Theater, The L Magazine

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12/06/11--01:00: Not Entirely Happy with Ethan Coen's Happy Hour (chan 1629355)

The Atlantic Theater Company premieres three of the Coen brother's short plays, one of which is really good. by Benjamin Sutton Happy Hour Written by Ethan Coen Directed by Neil Pepe In its 125 minutes Happy Hour, Ethan Coen's new trio of very obliquely thematically related one-acts premiering with the Atlantic Theater Company (through December 31), has about one successful hour.…

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12/07/11--01:00: Trying to Make Sense of Sand (chan 1629355)

Peter Jacobs' new multimedia performance piece perplexes audiences at The Chocolate Factory. by Eugene Reznik Sand Written, directed and designed by Peter Jacobs "By the way, this is our play in progress," Her (Stephanie Weeks) reminds the audience a quarter of the way into Sand, Peter Jacobs' new multimedia performance piece at the Chocolate Factory (through December 10), in case you just hadn't realized.…

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12/07/11--01:00: Elective Affinities: Mrs. Hauptmann Will See You Now... (chan 1629355)

In this site-specific one-woman show, Zoe Caldwell plays an elderly Upper East Side socialite having you over for tea. by Benjamin Sutton Elective Affinities Written by David Adjmi Directed by Sarah Benson A stately Upper East Side townhouse across the street from the Met—a historical society by day—is doubling by night as the home of Alice Hauptmann in Elective Affinities (through December 18), a new one-woman show produced by Soho Rep, piece by piece productions and Rising Phoenix Repertory.…

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12/08/11--04:00: Clamoring for Samuel Beckett's Bleak Krapp at BAM (chan 1629355)

John Hurt stars in a Krapp's Last Tape so successfully morbid that the audience's enthusiasm proves Beckett wrong. by Mark Martin Krapp's Last Tape Written by Samuel Beckett Directed by Michael Colgan A gala theater event at BAM is a peculiar event when occasioned by a play by Samuel Beckett.…

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12/08/11--05:00: Living in the Past at Maple and Vine (chan 1629355)

Jordan Harrison's latest at Playwrights Horizons follows an overworked New York couple to a gated community of 1950s re-enactors. by Benjamin Sutton Maple and Vine Written by Jordan Harrison Directed by Anne Kauffman "First of all, welcome," says Dean.…

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12/12/11--07:15: A Cherry Orchard Ripe for Laughter (chan 1629355)

Anton Chekhov's final play usually leaves audiences with a conundrum: should you laugh or should you cry? Here the choice is clear. by Zonia Edward The Cherry Orchard Written By Anton Chekhov Directed by Andrei Belgrader Chekhov's plays' tendency to blur the line between comedy and tragedy has sometimes led them to be characterized as dreary struggles, ones in which the uproarious bouts of laughter along the way are only coincidental to the character's ultimate downward spiral.…

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12/14/11--05:00: Post Office Delivers (chan 1629355)

A new comedy by David Jenkins at the New Ohio Theater examines class relations at a moment of social upheaval. by Eugene Reznik Post Office Written by David Jenkins Directed by Josie Whittlesey "Everybody's too dressed up," a woman in the crowd murmurs.…

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12/15/11--05:00: Bloody Bloody Titus Andronicus (chan 1629355)

Jay O. Sanders wows as the loony Roman general in the Public Theater's production of Shakespeare's ultimate revenge play. by Benjamin Sutton Titus Andronicus Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Michael Sexton "Rome is but a wilderness of tigers," says principled Roman general Titus Andronicus (Jay O. Sanders) who, having returned victorious from a battle in which the emperor was killed, renounces the throne and instead names the late ruler's eldest son Saturninus (Jacob Fishel) his successor.…

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12/15/11--05:00: Cillian Murphy Kills in Misterman (chan 1629355)

