Theater: New Shows (August 7-13)

Julianne Nicholson sets the mood
for Sam Shepard's latest drama
(photo: Gregory Costanzo)

As other critics prep for the Fringe Festival, I'm sitting it out. Instead, I want to book tickets for Sam Shepard's newest play and for Two Rooms, Lee Blessing's tight drama about a victim of Middle Eastern terrorism.

Fringe NYC 2012

where: all over town

first night: Friday, Aug. 10

It's not the best Fringe Festival in the country but it is the biggest. You can't see all 187 shows but you'll have to visit the website and trawl the listings for yourself. I'll just suggest Have I Got a Girl for You, not only because it's earning positive buzz & selling well but because a friend of mine is directing it.

Getting the Business

where: Theater Row

first night: Friday, Aug. 10

This show's keeping a low profile, which isn't a good sign. Available info calls the show a “farce noir” about an executive and his new assistant, whose agenda I'm guessing involves revenge for sexual harassment.

Heartless

where: Signature Theater

first night: Tuesday, Aug. 7

Sam Shepard debuts his latest stage drama―something about a young woman's secrets in contemporary LA. The woman is played by Julianne Nicholson, who has just the sort of enigmatic presence that Shepard's plays need for their dark and cataclysmic magic to work. Plus, the show's only $25!

Two Rooms

where: Theater Row

first night: Wednesday, Aug. 8

This Reagan-era play, inspired by a Lebanon hostage crisis, has become a core drama in American theater since 2001. It deserves its status, with its staging of the individual cost to international action, its several fine roles, and a rare sense of urgency and relevance to life in modern America.

Last chance!

7th Monarch

where: Theater Row

Dogfight

where: Second Stage