Martin McDonagh’s macabre thriller and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Siamese spectacle are done to perfection
Beyond
From London: A Bracingly Bristling Jungle, Plus an Overly Wilde Earnest
The Jungle is a remarkable theatrical experience; a sexualized Importance of Being Earnest works as poorly as one might suspect
From London: Rylance vs. Othello, plus World War II Weather
Mark Rylance’s Iago electrifies Othello, while D-Day forecasts bring suspenseful chills in Pressure
Petrified Forest, Sister Mary Ignatius: Revivals Under the Berkshire Elms
Harriet Harris shines as Chris Durang’s nutty nun, while Robert E. Sherwood’s vintage melodrama just shines, period.
West Side Story: Reproducing a Classic With Sincerity, and Safety
★★★★☆ 100th birthday tributes to Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins yield a familiar but affecting take on timeless material.
Fern Hill: Three Couples Get Around to Clean Sex on a Farm Weekend
★★★☆☆ Michael Tucker writes a smart script for six top actors that starts out less than smart
Lempicka: Art for Art’s Ache in the 20th Century
★★☆☆☆ An ambitious but unfocused musical gives a great, underappreciated 20th century female artist too much of a brush-off
The Closet: A Gay Deceiver for a New Century
★★★☆☆ Matthew Broderick shines in Douglas Carter Beane’s uneven comic vision of a post-bigotry, Freak Flags Flying modern America
From London: Imperium I: Conspirator, II: Dictator
★★★★☆ Mike Poulton adapts Robert Harris’ Cicero novels for Gregory Doran’s surging two parts
From London: Translations, An Ideal Husband, Consent
Gains and loses from Brian Friel, Oscar Wilde and Nina Raine on three crackling stages