‘THE BALUSTERS’: (clockwise from left) Ricardo Chavira, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Richard Thomas, Anika Noni Rose, Jeena Yi, Marylouise Burke & Kayli Carter. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

THE BALUSTERS
By David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through June 21, 2026
Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th St.
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2025-26-season/the-balusters

By Scott Harrah

Everyone in Vernon Point thinks they are progressive and open-minded. That is the first misconception and the most revealing one in this blisteringly funny look at bigotry, bias, and 21st-century culture wars. The play draws big laughs even as it cuts close to the bone. In The Balusters, playwright David Lindsay-Abaire sets the scene for a neighborhood association meeting where civility feels carefully staged. At first, the group debates mundane topics like safety, zoning, and aesthetics. Soon, the tone shifts.

What begins as a polite discussion about community values quickly turns into a competition over who can sound the most enlightened, while revealing just the opposite. Brooks (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) recounts a visit to a local store and describes a man’s glare as “an I-hate-gay-people look.” The comment sets off a wave of narrow-minded conclusions about religion, identity, and intent. Vernon Point may be fictional, but The Balusters mirrors modern American tensions around prejudice and identity. As a result, the satire lands with uncomfortable precision. Laughter ripples through the audience. Often, a brief hush follows as the implications sink in.

Civic pride and prejudice

The play opens in the stately Victorian home of Kyra (Anika Noni Rose), a newcomer eager to make a good impression. She and her housekeeper Luz (Maria-Christina Oliveras) prepare for the meeting. Luz knows the neighborhood well because she has worked for several families, including association president Elliot (Richard Thomas).

Kyra’s hopes for a pleasant evening dissolve quickly. First to arrive is Melissa (Jeena Yi), the sharp-tongued vice president, whose awkward misstep with Luz sets the tone. Penny (Marylouise Burke), a well-meaning but often oblivious longtime secretary, follows. Then comes Ruth (Margaret Colin), the blunt and dry-witted treasurer who says what others avoid.

Soon, the room fills with clashing personalities. Isaac (Ricardo Chavira) bristles at political correctness. Alan (Michael Esper) tries to be the “nice guy” but retreats when challenged. Willow (Kayli Carter) polices language with earnest intensity. Brooks observes it all with dry, knowing detachment. Elliot, the self-appointed guardian of the neighborhood’s traditions, arrives ready to preside. As Brooks puts it, “It’s not too late, Kyra. You can still escape.”

Biases simmer beneath the surface

At first, the meeting sticks to routine business. Then an innocuous conversation about safety and whether or not to put up a stoplight exposes deeper biases. What begins as practical concern quickly turns personal. A passing remark about suspicious activity spirals into a debate over racial profiling. Meanwhile, attempts at inclusive language spark their own tensions. The terminology some use starts petty squabbles. For example, one character pushes back against being labeled “Latinx,” calling it “retro woke bulls**t.” Another character objects to the term “lame” as being “ableist.”

The script spares no group. It shows how quickly good intentions give way to defensiveness.

Gavel down, gloves off

Under Kenny Leon’s direction, tensions build steadily before everything unravels into something far messier. Mr. Lindsay-Abaire’s rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue creates strong momentum. Punchlines land in quick succession and often overlap, as if the characters are racing to outdo one another. The staging turns Kyra’s stately home into a pressure cooker. As a result, polite conversation gives way to barely concealed hostility. Each character struggles to maintain composure.

The ensemble is uniformly strong. Anika Noni Rose anchors the production with quiet authority and holds her ground as the room spirals around her. Richard Thomas balances Elliot’s easy charm with an undercurrent of control. Carl Clemons-Hopkins delivers the evening’s driest humor. Marylouise Burke finds both comedy and pathos in Penny’s well-meaning obliviousness. Margaret Colin is especially sharp as Ruth and lands her barbed observations with precision. Together, the cast maintains cohesion even as their characters pull in opposite directions.

Nothing off-limits

By the end, The Balusters shows that nothing is off-limits. Early jabs at anti-fur activism, introduced with Ruth’s arrival, establish the tone for a play that steadily widens its target. Mr. Lindsay-Abaire takes aim at everything from debates over Muslims and gays to casual bigoted perceptions of Jews, Black, and Latino communities. As a result, the play becomes an equal-opportunity lampoon where no one is spared. The humor is relentless and at times uncomfortable. It underscores how true to life the story feels.

