Off-Broadway Reviews

'Lucy' review — new thriller explores the joy, and horror, of motherhood

"It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me." That quote from the Taylor Swift tune "Anti-Hero" is apt for Lucy, a "comedic horror" produced by Audible Theater. It's also included in the show. New nanny Ashling and six-year-old Lucy perform a joyful singalong in the show's second scene while Mary, Lucy's frazzled, pregnant mother, looks on with a rare smile. But who really is an anti-hero here, and who's purely a villain? Playwright/director Erica Schmidt mostly leaves that up to you. The ambiguity...

'Without You' review — Anthony Rapp measures a life in love and loss

"Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes..." The immediately recognizable "Seasons of Love" appropriately kicks off Without You, the theatrical memoir of Anthony Rapp, who originated the lead role of Mark in Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking rock musical Rent. To Rapp's credit, he makes what could be a painfully cliche opening feel genuine, as though the song was written only yesterday. It's a freshness that only an original Rent star could give a 30-year-old tune. That's also the...

'Colin Quinn: Small Talk' review — fast-paced comedy show is all talk, little substance

A collection of blackboards, some covered with artwork and others with words like “persona,” is a clue that school is in session. The teacher turns out to be the class clown. That instructor is standup comedian Colin Quinn. His presentation is Small Talk, a fun, brief, and minor addition to his roster of compact observational monologues. The ex-Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” anchor’s past solo stage pieces have covered global studies in Long Story Short, our polarized nation in Red State...

'Sugar Daddy' review — Sam Morrison's comedy show is half sweet, half sour

We all know comedy equals tragedy plus time. But how much time? It varies. To deal with losing his beloved boyfriend suddenly to Covid-19, New York comedian Sam Morrison churned his anguish into grist for stand-up. The result is Sugar Daddy, his cleverly constructed tell-all – or thereabouts – that is punchy and poignant, despite some rough stretches. Grief isn’t neat and tidy. The same goes for this show that has landed off Broadway following a run at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Think...

'Merrily We Roll Along' review — Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Mendez show a friendship torn apart

Does anyone still pinky swear? While watching the often stirring Merrily We Roll Along led by Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, and Lindsay Mendez, that question keeps popping up. It has each time I’ve seen the show on stage – and this version makes four since 1994. In 1981, this Stephen Sondheim musical started out as a dud, but it also introduced some of the composer/lyricist’s most enduring songs — “Not a Day Goes By” and “Good Thing Going” among them. The three stars' repeated interlocking...

'Your Own Personal Exegesis' review — facing the sacred and the profane in this coming-of-age play

A Christian church, however progressive, is perhaps one of the most antithetical places to have a sexual awakening. That, or to have a fall from grace. But in Julia May Jonas's Your Own Personal Exegesis, both happen on a collision course at Redacted] Church in [Redacted], New Jersey. A lot of things are redacted in Exegesis besides the church's name — the last names of every character, for one, in the church bulletin we're provided alongside the show's regular program. It's the first indication...

'The Far Country' review — found-family drama sheds light on a dark slice of American history

As you settle in at Lloyd Suh’s The Far Country, you’ll see a figure seated on stage. Facing away from the audience and still as a statue, he’s been perched there since the audience was allowed in. He sits. And sits. And sits. This staging suggests detention and waiting figure prominently in this intriguing yet sometimes elusive drama about people from Taishan, China, whose lives intertwine to form a family. In 1909 San Francisco, stone-faced officials grill Gee (Jinn S. Kim, the pre-show...

'Becky Nurse of Salem' review — Deirdre O'Connell bewitches in Sarah Ruhl's new play

I, for one, would love all classic plays to be irreverently recapped by Deirdre O'Connell as Becky Nurse, the heroine of Sarah Ruhl's latest play at Lincoln Center Theater. Becky, a guide at a Salem, Massachusetts witch museum, might not like that quite as much. After regaling a high school tour group (read: the audience) with her take on The Crucible in Becky Nurse of Salem's spellbinding opening scene, she's seen lamenting to the bartender Bob (Bernard White) that she hates her job. As luck...

'Sandra' review — one-woman thriller sails calmly through dangerous territory

David Cale's new one-woman thriller, Sandra, promises a globetrotting (well, from the U.S. to Mexico) mystery that lures its title character into ever-increasing danger. On paper, that's true. But this Vineyard Theatre production, while it might make an absorbing novel, doesn't quite thrill as theatre, feeling less like a journey through choppy waters and more like a steady cruise. The play opens with Sandra (Marjan Neshat) relaying a conversation with Ethan, her best friend, in which he says:...

'the bandaged place' review — moving new play captures the messiness of trauma and healing

To get right to the point: Harrison David Rivers's the bandaged place has no cuts or holes that need bandaging up. Every plot point, every character, every moment in this nearly perfect new play, presented by Roundabout Underground, has been stitched together perfectly. It will make your heart bleed in many different ways; it is a thoughtful and excellent meditation on the long and winding road to healing. The story centers on a dancer named Jonah, who just got out of a physically and...