★★★★☆ Joshua Harmon’s take on school admissions focuses on race, with a dynamic performance from Jessica Hecht.
Off-Broadway
Three Wise Guys: A New Runyon Guys and Dolls
★★★★☆ The Actors Company Theatre spends Christmas Eve 1923 by circuitously following an Eastern Star.
Good for Otto: Ed Harris Tries Talking Cure in Rabe’s New Play
★★★☆☆ The cast is excellent, but at nearly three hours, this mix of reflection and whimsy isn’t always smooth.
Good for Otto: Not So Great for Ed Harris and Company
★★☆☆☆ Ed Harris leads excellent actors through a loosely-knit string of case studies in David Rabe’s overlong new drama.
The Low Road: An Economical Trip to Colonial America
★★★★ Despite a few sticky spots, this wry satire on capitalism takes audiences on a mighty funny and lively ride.
The Low Road: Bruce Norris’ Very Funny Colonial Timewarp
★★★★★ The Clybourne Park Pulitzer Prize-winner delivers an imaginative, intelligent, contemporary commentary.
Jerry Springer—The Opera: A Curious Trash-Up
★★☆☆☆ More shlock than shock, this tabloid-TV drama combines high and low notes, and gradually goes to hell.
At Home at the Zoo: Albee’s Something Old and Something New(er)
★★★ Edward Albee combined an early work with a late one, not altogether successfully.
Kings: Pols vs. the Machine, With Ruthless Clarity
★★★☆☆ Sarah Burgess spins a modernized age-old tale of political favor-trading, in an era far from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington politesse.
Kings: Checking Out D.C. Lobbyists, with Checkered Results
★★★ Some of Sara Burgess play is fun, but sometimes it feels disappointingly incomplete—in its writing and acting and even Thomas Kail’s direction.