-opera is beautifully sung but discombobulated, while a cutesy Fitzgerald adaptation has a talented cast but lacks depth.

In ‘School Pictures’ and ‘Two Girls,’ the Tweens Are Not All Right by Helen Shaw

Milo Cramer’s excellent lo-fi song-cycle and Eliya Smith’s verbatim play about a notorious video both reveal how young minds are made.

‘Other Desert Cities’ Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Smashing Debut by Helen Shaw

Jon Robin Baitz’s 2010 family bash-em-up gets an uneven Broadway revival, with a cast that also includes Allison Janney at her droll, insulting best.

‘Anon’ Review: Anne Washburn’s Satire Gets Lost in the Storm by Helen Shaw

The playwright tries to strike a middle path in this comedy about QAnon far-right conspiracy theories, which stars the reliably zany Crystal Finn.

Josh O’Connor's a Knockout in ‘Golden Boy,’ Plus Cate Blanchett and More by Helen Shaw

Tilda Swinton (in “Man to Man”) and Billy Crudup and Gillian Anderson (in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) are among the titans making a meal of London.

Jonathan Groff Dazzles in a Beautifully Broken ‘As You Like It’ by Helen Shaw

Technical trouble stalled the opening night of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s all-male take on the comedy. But it was worth the wait.

Catch New Faces in These Long-Running Shows (On and Off Broadway) by Helen Shaw, Laura Collins-Hughes and Elisabeth Vincentelli

Ethan Slater and Betsy Wolfe star in “Little Shop of Horrors,” and new casts also charm in “Just in Time” and “Maybe Happy Ending.”

‘Kramer/Fauci’ Review: A Thrilling Episode From the AIDS Battlefield by Helen Shaw

Daniel Fish’s staging of a C-SPAN segment reveals the complex yet tender relationship between the fiery Larry Kramer and the diplomatic Anthony Fauci.

Critic’s Pick: ‘Degenerates’ Unmasks the Longing Disguised as Hate by Helen Shaw

In her play about a group of very online incels, Else Went reveals what happens to their rabid rhetoric when these people are offered love.

Denée Benton and Patina Miller Help Give ‘School Girls’ a Broadway Glow-Up by Helen Shaw

Jocelyn Bioh’s breakthrough 2017 play about cliques and colorism is just as funny — and devastating — with a sharp ensemble and direction by Whitney White.

5 Must-See Off Broadway Shows, New and Remounted by Laura Collins-Hughes, Helen Shaw and Elisabeth Vincentelli

Our critics recommend Molière in the Park’s “Don Juan,” “Beyond the Stardust,” “The Hope Theory,” “Pre-Existing Condition” and more.

Review: ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ in Korean, at the Park Avenue Armory by Helen Shaw

In adapting the old plot, the director-writer Simon Stone transports the story to a modern Korea from Russia in the early 1900s.

With ‘Seven Guitars,’ Ruben Santiago-Hudson Keeps the Light on for August Wilson by Helen Shaw and Marcus Maddox

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, a recent Tony nominee for “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” returns to the director’s chair for this season’s revival of “Seven Guitars.”

‘The Ford/Hill Project’ Review: Two Unnerving Testimonies by Helen Shaw

A new docudrama uses recordings of Supreme Court nominations to measure how much (or little) has changed from Anita Hill to Christine Blasey Ford.

‘Garry Starr’ Review: Half-Man, Half-Penguin, Full-Frontal by Helen Shaw

Damien Warren-Smith takes (nearly) everything off to play a flightless bird whose natural habitat might be in your very own lap.

At the Stratford Festival, Forgiveness Is a Power Move by Helen Shaw

For his final year as artistic director, Antoni Cimolino directs “The Tempest,” and like Prospero, he understands how to wield acts of kindness.

The Hypebeasts of the Fringe Festival by Helen Shaw, Léo Hamelin and Fraser Rice

From Hannah Reilly to Amanda Knox to clowns, who are the hype beasts of this year’s Fringe Festival? Our chief theater critic, Helen Shaw, went to Edinburgh to find out.

