★★★★☆ A lip-synched verbatim account on the five-month-long kidnapping of the playwright’s mother.
Thoughts of a Colored Man: Seven Men Splendidly Declare Who/Why They Are
★★★★★ Keenan Scott II’s new play delves into the complex and cogent subject of Black men’s lives mattering
Letters of Suresh: The Importance of Letter-Writing Admirably Proclaimed
★★★★☆ Rajiv Joseph’s spiritual play with completely in-tune director May Adrales and cast, featuring Ramiz Monsef
Is This A Room: Chilling Verbatim FBI Investigation Into Government Whistleblower
★★★★☆ Conceiver-director Tina Satter’s careful replication of shocking case, with Emily Davis as suspect Reality Winner
Chicken & Biscuits: Dysfunctional Family Becomes Beautifully Functional
★★★★☆ Douglas Lyons’s dramedy brought to pulsing life by director Zhailon Levingston and top-notch cast
Lackawanna Blues: Ruben Santiago-Hudson Brillliantly Tour de Forcing
★★★★★ The actor-director lovingly revives a one-man work about his childhood and the woman who influenced it most
Persuasion: Jane Austen’s Last Novel Takes the Stage Running
★★☆☆☆ Bedlam’s Eric Tucker and adapter Sarah Rose Kearns turn a classic into a romp, obliviously
A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet: Two Songwriters Go for That Top 40 Hit
★★★☆☆ The 80-minuter asks the musical question about where chart-topping songs can start their climb
Only an Octave Apart: Justin Vivian Bond/Anthony Roth Costanzo a Duo Wow
★★★★☆ The seemingly unlikely team in seemingly unlikely mash-ups makes everything indisputably likely
Sanctuary City: Sizzling Actors and Creative Team Enliven Majok Drama
★★★☆☆ The Pulitzer Prize-winner looks at young hopefuls facing today’s odds