Theater Review | 'Row After Row'
They Don’t Live in the Past; They Just Visit From Time to Time
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Jessica Dickey’s “Row After Row” tells the story of three Civil War re-enactors in Gettysburg.
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Outside Mullingar , by John Patrick Shanley, set in Ireland, stars Brian F. O’Byrne and Debra Messing, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater.
In John Patrick Shanley’s “Outside Mullingar,” an Irish father and son and their neighbors, consider questions of life, death, love and the family farm.
Off Off Off Broadway (at Your Multiplex)
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Following in the footsteps of the Metropolitan Opera, theater producers are weighing the potential risks and rewards of HD broadcasts in movie theaters.
ArtsBeat
Bradley Cooper Will Play ‘Elephant Man’ on Broadway
By SCOTT HELLER
The actor will star opposite Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola in a revival of Bernard Pomerance’s play.
Theater Review | 'Thank You for Being a Friend'
The Golden Girls, in a Shade of Pink
By ANDY WEBSTER
“Thank You for Being a Friend,” directed by Nick Brennan, is a raunchy and overwrought drag parody of “The Golden Girls.”
Journeyman Playwright’s Latest Journey
By FELICIA R. LEE
George Brant, author of many plays produced regionally but never in New York, is enjoying a moment with “Grounded,” about a fighter pilot directing drones.
Theater Review | Connecticut
An Office, and Its Staff, at the Edge
By SYLVIANE GOLD
In Heidi Schreck’s new play, at Long Wharf Theater Stage II, mismatched colleagues try to find their way through the 2008 financial crisis.
Theater Review | New Jersey
A Fearsome Portrayal of a Powerful, Angry Man
By KEN JAWOROWSKI
August Wilson’s “Fences” explores the passions and problems of masculinity and the tension between a father and his sons.
Theater Listings for Jan. 24-30
A guide to productions in New York City, with a special note of shows in previews or about to open.
The Week Ahead
Theater
Singing, Dancing and Economics
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
“Stop Hitting Yourself” views “late-stage capitalism” through the prism of the Busby Berkeley musicals of the 1930s.
Most Popular Shows
Top-grossing Broadway shows for the week ending Jan. 19.
- The Book of Mormon
- Wicked
- The Lion King
- Kinky Boots
- Motown: The Musical
- Matilda the Musical
- Twelfth Night
- Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
- Pippin
Source: The Broadway League
Show Reviews
Recommended shows from Ben Brantley, Charles Isherwood and other theater critics for The New York Times.
Recent show reviews from Ben Brantley, Charles Isherwood and other theater critics for The New York Times.
Theater Highlights
Recent Reviews
Theater Review | 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up the Bodies'
A Tudor Soap Opera Fills a Stage
By BEN BRANTLEY
Hilary Mantel’s best-selling novels about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII have been adapted for the stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Theater Review | 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'
England’s Angry Young Man Returns as a Live Wire With Attitude
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
In the new adaptation of “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,” blacks and immigrants in Britain face the barriers that a white lower class did in the 1950s.
Theater Review | 'East Towards Home'
Traveling Back in Time From the Left, With Context
By ANITA GATES
“East Towards Home,” a Billy Yalowitz play, features a Jewish New Yorker’s 20th-century mix of storytelling, memories and Woody Guthrie songs.
Theater Review | 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'
Out of Hamlet’s Shadow Again, and Into the Spotlight
By LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” is being presented by the Acting Company, along with “Hamlet.”
Theater Review | 'Green Porno'
Some Alluring Sex Ideas For Dolphins in Your Life
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Isabella Rossellini talks about the sex lives found in the natural world in “Green Porno,” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Theater Review | 'Loot'
Poor Mummy, Tossed Around and Then Stashed in a Closet
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Lunacy is presented with a poker face in a revival of “Loot,” Joe Orton’s farce directed by Jesse Berger at the Lucille Lortel.
Theater Review | 'Have I No Mouth'
A Real-Life Mother and Son Share Memories and Grief
By LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES
“Have I No Mouth,” part of P.S. 122’s Coil Festival, puts a mother, a son and their psychotherapist on stage in an exploration of loss.
Theater Review | 'Grounded'
Pulled Down From the Sky, Still Lethal
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
In “Grounded,” a one-woman show starring Hannah Cabell at Walkerspace, a military pilot is reassigned to drone duty, operating deadly missions from a base outside Las Vegas.
More News and Features
ArtsBeat
London Theater Journal: Stripped of Illusions, but Still Glittering and Gay
By BEN BRANTLEY
The Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of the famously hard-to-stage musical “Candide” suggests that life may just be endurable — as long as we have the pluck to put on a show about how awful it is.
ArtsBeat
London Theater Journal: Running Their Mouths
By BEN BRANTLEY
A revival of Jez Butterworth’s 1995 “Mojo,” with Ben Whishaw, and three Beckett monologues “Not I/Footfalls/Rockaby” are reminders of the complex artistry required to distill words into live theater, and the importance of getting rhythms right.
Leslie Lee, Playwright of Black Life, Dies at 83
By BRUCE WEBER
Mr. Lee wrote more than a dozen stage works, but his best-known play was “The First Breeze of Summer,” which was nominated for a Tony Award.
ArtsBeat
‘Bacharach Reimagined’ Extends Run
By STEVEN MCELROY
“What’s It All About? Bacharach Reimagined” will now play through February 16 at New York Theater Workshop.
To See or Not to See? A Season for High Art
By DAVE ITZKOFF
The glut of Shakespeare plays and other star-studded classical productions has led to happily overwhelmed theatergoers and to marketing challenges for theater companies.
Opening Soon
Many of these shows are currently in previews.
- Paper Bag Players: Hiccup Help (January 25)
- iLuminate (January 27)
- Stop Hitting Yourself (January 27)
- Intimacy (January 29)
Maximum Shakespeare
Is This a Video I See in Front of Me?
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
WordPlay Shakespeare and other programs allow readers to watch or listen to sections of his works as they view the text.
Young Souls Portray the Wit of ‘Hamlet,’ With Brevity
By MICHAEL ROSTON and ERIK PIEPENBURG
Approximately 500 high school and college students recorded themselves delivering lines from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in 15 seconds or less using Instagram.
Videos
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- Theater Review | 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up the Bodies': A Tudor Soap Opera Fills a Stage
- Off Off Off Broadway (at Your Multiplex)
- Leslie Lee, Playwright of Black Life, Dies at 83
- Theater Review | 'Outside Mullingar': Weary, Brooding and Made for Each Other
- Journeyman Playwright’s Latest Journey
- Theater Review | 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner': England’s Angry Young Man Returns as a Live Wire With Attitude
- To See or Not to See? A Season for High Art
- Theater Review | 'Thank You for Being a Friend': The Golden Girls, in a Shade of Pink
- Subterranean Acts of Sudden Intimacy
- Theater Review | 'East Towards Home': Traveling Back in Time From the Left, With Context
