Off-Broadway Reviews

'Primary Trust' review — tender, grounded play lives on the margins of reality

William Jackson Harper is too big for the set of Primary Trust. He is almost as tall as the church in Cranberry, the Rochester suburb where the play takes place. His head towers over the top of Wally’s, the tiki bar restaurant where he spends almost all his free time drinking copious mai tais. The door to the Primary Trust Bank, where he works, is fit for a mouse, not a man. As Kenneth invites us into his mind, scenic designer Marsha Ginsberg invites us into this dollhouse-like, Mister...

'Bees and Honey' review — perfect pair of performances makes this romantic tragedy shine

"I can't find any other heart that knows how to compare to me; when I arrive to your door, the bee arrives to the honeycomb." Those are the closing lyrics of the bachata song "Como abeja al panal" — "like a bee to the honeycomb" — by Juan Luis Guerra, which inspired Guadalís Del Carmen's Off-Broadway debut play, Bees and Honey, at MCC Theater in collaboration with The Sol Project. Guerra's song is about a forbidden passion, whereas Del Carmen's play is about a marriage. But both depict a deep,...

'King James' review — Chris Perfetti and Glenn Davis lead a theatrical one-on-one match

There is a debate in King James, the play by Rajiv Joseph now running with Manhattan Theatre Club, over whether the greatest basketball player of all time is LeBron James, to whom the play pays tribute, or Michael Jordan. The play’s two characters argue in jest about which player leaves a bigger mark: Jordan did this, but James did that, and in this amount of time. Their arguments, at least when it comes to basketball and its stars, are inconsequential, held for argument’s sake and not imparting...

'Sorry For Your Loss' review - a heartfelt examination of grief

In 2019, comedian Michael Cruz Kayne posted a tweet that went viral. It was a heartfelt, harrowing thread about the loss of his newborn son, Fisher, on the 10th anniversary of his death. The overwhelming response to the tweet inspired Kayne — a writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — to pen the one-man show Sorry For Your Loss. The 75-minute show, the latest stage production from Audible Theater, provides a lesson on how to navigate grief and offer support beyond platitudes. Most of all,...

'Seven Sins' review — a night of not-so-guilty pleasures

We all know how Seven Sins will end. It's the legend of Adam and Eve: from the Garden of Eden they fell after the devil cajoled them into eating the forbidden fruit. But at the end of Company XIV's burlesque rendition of the tale, when the illusion of guiltless sin has shattered and Adam and Eve dance a disenchanted pas de deux in an empty Eden, it's tough to believe all the tantalizing displays of pleasure up to this point were a mere fantasy. Because, of course, they aren't. These performers,...

'Plays for the Plague Year' review — a compassionate chronicle of the pandemic

The band came on stage first, setting up their instruments amid a chair and bookshelf and coffee table that turned the Joe's Pub stage into a cozy living room. They warmed up. They chatted with each other. They waved at their friends in the audience. At Suzan-Lori Parks's Plays for the Plague Year, a theatrical concert chronicling the early days of the pandemic, these ordinary actions were celebrations of community. Pulitzer Prize winner Parks assembled this three-hour production from a...

'Regretfully, So the Birds Are' review — a playful, thoughtful examination of identity

The Whistler siblings are on a wild, wandering journey to find themselves. The three 20somethings, all Asian adoptees, have a remarkably tough load: Their adopted mom is addicted to opioids, their dad was a victim of arson, and vicious birds are out to get them. Despite the heavy topics, Julia Izumi’s farcical tragedy Regretfully, So the Birds Are is a joyful romp. The playful world premiere — co-produced by Playwrights Horizons and WP Theater — is neatly structured into three acts that follow...

'White Girl in Danger' review — this soap opera sendup brings the laughs

White Girl in Danger is Michael R. Jackson’s latest musical foray. The story-within-a-story takes place in Allwhite, a fictional universe infused with soap opera tropes and flairs for the melodramatic. Here, Keesha is a “Blackground” actor stuck in a loop of slave narratives and stories of police brutality. But when Keesha gets promoted to the Allwhite Best Friend character, she sees a pathway to landing a central storyline. At the Allwhite high school, Keesha plays bestie to Megan, Maegan, and...

'The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart' review — an enchanting, immersive experience

Upon arrival at the McKittrick Hotel’s Club Car space, audience members receive shots of whiskey and are instructed to tear napkins at their cocktail tables. The National Theatre of Scotland’s rollicking, immersive tale of The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, which first bowed at the McKittrick in 2017, begins with a snowstorm of paper napkins. It’s the morning of the winter solstice, and buttoned-up academic Prudencia Hart (Charlene Boyd) is preparing to attend a conference on Scottish folk...

‘Drinking in America’ review — Andre Royo’s talent outshines a dated play

Many Eric Bogosian titles feel tailored to 2023 audiences. Talk Radio examines the creation of an entertainment persona, parasocial relationships, and far-right extremist violence. subUrbia discusses the timeless dilemma of growing up, getting out, and getting your life together. But Bogosian’s Drinking in America, now at the Minetta Lane Theatre, has nothing new to say about substance use or its fallout; in fact, dated language hampers the show. The choice to produce it today is less a question...