★★★☆☆ Arinzé Kene’s balloon-laden “Black play,” with him starring, Omar Elerian directing
Off-Broadway
Crumbs From the Table of Joy: A Wonderful but Overlooked Memory Play Lovingly Revived
★★★★☆ Lynn Nottage’s 1950s-set richly crafted coming-of-age play gets its first New York restaging thanks to the Keen Company
Crumbs from the Table of Joy: Nearly Three Decades Later, This Debut Script Still Feels Fresh
★★★★☆ With this, her first produced work, Nottage tossed out the rulebook for “well-made” plays and came up with a doozy.
The Rewards of Being Frank: A Wildean Knock-Off Offers Slim Pickings
★★☆☆☆ Anyone who attempts to tread in Wilde’s footsteps had better be devilishly adroit – sadly not the case in this clumsy exercise.
The Trees: Rootless Dramedy Out on a Limp Limb
★★☆☆☆ Agnes Borinsky writes, Tina Satter directs, 12-member cast performs
Cat on on a Hot Tin Roof: Hot-Hot-Hot Plantation Revisit
★★★★☆ Matt de Rogatis grabs the Tennessee Williams play, Joe Rosario directs
Love: This Is No Place Like Home
★★★★★ Alexander Zeldin’s “you-are-there” study of a London housing shelter delivers edge-of-the-seat impact
The Best We Could: A Dysfunctional Family Doing Its Best
★★☆☆☆ Emily Feldman’s new play, directed by Daniel Aukin, has its drawbacks
The Seagull: Not Your Great-Great-Great-Grandmother’s Chekhov
★★★☆☆ Hovering midway between parody and homage, this modernist rendering of a justifiable classic proves neither illuminating nor much fun.
The Seagull/Woodstock, NY: The Chekhov Updating You Didn’t Need
★★☆☆☆ Parker Posey heads the cast of Thomas Bradshaw’s cheaply vulgar modern-day adaptation of Chekhov’s classic.