“Hey, Mr. Reviewer,” the elegantly-dressed woman in the row behind me shouts. I had explained why I was sitting in the press section to her, and was beginning to regret it. “When’s the show going to start?” [Read more...]

If the quality of a play were measured only on the basis of the sensational effect it had on those who watched it, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s Lidless would be the best play not only in this year’s Contemporary American Theater Festival but perhaps in the entire theater year. [Read more...]

I had previously read, and enjoyed, the script for Inana before I saw the disappointing production at the Contemporary American Theater Festival. As  a play, Inana is a bit of a throwback to a time when theaters were prosperous –  big cast, complicated problems, exotic locales. The CATF does not stint on any of the production values, but Ed Herendeen’s cast doesn’t have the charisma or  vigor necessary to bring this big play to life. [Read more...]

There are white people all over the place. The ones whose dilemmas we observe in J.T. Rogers’ remarkable play are Martin (Kurt Zischke), a Brooklyn lawyer brought in to run a St. Louis  law firm, Alan (Lee Sellers), a New York professor with a burgeoning interest in Peter Stuyvesant, [Read more...]