★☆☆☆☆ Leo Schwartz and DC Cathro may enjoy what they’ve written, but many others might not
Off-Broadway
Gloria: A Life: Around a Campfire With Gloria Steinem
★★★☆☆ Playwright Emily Mann, director Diane Paulus, and an all-female creative and production team join forces with journalist, author, and feminist icon Gloria Steinem
Mother of the Maid: A Soldier and Her Other Heart
★★★★★ Glenn Close brings Joan of Arc’s mother to radiant life in a luminous account of women’s strength, and love
Mother of the Maid: Glenn Close, Grace Van Patten Hot as Mom and Saint Joan
★★★☆☆ Jane Anderson’s follows a mother whose difficult child turns out to be a saint in the making
Ordinary Days: Keen Company Revives Adam Gwon’s Promising Musical
★★★☆☆ This perfectly pleasant chamber musical includes one breathtakingly emotional song
Apologia: No Apologies Necessary for Stockard Channing
★★★☆☆ The accomplished leading lady exuberantly carries a not-quite-satisfying play
Apologia: Stockard Channing as Mother Inferior
★★☆☆☆ A birthday dinner takes a dark turn in Alexi Kaye Campbell’s English countryside–set drama
Fireflies: Donja R. Love’s Explosive Look at Destructive Racism
★★★★☆ The marriage of a reverend and his pregnant wife founders as literal and figurative bombs go off
Sakina’s Restaurant: Aasif Mandvi Returns to His Roots
★★★☆☆ Aasif Mandvi plays six characters in this 20th-anniversary revival of his Obie-winning one-man show
Emma and Max: Moviemaker Todd Solondz Tries Theater to Mixed Results
★★★☆☆ A tale ripped from the headlines about liberal guilt and immigrant discontent is watered down