Judas Gets His Day in Court, but Satan Is on the Witness List By BEN BRANTLEY
Colorful speech and flashy performances can't disguise the impression that the new play by Stephen Adly Guirgis is a heavily footnoted position paper on a big subject.
Celebrating a Wordsmith By ANNE MIDGETTE
This homage to Kenward Elmslie, a poet of the theater, is a grab bag of a present. It's hard to pin him down in one lighthearted evening.
Disciples of Pop Croon and Bop to Save the Masses By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Ebullient performances ensure that this smoothly executed show about a Christian pop group is an enjoyably silly diversion.
All Rise, Mamet's Court Is in Session and Unraveling By BEN BRANTLEY
At their considerable best, David Mamet's plays provide shots of theatrical adrenaline. This one has the impact of an over-the-counter sleeping pill.
Lark in the Comfort Zone With a Master of Discomfort By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
Elizabeth Swados's play about the French playwright Alfred Jarry, while entertaining and funny, is about as provocative as a bowl of ice cream.
A Mother's Untimely End, a Father's Effort to Cash In By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Despite some fine work from Anna Paquin and Kieran Culkin, this play on social ills is sabotaged by the conflicting impulses in the writing.
Putting a Religious Foot in the Mouth of Conquest By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
The dust-dry historical drama makes an unexpected return at the Public Theater in this forensics exercise with little more vitality than C-Span.
Seeking the Lost Song of a Lost Rock Star By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Christopher Shinn, an up-and-coming playwright of exceptional talent, trains his focus squarely on the unexceptional in "On the Mountain," a gentle wisp of a play.
A Sugarplum Vision Becomes a Taunting Specter By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Tony Roberts, the actor often used to epitomize suave charm in contrast to his own hapless shlubbery, moves into new territory in this middling revival of Beckett’s caustic comedy.
From Prison to Politics, Fast-Talking All the Way By BEN BRANTLEY
Nobody has much faith in what anybody else says in Stephen Belber’s long-winded, mixed-up drama about a magnetic but suspicious senatorial candidate.
Losing Hope and Their Figures, Friends Reunite By ANITA GATES
J. J. McColl, the playwright and lyricist of this melodramatic musical, does not have a gift for punchy lyrics, as demonstrated in numbers like "Hormones" and "Whirligig Glands."
In the Aftermath of War, Reconstructing Their Lives By PHOEBE HOBAN
The strongest suit of this play is not so much the post-Holocaust historical framework, but the relationships between different women as they try to make sense of their lives.
Seeking Justice With a Family of Moms By NEIL GENZLINGER
Shay Youngblood's play reminds us that a parent with a knack for storytelling can pass on more valuable truths and history than any sitcom can.
Lost in a Theatrical World of Slapstick and Magic By JASON ZINOMAN
It's hard to imagine the kind of daring and ingenuity in "All Wear Bowlers" in the commercial theater. It's one more reason to feel foolish about spending money on a Broadway show.
Nasty Surprises for Bad Children (and Grown-Ups, Too) By BEN BRANTLEY
"Shockheaded Peter" is both the silliest and the most sinister show in town. It is also, as it happens, one of the smartest.
Race, Photography and Patriarchy on Campus By PHOEBE HOBAN
The recipe for this Civil Rights soufflé at the Beckett Theater has all the right ingredients, but its uneven cast makes it fall flat.
Deconstructing the 'Baddest Mom' of Greek Tragedy By MIRIAM HORN
In this radical retelling derived from Greek sources, Oedipus's mother, Jocasta, rejects self-destruction and savors sex with her son.
Raconteur of Dot-Com World Takes On Thomas Edison By JASON ZINOMAN
Mike Daisey's relentlessly interesting if overstuffed play takes aim at the unchecked power of corporations, but focuses on many companies and from an outsider's perspective.
Wherefore Art Thou Ferdinand? By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
Despite the wordy translation of Schiller's tale of 18th-century court politics at the Bouwerie Lane Theater, there are star turns by Amanda Jones and Angus Hepburn.
Twins Behind the Bar and a Mystery Man in Front By NEIL GENZLINGER
Brian Dykstra's play about bizarre twins and an interloper fails to skirt the cliché of the guy-walks-into-a-bar genre.
Crimes, Misdemeanors and Kubrick By JASON ZINOMAN
This production of Anthony Burgess's stage version of his 1971 novel never escapes from the shadow of the iconic film.
A Warrior Whose People Think His Behavior Is Heinous By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Karin Coonrod's production of Shakespeare's tragedy has all the vitality of a staged reading of a monograph from a political science journal.
Whoopee Cushions and Robert Moses By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
"Boozy" serves as a lively if loose primer on the career of Robert Moses, the famously ruthless architect, but it's hampered by the monotony of its self-conscious comic tone.
A Performer's Emotional Globe-Trotting Set to Music By MARGO JEFFERSON
Melanie Rey has a big bright voice, and her one-woman show has the advantage of being a musical. But the need to win us over undercuts it.
No Problems, Even if She Is Buried Up to Here By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Samuel Beckett's mordant comic allegory is thoroughly travestied in the Worth Street Theater Company's production of "Happy Days," starring the comic Lea DeLaria.