Few recent Broadway comedies land laughs this consistently or this uncomfortably.

The Balusters plays like a sharply observed slice of American life. The effort to be thoughtful, inclusive, and aware often veers into something far messier. Mr. Lindsay-Abaire captures both good intentions and high-wire tension in a culture that talks over itself. Every word is scrutinized and every misstep is amplified. In Vernon Point, everyone wants to get it right. That may be the problem. David Lindsay-Abaire’s The Balusters may be the funniest and most incisive look yet at political correctness in American life.

Published April 21, 2026
Reviewed at press preview on April 19, 2026.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: (seated) Jeena Yi, Marylouise Burke & (standing) Michael Esper & Richard Thomas. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: Anika Noni Rose & Carl Clemons-Hopkins. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Margaret Colin, Michael Esper & Jeena Yi. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: Kayli Carter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Anika Noni Rose & Jeena Yi. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: Anika Noni Rose & Marylouise Burke. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’ (collage, left to right): Margaret Colin & Maria-Christina Oliveras. Photos: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: Ricardo Chivira & Margaret Colin. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘THE BALUSTERS’: Richard Thomas & Anika Noni Rose. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

The post ‘The Balusters’: ‘Woke’ wars on the block appeared first on StageZine.

‘BUG’: (left to right) Carrie Coon, Jennifer Engstrom, Steve Key & Namir Smallwood. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

BUG
By Tracy Letts
Directed by David Cromer
Through March 8, 2026
Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47^th Street
(212) 239-6200
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2025-26-season/bug/

By Scott Harrah

Bug may sound like the title of a schlocky 1970s exploitation horror film, but it is, in fact, a solid psychological thriller and one of the earlier plays by Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning playwright Tracy Letts. Originally produced in Chicago in 1996, the play later ran for nearly a year at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York from 2004 to 2005. Now revived on Broadway, Bug arrives in a riveting production that proves its unsettling power has not diminished. Nearly three decades later, the play remains a socially relevant suspense drama focused on drug abuse, paranoia, conspiracy theories, and psychological collapse.

Motel room from hell

The action unfolds almost entirely inside a rundown Oklahoma motel room—something like Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho relocated to the Great Plains. “White Lotus” star and Tony nominee Carrie Coon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) plays Agnes White, a waitress with a drug problem and a troubled past. Coon’s portrayal of a woman in free fall is instantly powerful and haunting. It is difficult to look away as Agnes spirals, her profanity-laced dialogue revealing someone crying out for help while lacking the means to save herself.

Agnes soon meets Peter Evans (Namir Smallwood), a quirky drifter and Gulf War veteran who seems highly educated, his elaborate vocabulary hinting at intelligence, yet also mentally erratic. From there, the two develop a romantic attraction. As they grow closer, their relationship intensifies, revealing psychological fractures and dark secrets on both sides.

The exes

Two additional characters further complicate Agnes’ fragile reality. Her ex-partner and drug dealer, R.C. (Jennifer Engstrom), reinforces dependency while maintaining control through access to drugs, money, and a false sense of protection.

Agnes is also shaken by the sudden reappearance of her ex-husband Jerry Goss (Steve Key), a loud, abusive presence from her past. Jerry represents the danger Agnes already understands—immediate, physical, and unmistakably real—a threat that makes the play’s later paranoia feel less like a rupture than an extension of what she already knows.

Paranoia or reality?

Much of Bug centers on Peter’s belief that the motel room is infested with bugs—first bed bugs, later parasitic aphids implanted beneath the skin. Agnes soon adopts these fears as her own. As the story progresses, however, it becomes clear that neither Peter nor Agnes has a firm grasp on reality. Matters grow even more unsettling with the arrival of Dr. Sweet (Randall Arney), a mysterious figure claiming to be a military doctor who appears to understand both Peter and the alleged infestation.

Fine ensemble

With the action confined to a single space, Bug depends heavily on its ensemble to anchor the production.

