★★★☆☆ Emma Sheanshang mixes drama and comedy, with Dan Algrant directing skilled actors
Off-Broadway
King James: A Winning Basketball Bromance
★★★★☆ Rajiv Joseph shoots and scores with his new two-character LeBron James–inspired dramedy
King James: A Three-Pointer Play
★★★★☆ Glenn Davis and Chris Perfetti star in Rajiv Joseph’s new play about two friends united by their love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James.
A Beautiful Lady: Liz Swados’ 1984 Work in Mighty NYC Bow
★★★★☆ Anne Bogart directs a first-rate cast commemorating first-rate Russian poets
Romeo & Juliet: A Story of Woe, Served with a Twist
★★★★☆ “Wolf Play” playwright Hansol Jung offers a piquant new take on Shakespeare’s tragedy
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite: Molière’s Delectable Villain on the Loose
★★★★☆ Matthew Rauch stars, Lucie Tiberghen directs, Maya Slater translates, all in smart form
The Habit of Art: Alan Bennett’s More Famous History Boys
★★★★☆ W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten featured in a serio-comic play-within-a-play
Oliver!: Please, May We Have Some More
★★★★★ Raul Esparza stars and Lear deBessonnet directs this nourishing Encores! revival of the Lionel Bart classic
Oliver!: A Problematic Classic Benefits From a Reconsidered Villain
★★★★☆ A cuddly Fagin? Raúl Esparza pulls off an improbable transmogrification in this Encores! staging
Regretfully, So the Birds Are: Clear the Airwaves for a Fresh New Voice
★★★★☆ Fledgling playwright Julia Izumi works out Tolstoy’s dictum about families unhappy and otherwise in this loopy portrait of three adult Asian adoptees.