‘Les Misérables’ Review: The Barricades Rise Above the Hudson by Helen Shaw

In this semi-open-air staging in the Hudson Valley, the musical conjures Paris’s seedy cobblestone streets with an adept Jean Valjean leading the charge.

‘Paranormal Activity’ Review: The Thing That Goes Bump in the Night by Helen Shaw

It’s now haunting Broadway in this adaptation of the horror film franchise about a couple seeking a new start. Instead, they become prime targets.

The Loudest ‘Seagull’ Is Almost Entirely Silent by Helen Shaw, Léo Hamelin and Fraser Rice

Performed in Flemish Sign Language, “[seagull]” revisits Anton Chekhov’s play with a cast of hearing and deaf actors. Our chief theater critic, Helen Shaw, met with the play’s direct…

How to Make Sense of 4,000 Edinburgh Shows: Just Soak It All Up by Helen Shaw

From 60-minute plays to marathon dramas, surviving the festival and the Fringe isn’t about finding a common thread — it’s about surrendering to the chaos.

Wagner Moura Puts Us on Trial in Edinburgh by Helen Shaw, Léo Hamelin, Sutton Raphael and Frasier Rice

Our chief theater critic, Helen Shaw, is in Scotland for the Edinburgh International Festival. For her, Christiane Jatahy’s modern reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People”…

‘The Saviors’ Review: Childlike Faith, Adult Betrayal by Helen Shaw

Bubba Weiler’s new play about two altar boys at a crossroads includes several beautiful performances, even when the line between sweetness and treacle blurs.

‘A Chorus Line’ at 50-ish: Seeing Through Perfection to the Pain by Helen Shaw

A new production at Barrington Stage Company reminds us of how the “singular sensation” changed our relationship to performance.

‘Heated Rivalry,’ ‘Dukes,’ With Jane Wickline, and More Must-See Theater by Helen Shaw and Elisabeth Vincentelli

As the summer heats up, here’s seven not-to-miss Off Broadway shows.

‘Shifters’ Review: Fast-Forwarding Through a Predictable Romance by Helen Shaw

Des (Heather Agyepong) and Dre (Daniel Ezra), navigate a mutual magnetic pull in this British love story by Benedict Lombe at Cherry Lane Theater.

At Hudson Valley Shakespeare, a ‘King Lear’ Worth Traveling For by Helen Shaw

A beautifully observed version of a man’s final act, along with a lively staging of “As You Like It,” engage the surrounding mountains in conversation.

‘The Potluck’ Review: The Greensboro Massacre, and a Heavy Legacy to Bear by Helen Shaw

César Alvarez’s ambitious new work is a mixed musical meal: It wants to be a call to revolutionary action but is surprisingly lacking in it.

The 10 Most Mind-Altering Theater Moments of 2026 (So Far) by Helen Shaw

Our critic chose 10 moments from the theatrical year that shifted her thinking.

‘Birthright’ Stages a Thrillingly Complex Conversation on Conversation Itself by Helen Shaw

Jonathan Spector’s ambitious drama about six Jewish friends and their shifting relationship with Israel stretches over three hours and nearly two decades.

Listen to This Sondheim Masterpiece and It Will Bring Order to Your Day by Helen Shaw

Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, “Sunday in the Park With George,” contains a song capable of making order out of mayhem. Listen to hear how he did it.

Dito van Reigersberg, Avant-Garde and Drag Virtuoso, Dies at 53 by Helen Shaw

A co-founder of Pig Iron Theater Company, known for its surreal productions, he also gave energetic performances as his alter ego, Martha Graham Cracker.

Review: ‘Romeo & Juliet’ Find Too Little Love in the Park by Helen Shaw

For the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park, the director Saheem Ali presents a strangely low-energy version of the tragedy.

Maximalism Is Back at the Tonys by Helen Shaw, Léo Hamelin and Laura Salaberry

Our chief theater critic, Helen Shaw, shares her highlights of the Tony Awards on Sunday in New York City.

A Landmark Tonys Win for the Trans Costume Designer Qween Jean by Helen Shaw

Qween Jean won for “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” becoming the first openly transgender person to win a Tony Award, according to a “Cats” publicist.

June Squibb is one of the oldest actors ever to be nominated for a Tony. by Helen Shaw