Enda Walsh's latest show at St. Ann's Warehouse has the Irish actor playing every member of the small town in his head. by Henry Stewart Misterman Written & Directed by Enda Walsh One-man show, indeed.…

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12/20/11--05:00: Everyone is Like a Martyr, Accidentally or Not (chan 1629355)

A new play by Grant James Varjas set at a Lower East Side gay bar is deathly dull, despite starring Keith McDermott. by Dan Callahan Accidentally, Like a Martyr Written and directed by Grant James Varjas I wanted to see Accidentally, Like a Martyr, a new play by Grant James Varjas (through January 8), for one reason: Keith McDermott is in the ensemble cast.…

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12/21/11--01:00: Mirror, Mirror... A Postmodern Snow White in Gowanus (chan 1629355)

Company XIV's dazzling neo-Gothic take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale delights. by Benjamin Sutton Snow White Created, choreographed and directed by Austin McCormick Adapted by Jeff Takacs "Like nicotine and drink, children," the narrator told the overwhelmingly adult audience on a recent Saturday night, "beauty to the vain only intensifies their thirst for more."…

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12/21/11--01:00: 10 Best Things on Stage in 2011 (chan 1629355)

From BAM to Broadway, opera to one-man shows, and Shakespeare to site-specific theater, the most memorable productions of the year. by Benjamin Sutton, Henry Stewart, Dan Callahan and Eugene Reznik 1. Love's Labor's Lost Supposedly rarely produced because overly verbose, you'd never know it from the Public Lab's flawless staging of Shakespeare's four-on-four romantic jousting match.…

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12/21/11--01:00: Top 10 Set Designs of 2011 (chan 1629355)

This year saw a 50s suburb, small-town high school football field, new media New Orleans, old-timey playhouse, po-mo prison, Cold War-era China and much more come vividly to life on the city's stages. by Benjamin Sutton As we did last year, we're taking a look back at the best set designs to grace the city's stages, vast and small, in the last 12 months. They range from the immense (and immensely well-funded) Metropolitan Opera to tiny DIY spaces like the Bushwick Starr.…

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12/21/11--04:00: Lysistrata Jones: Aristophanes with College Athletes (chan 1629355)

One woman's struggle to end the Peloponnesian War becomes one abstinent cheerleader's quest to end a basketball team's losing streak in this sporty Broadway musical. by Henry Stewart Lysistrata Jones Book by Douglas Carter Beane Music & Lyrics by Lewis Flinn Directed by Dan Knechtges Tits and teeth go a long way in Lysistrata Jones.…

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01/04/12--01:00: Your Performance Festival Season Crash Course (chan 1629355)

APAP week is upon us! Here are the festivals that are worth your while. by Alexis Clements It’s that time of year again, the deluge has arrived: the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference and the 1,000+ performances, showcases, and festival productions that will be crammed into a mere five days (January 6-10), give or take a few extra for some of the longer festivals. APAP describes the event as the “Global Performing Arts Marketplace” (emphasis on “market”), but it resembles nothing so much as a protracted American Idol audition for the entire performing arts world, with an invisible judging panel that comes and goes by cover of chartered bus.…

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01/12/12--05:00: Outside People Want to Be on the Inside Looking Out (chan 1629355)

Vineyard Theatre and Naked Angels address immigration, migration and ugly Americans in Zayd Dohrn's new Beijing-set drama. by Benjamin Sutton Outside People Written by Zayd Dohrn Directed by Evan Cabnet Beijing is a slick playground for an international jet-set in Outside People, Zayd Dohrn's new drama of cross-cultural misunderstanding being co-produced by the Vineyard Theatre and Naked Angels (through January 29).…

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01/17/12--05:00: Stick Fly Doesn't Fly, Stays Stuck (chan 1629355)

Lydia R. Diamond's dramedy examining the racial and class tensions weighing on a wealthy black family never takes off. by Zonia Edward Stick Fly Written by Lydia R. Diamond Directed by Kenny Leon Plays about wealthy and secretive African-American families used to be a rarity on Broadway, but the commercial successes of Fences, A Raisin in The Sun and, most recently, The Mountaintop have proven that there is a large black audience for such fare.…