Carrie Coon’s Agnes is both dynamic and arresting, capturing a woman whose loneliness and fragility leave her susceptible to nearly everyone in her path. Back in 2012, when Coon appeared in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, this reviewer described her performance as Honey as “manic virtuosity from start to finish.” Fourteen years later, Ms. Coon has sharpened her skills even further, delivering one of this Broadway season’s most physically punishing and relentlessly demanding performances. She is very much an actor at the top of her game.

As Peter, Namir Smallwood brings skillfully restrained and unnerving conviction to a role that demands sustained psychological pressure. His performance balances intimidation with moments of intimacy, allowing Peter’s beliefs to feel sincere even as they grow increasingly outlandish and chart his descent into madness. Together, Ms. Coon and Mr. Smallwood sustain the play’s escalating tension, their dynamic tightening as skepticism gives way to shared certainty.

Great supporting cast

The supporting cast complements the ensemble with equally assured performances.

Jennifer Engstrom gives R.C. a hard-boiled edge that never fully eclipses her concern for Agnes. Though clearly a corrosive influence, Ms. Engstrom suggests a long history of loyalty beneath the bravado. Her R.C. feels less like a villain than a deeply compromised lifeline to the outside world—someone capable of care, but unequipped to offer real help.

Steve Key is sharply effective as Jerry Goss, playing Agnes’ ex-husband as a loud, domineering presence driven by entitlement rather than affection. His scenes crackle with aggression, while Randall Arney’s Dr. Sweet provides a cooler counterbalance. Mr. Arney’s composed authority briefly promises clarity before the story veers toward a more tragic conclusion.

Superb direction and set design

Bug relies heavily on pacing and atmosphere, and director David Cromer keeps the tension tightly coiled throughout, never allowing the production to tip into cheap sensationalism. Takeshi Kata’s scenic design turns the motel room into more than a mere setting, while Heather Gilbert’s lighting and Josh Schmidt’s eerie sound design heighten the sense of claustrophobia and psychological confinement. Together, the visual and sonic elements reinforce the characters’ unraveling and the play’s pervasive sense of dread.

Quietly compelling revival

In the end, Bug proves far more complex than its pulpy title might suggest. While it may not rank as Tracy Letts’ finest play, what begins with the trappings of genre drama ultimately unfolds as a stark examination of belief, isolation, and human fragility. Written long before such thinking felt culturally familiar, Bug reveals Letts’ understanding of how fear can evolve into rigid, all-encompassing belief—an insight he would later expand in August: Osage County, his portrait of a very different, yet equally fractured, American family. For all its discomfort, Bug proves quietly compelling in this Broadway revival.

Published January 11, 2026
Reviewed at press performance on January 9, 2026.

‘BUG’: Carrie Coon. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘BUG’: Namir Smallwood. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘BUG’: Steve Key & Namir Smallwood. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘BUG’: (top photo) Jennifer Engstrom & Carrie Coon. (Bottom) Namir Smallwood. Photos: Matthew Murphy.

‘BUG”: (top) Steve Key & Namir Smallwood. (Bottom) Carrie Coon. Photos; Matthew Murphy.

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“Critic’s Pick! Laughter is making a big comeback on Broadway,” raved The New York Times. “Gaspingly funny,” cheered New York Magazine. “A wild new comedy!” raved The Wrap. “One of the best productions Broadway has offered this season!” exclaimed Deadline.

‘EUREKA DAY’: Thomas Middleditch, Amber Gray, Bill Irwin, Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

Eureka Day stars Tony Award nominee Amber Gray (Broadway: Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812) as Carina, two-time Tony Award nominee Jessica Hecht (Broadway: Summer, 1976 at MTC; A View from the Bridge) as Suzanne, Tony Award winner Bill Irwin (Broadway: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Largely New York) as Don, Emmy Award nominee Thomas Middleditch (Television: “Silicon Valley”) as Eli, and Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz (Television: “Scandal,” “The Resident”) as Meiko. Eboni Flowers (Broadway: Macbeth, Slave Play) will assume the role of Carina starting Saturday, February 1.

Jonathan Spector’s explosive and timely comedy had its world premiere at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, CA., and has been seen Off-Broadway at Colt Coeur and in London at The Old Vic. The New York Times, in their Critic’s Pick review of the Off-Broadway production, praised Eureka Day as “the perfect play for our age of disagreement.”

