A
tough week for audiences, since they have to choose which shows to
see and which to miss. The cast of The Best Man
makes it a must-see; the creativity of Now. Here. This.
does the same. My pick of this week, The Maids,
says more about my taste than the line-up. The Red Bull takes a break
from 'Jacobethan' drama to produce Genet's radical absurdism.
where:
Schoenfeld Theater
first
night:
Tuesday, March 6
The
last time Broadway saw Gore Vidal's backroom political potboiler,
Gore and Bush were locked in a dire campaign. The social and economic
situation in 2012 is worse than in it seemed in 2000, so we're
rewarded with a much stronger cast, including James Earl Jones, John
Larroquette, and Candice Bergen.
where:
The New Ohio Theater
first
night:
Friday, March 9
The
title lets you know what you're in for: a deeply silly take on
dramatic self-importance. The focus of the parody is Brecht, as
protagonist Mother LaMadre drags her wagon across the apocalyptic
battlefields of the fifth World War, hunting zombies and books.
Sounds like a good show for a spring evening!
where:
Irish Rep
first
night:
Wednesday, March 7
A
middle-aged Irish duo take the audience on their afternoon tour of
the National Gallery in London. It's billed as a “poetical stroll”,
which doesn't sound very dramatic. But since the script's by an
Irishman as well, Hand
may pull out several colorful observations on famous art and
celebrated artists.
where:
Abingdon
Theater
first
night:
Friday, March 9
A
nice guy rents his basement apartment to an unstable neurotic,
resulting in an Odd
Couple
friendship that goes sour as the tenant's problems mount. Sounds like
standard stuff: a bit of comedy, a dollop of drama. The show will
hinge on the leads' chemistry and the writer's rejection of
conventions.
where:
59E59
first
night:
Tuesday, March 6
The
utilitarian title tips its hand: The
Maria Project
is a stage documentary. Its subject is one Maria Salazar, a Hispanic
woman who went missing over fifty years ago. The staging mingles
music and film footage with the performer's story, as she tracked
Salazar through her own family history.
where:
The Red Bull at St. Clement's
first
night:
Tuesday, March 6
The
Red Bull gives NYC the chance to catch Jean Genet's too-rare
absurdist comedy about class, identity, language and other favorite
themes of puzzling French art. A sparking cast—just three talented
women—has me tempted, while the promise of a uniquely intimate
staging for a small audience wins me over.
where:
The Pearl Theater at City Center
first
night:
Tuesday, March 6
Fans
of classic American drama
have already caught a few of Eugene O'Neill's early work this winter.
That should prep them to revisit Moon,
a work from the playwright's colossal late period. This elegiac piece
is a sort of spin-off from Long Day's Journey,
as the older Tyrone brother finds salvation.
where:
Vineyard Theater
first
night:
Wednesday, March 7
A
blend of anecdotes, monologues from plays, original music,
philosophy, this piece is hard to classify. But those who saw its
workshop production at the Vineyard claim that the disparate Now.
Here. This.
(great title, by the way) add up to something special. Just don't go
expecting a conventional evening.
where:
MTC at City Center
first
night:
Thursday, March 8
Britain's
theater mavens have been thumping the tub about this play's writer,
Matt Charman, for a few years. But he hasn't made it in New York yet,
so who is he? His debut is a period drama set at a quick-divorce
residency in 1950s Nevada, and pits a young man against McCarthy-era
paranoia.
where:
The Secret Theater
first
night:
Friday, March 9
A
closet door opens onto a beach, where a pregnant woman finds a
sword-wielding nun battling a monster. The conceit sounds like
Narnia, or Alice
in Wonderland,
but the show's surrealism may be more slippery, since reality and
fantasy start to mingle and fuse. Plus, to repeat, a sword-wielding
nun!
Last
chance!
As
Wide as I Can See
where:
Here Arts Center
Assistance
where:
Playwrights
Horizons
Blood
Knot
where:
Signature Center
Call
Me Waldo
where:
Abingdon Theater
CQ/CX
where:
Atlantic Theater at Signature
Early
Plays
where:
The Wooster Group at St. Ann's Warehouse
How
I Learned to Drive
where:
Second Stage
Russian
Transport
where:
The New Group at Theater Row
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