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01/17/12--05:00: A Russian Radio Play from the Future Nostalgic for the American Past (chan 1629355)

The Mad Ones' Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War is unscripted retrofuturism at its best. by Eugene Reznik Samuel and Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War Text by Marc Bovino and Joe Curnutte Co-Conceived & Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Co-Created by the Mad Ones Convention in drama seems more and more to embrace the unconventional.…

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01/18/12--01:00: We Are Living in a World of Wires (chan 1629355)

Jay Scheib's new multimedia stage adaptation of the 60s sci-fi novel Simulacron-3 uses closed-circuit TV and alternate realties to call our own into question. by Benjamin Sutton World of Wires Written and directed by Jay Scheib "It's a living world," explains Fred Stiller, the new chief engineer of Simulacron-3, "but it's inside an electronic box.…

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01/18/12--02:00: Daniel Kitson Lightens Up in Dumbo (chan 1629355)

The English comedian offers flashes of two strangers' lives in his new one-man show, It's Always Right Now, Until it's Later. by Henry Stewart It's Always Right Now, Until it's Later Created by Daniel Kitson "There are no gaps in a lifetime."…

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01/30/12--05:00: Gonna See a Movie Called Gunga Din Declares War on War Movies (chan 1629355)

Mission accomplished: Van Cougar's new show at the Bushwick Starr mixes war movie scenes and interviews with veterans. by Benjamin Sutton Gonna See a Movie Called Gunga Din Created by Van Cougar Directed by Mark Sitko The structural conceit of Van Cougar's Gonna See a Movie Called Gunga Din (at the Bushwick Starr through February 11) makes intuitive sense: articulate personal trauma while subverting collective catharsis by juxtaposing the experiences related by U.S. veterans with the portrayal of American soldiers in war movies.…

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02/01/12--01:00: Collapsed Bridge of Nightmares at La MaMa (chan 1629355)

John Jesurun's new multimedia psychodrama Stopped Bridge of Dreams stays stopped. by Dan Callahan Stopped Bridge of Dreams Written and directed by John Jesurun That’s an evocative title, Stopped Bridge of Dreams.…

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02/01/12--03:00: Sarah Benson Reps Soho Rep (chan 1629355)

On the occasion of its 35th anniversary, we talked to the Off-Off Broadway powerhouse's artistic director about the difficulties of doing great theater on a tiny stage with a tiny budget. by Alexis Clements At a time when there’s frustration and much debate around how to classify, support, and produce innovative new performance work while maintaining a loyal audience, the small downtown theater Soho Rep seems to have developed a model that works pretty well. This season marks their 35th anniversary; after starting it with the critically acclaimed Elective Affinities, which they co-produced with Rising Phoenix Repertory and piece by piece productions, they’re just opening their new show, Marius von Mayenburg’s The Ugly One.…

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02/15/12--01:00: Russian Transport Goes Where You'd Expect (chan 1629355)

The New Group's production of Erika Sheffer's playwriting debut, starring Janeane Garofalo, isn't all that transporting. by Benjamin Sutton Russian Transport Written by Erika Sheffer Directed by Scott Elliott Erika Sheffer's playwriting debut, the New Group's production of Russian Transport (through March 24), opens on a slightly more abusive than normal Russian-American Sheepshead Bay household as a guest mattress self-inflates on a darkened stage.…

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02/15/12--01:00: The Ugly One Is Beautiful Satire (chan 1629355)

Soho Rep and The Play Company's production of Marius von Mayenburg's satire skewers contemporary vanity. by Benjamin Sutton The Ugly One Written by Marius von Mayenburg Directed by Daniel Aukin "You're a very beautiful human being," Fanny tells her husband Lette, "but I'm afraid your face is very, very ugly."…

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