Vaccine chaos at private California school

Eureka Day is a private California elementary school with a Board of Directors that values inclusion above all else—that is until an outbreak of the mumps forces everyone in the community to reconsider the school’s liberal vaccine policy. As cases rise, the board realizes with horror that they’ve got to do what they swore they never would: make a choice that won’t please absolutely everybody.

The production features: scenic design by Tony Award winner Todd Rosenthal; costume design by Tony Award winner Clint Ramos; lighting design by two-time Tony Award nominee Jen Schriever; original music and sound design by Drama Desk Award nominees Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen; projection design by Tony Award nominee David Bengali; intimacy & sensitivity coordinator Ann C. James; vocal coach Gigi Buffington; casting by Caparelliotis Casting & Kelly Gillespie; Production Stage Manager is Charles M. Turner III.

Eureka Day is presented by special arrangement with Sonia Friedman Productions, Wagner Johnson Productions, and Seaview Productions.

Major support for Eureka Day is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as part of The Sloan Initiative: Setting the Stage for Science and Technology. Additional support is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

MTC’s Beyond the Stage Series

Manhattan Theatre Club’s Beyond the Stage series enriches and expands the impact of MTC’s productions and theatrical storytelling by offering audiences events that connect to our plays’ cultural and historical contexts. These community-building conversations and experiences provide fresh insights and novel perspectives, leading to a deepened understanding and celebration of our shared humanity.

Beyond the Stage Series throughout January

Sunday, January 12

Purchase a ticket and join us after the 2:00 pm performance on Sunday, January 12 for an intimate conversation moderated by ABC Audio’s Start Here podcast host Brad Mielke, featuring guest speakers Alann Seales and Dr. Nicole Naggar.

Tickets are on sale at Telecharge.com. Subscriptions for MTC’s 2024-25 season are available by visiting www.manhattantheatreclub.com/join, or by calling the MTC Clubline at 212-399-3050.

Wednesday, January 15
Purchase a ticket and join us after the performance for a conversation with Eureka Day playwright Jonathan Spector for TCG’s OFFSCRIPT podcast. Offscript is American Theatre’s monthly podcast about all things theatrical.

Thursday, January 16
January 16 is Entertainment Community Fund Night at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre! Purchase a ticket and join us following the performance join for a talkback featuring Dr. Ram Koppaka and Dr. Jason Kindt from the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts as they discuss Eureka Day, the growth of public health, how it influences our lives and the communities the Friedman Health Center serves and supports.

Additionally, Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) and Harlem Arts Alliance (HAA) are joining forces to host a Book Drive to benefit Harlem Hospital and its surrounding community. Inspired by Eureka Day, our goal is to collect at least 2,000 new books for children and young adult readers, with a special emphasis on social justice content. Audience and community members are welcome to donate new books at the Samuel J. Friedman box office during operating hours through January 19, 2025.

ABOUT MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Director Chris Jennings, Manhattan Theatre Club produces seasons of new work for the theatre both on and Off-Broadway. In the 2023-24 season, all three of its Broadway shows were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, representing three of the five nominees in the category. MTC’s not-for-profit mission, which Meadow created in 1972 and has implemented over five decades of award-winning productions, is to develop and present new work in a dynamic, supportive environment; to identify and collaborate with the most promising new as well as accomplished artists; and to produce a diverse repertoire of innovative, entertaining, and thought-provoking plays and musicals by American and international playwrights.

Since 1989, MTC Learning and Community Engagement, which uses the power of live theatre and playwriting to awaken minds, ignite imaginations, open hearts, and change lives, has also been an important corollary to MTC’s work. MTC’s over 600 world, American, New York and Broadway premieres have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 30 Tony Awards, 51 Drama Desk Awards and 49 Obie Awards amongst many other honors. MTC has homes on Broadway at its Samuel J. Friedman Theatre and Off-Broadway at New York City Center. MTC is an anti-racist organization that respects and honors all voices and upholds the values of community and equity. For more information, please visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com.

The post ‘Eureka Day’ plays final extension through 2-16-25 appeared first on StageZine.

‘EUREKA DAY’: Thomas Middleditch, Amber Gray, Bill Irwin, Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

EUREKA DAY
By Jonathan Spector
Directed by Anna D. Shapiro
Through February 16, 2025
Manhattan Theatre Club
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 W 47th Street
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/24-25-season/eureka-day/

By Scott Harrah

The American culture wars and the divisive anti-vaccine movement collide at a private school in Berkeley, California in Jonathan’s Spector’s provocative Eureka Day. The show was originally produced in 2018. It has played in different venues across the country as well in London at the Old Vic. Eureka Day is an often hilarious but politically charged dark comedy about “woke” politics, social justice and the anti-vaccine movement that is both topical and uncomfortable to watch in these tense times in America.

The show starts out with a group of parents on the executive committee at Eureka Day, a progressive private school. The group sits around discussing “politically correct” terminology such as “transracial adoptee” and “all gender bathrooms.” It’s the type of “inclusive” chatter that sends conservative TV media hosts into a frenzy.

Anti-vaccine vitriol

There’s a sudden twist when group leader Don (Bill Irwin) reads aloud a letter from a local health official warning of an outbreak of mumps. A Eureka Day student has been confirmed as having the disease. Suddenly, chaos ensues when everyone discusses the public health doctor’s demand that any child who has not received the MMR vaccine must not be allowed to attend school unless he or she has been vaccinated.

Suzanne (Jessica Hecht) is especially opposed to mandating vaccines at school. While Suzanne on the surface appears to be a stereotypical affluent Bay Area liberal, she is actually a control freak. She immediately tears into others on the committee that disagree with her, including Carina (Amber Gray) and full-time dad Eli (Thomas Middleditch). Suddenly, their bubble of “social justice” and left-wing coastal elitism becomes as nasty and polarizing as anything on right-wing TV news programs.

An online livestream discussion about the mumps outbreak is one of the highlights of Eureka Day. As Don and group leaders discuss mumps and its symptoms, the online chat comments—projected onto a screen behind the cast—veer into madness, with parents ranting about alternative medicine, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and some calling others “Nazis.” It’s hilarious and disturbing but so true to life. What’s so illuminating and shocking is how these upper-middle-class, well-educated parents of Eureka students are just as vile and nauseating as any thread of online trolls.

A prophetic play

Jonathan Spector’s play, first produced nearly seven years ago in 2018, was remarkably prescient, considering it was originally mounted two years before the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s not exactly a perfect story, it is amazing how much of Mr. Spector’s play was an omen of things to come in 2020. He brilliantly captures all the conflicts that arise from misinformation, individual choice and the greater responsibility of community leaders protecting the public when a disease starts spreading rapidly.

Director Anna D. Shapiro does a nice job of helping the cast shine amongst all the pandemonium. Bill Irwin is brilliant as Don, the head of the school who loves to quote the poet Rumi incessantly. Jessica Hecht is wonderful as the annoying, entitled Suzanne. Amber Gray as Carina is a great foil for Suzanne, and her scenes with Ms. Hecht are incredibly tense and riveting. Thomas Middleditch as Eli, Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz as Meiko and Eboni Flowers as Winter are all equally powerful in their respective roles.

Eureka Day is hardly holiday fare. It rings with contemporary veracity about the ugly divisions in America and is not a play for anyone anxious about historical revisionists and science deniers who might wreak havoc in this country in the near future.

Published December 16, 2024
Reviewed at press preview performance on December 14, 2024

‘EUREKA DAY’: Bill Irwin & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘EUREKA DAY’: Amber Gray, Bill Irwin & Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘EUREKA DAY’: Thomas Middleditch. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘EUREKA DAY’: Amber Gray & Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

The post ‘Eureka Day’: Anti-vax chaos at Berkeley school appeared first on StageZine.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: (left to right) Molly Ranson, Nael Nacer & Aria Shahghasemi. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
By Joshua Harmon
Through March 3, 2024
Directed by David Cromer
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47^th Street
www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com
 

By Scott Harrah

Antisemitism unfortunately became a worldwide crisis in the wake of the Israel-Gaza conflict when the terrorist group Hamas broke the ceasefire with Israel on October 7, 2023 by attacking the Jewish state in a one-day massacre that is to date the worst slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust. However, hatred and violence aimed at Jewish people was a problem long before Joshua Harmon wrote Prayer for the French Republic, a three-hour epic about a French Jewish family’s centuries-long battle with antisemitism. The show was first mounted Off-Broadway in 2022, nearly two years before the current Israel-Hamas war began. Now on Broadway, the play is more timely, topical and all too real—one of the best dramas in at least a decade.

The story unfolds in a Paris apartment as Marcelle Salomon Benhamou (Betsy Aidem) is chatting with Molly (Molly Ranson), a distant American cousin visiting France on a study abroad program. She tells Molly about their convoluted family tree and how the Salomon family has been in France for centuries, with a renowned piano business on Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, run by Marcelle’s octogenarian father, Pierre (Richard Masur). As a secular American, Molly feels almost no connection to her Jewish roots. Marcelle discusses the Salomon family’s Jewish roots and many tragedies—some living through the Nazi occupation of France while others had the misfortune of living in Poland and Russia and were killed in concentration camps. Marcelle and her brother Patrick (Anthony Edwards) grew up with a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. She explains that her brother Patrick is mostly secular. Although Marcelle wasn’t orthodox, she is married to Charles Benhamou, a devout Sephardic man who grew up in French Algeria in the colonial era but had to leave once Algeria gained independence in 1962 because the country was no longer safe for Jews. Marcelle is a psychiatrist and has two grown children who still live at home, including son Daniel (Aria Shahghasemi), a math teacher who proudly wears a yarmulke at all times. Daughter Elodie (Francis Benhamou) is a lost soul but has strong opinions on Zionism and her Jewish identity.

When the rest of the Benhamou family arrives home, we see that Daniel has a bloody face and has been beaten in an antisemitic attack. Marcelle feels Daniel has made himself a target and could avoid violence by simply wearing a baseball cap to cover up his yarmulke.

The story is also told via flashbacks. Although most of the play takes place in 2016/2017,  there are flashback scenes to 1944 when Patrick and Marcelle’s great-grandparents Adolphe Salomon (Daniel Oreskes) and Irma Salomon (Nancy Robinette) are living in hiding in Paris during the Nazi occupation—having miraculously eluded the Gestapo. They are running the family piano store while they wait patiently for their son and grandson to return from a concentration camp.

The play begins in 2016 when Donald Trump was running for president of the United States, and right-wing nationalist candidate Marine LePen was running for president in France one year later in 2017. The Benhamou family believes LePen may eventually become president and Jews in France will be in grave danger as a result. Much of the play deals with Charles (Nael Nacer), a successful physician with a thriving practice, and his desire to move the entire family to Israel because he believes France is no longer a safe country for Jews. Marcelle has spent her whole life in France and does not wish to leave her aging father behind, but as antisemitic incidents in Paris continue to be on the rise, she is left with a tough choice.

Although the play has some true flaws and is long and rambling in parts, playwright Joshua Harmon’s tale is always fascinating and is must-see theatre for anyone. Director David Cromer keeps the action flowing at a rapid-fire pace, but should have done some tighter editing in act three. There are some amazing performances here as the cast works together as a cohesive ensemble.  Standouts include Nael Nacer and his gripping portrayal of Charles, the husband and father who will do anything to keep his family safe and is willing to risk everything to relocate to Israel. Molly Ranson does a fine job playing the show’s most unlikeable character Molly, the naïve, misinformed American cousin who knows almost nothing about Judaism and dismisses her roots as simply being “of Jewish extraction.” Ms. Ranson isn’t afraid to portray Molly as a clueless yet gutsy twentysomething who speaks her mind, even when her comments are inappropriate. The play’s best performance is given by Francis Benhamou as Elodie, an angry misanthrope who steals the show when she tells off Molly with her vitriolic rant about “ahistorical” young people who don’t read and get all their historical information from social media.

Anyone in America—especially New York City—who has Jewish friends or family knows these are some of the darkest days Jews have experienced since World War II. Perhaps that is why Prayer for the French Republic is so sobering and truth-telling right now, at a time when the very existence of Jewish people is being maligned by misinformed media and a growing faction of bigots on college campuses and social media. This is as epic as another Jewish stage saga, Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy; and as emotionally volatile and searing as Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County. Yet it has an urgent message that most plays do not: Jewish people in 2024 are afraid and feel nowhere is safe; not France, Europe, America, Israel—or anywhere.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published January 9, 2024
Reviewed at January 5, 2024 press performance.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Betsy Aidem & Molly Ranson. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Molly Ranson & Francis Benhamou. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Aria Shahghasemi & Molly Ranson. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC’: Nancy Robinette, Daniel Oreskes, Richard Masur, Ari Brand & Ethan Haberfield. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

The post ‘Prayer for the French Republic’ a divine epic appeared first on StageZine.

‘JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING: Brittany Adebumola & Dominique Thorne. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Whitney White
Through November 19, 2023
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street

(212-239-6200), www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

By David NouNou

It’s a busy day at Jaja’s African Hair Braiding salon. The events take place in a 12-hour period from opening time at 9am in the morning to 9pm closing time on a very hot day in Harlem. We know the clients and their relentless demands; that’s nothing new. What is new is getting a better understanding of the hardworking women that are on their feet all day long working in this shop. These working women are all different and each one has her own aspirations.

For the most part, nothing special is going on in the shop (except for the unique design of David Zinn’s exceptional authentic set) other than the masterpieces being created. The specialty is the showcasing of the women themselves. They are indeed all talented in hair braiding. There is the usual bickering, the usual dishing, and the uncomfortable awkward situation of (whether you are a woman or a man) going to a hair-dressing salon or a barbershop and deciding you want to change the person who has been doing your hair and the dilemma it presents. That one particular incident is a sidesplitting moment in the play. Amidst all the hilarity, there is a curve ball thrown in to illustrate the complexities that life can present to these women.

Some of these women are African immigrants: Miriam (Brittany Adebumola) is from Sierra Leone. She has been here for a few years to make money and returning back to her country to return here with the daughter she left behind. Owner Jaja (Somi Kakoma) has been here for many years and is getting married today to a white man, and her daughter Marie (Dominique Thorne)— who has been running the shop—has great misgivings about the event. Bea (Zenzi Williams) has been working at Jaja’s for more than 10 years and dreams of opening her own top-notch salon, and she has a meltdown scene with her best friend, Aminata (Nana Mensah), for taking back an unfaithful husband.

Although this is an ensemble piece, there are genuine performances worth noting: Ms. Adebumola is a standout in retelling her life story up to this point, and is simply wonderful. Ms. Williams is indomitable and Ms. Mensah is formidable as the feuding friends. Maechi Aharanwa as Ndidi, the youngest of the stylist, is terrific as the “can’t we all just get along” member of the group. Kalyne Coleman does a mean Beyonce after she gets her hair braided like Miss B. Lakisha May plays three distinct customers to perfection.

The one flaw in the show is Whitney White’s inconsistent direction. She takes time in fleshing out and presenting the characters, but I’m sure that is due to playwright Jocelyn Bioh’s writing. However, Ms. Bioh has packed and tangled so many issues in the last 15 minutes of the play that it is very difficult for Ms. White to properly unravel them and make them fully comprehensible for the audience to digest.

That being said, one must admire the play because it has an important message. It pays homage to all the hardworking immigrants who come here to find a better life. In this case, it is a hair-braiding salon in Harlem. For every immigrant who has come here to perform a service, she or he has a story of their own and deserves the respect of each of their clients.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 6, 2023
Reviewed at October 5, 2023 press performance.

‘JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING’: Nana Mensah, Dominique Thorne (in background) & Somi Kakoma. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING’: Kalyne Coleman & Maechi Aharanwa. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING’: Rachel Christopher & Zenzi Williams. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING’: Lakisha May (seated) & Nana Mensah (in mirror). Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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‘SUMMER, 1976’: Jessica Hecht & Laura Linney. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

SUMMER, 1976
Written by David Auburn
Directed by Daniel Sullivan
Through June 10, 2023
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

By David NouNou

Most New York theatregoers know that this is Tony crunch time and a plethora of shows open back-to-back in the last two weeks of April, jockeying for the best position for the prestigious and coveted awards. Some succeed in this maneuvering, but most of them fall by the wayside because they are all crashing into each other and ultimately face closure due to the glut in the market.

However, sometimes a beautiful gem manages to enter the fray, and this one is David Auburn’s Summer, 1976, an ode to women and friendship. You enter the theatre seeing an unassuming backyard. Two women walk in from opposite sides of the stage and sit across from each other. They are Diana (Laura Linney), the frosty, well-put-together, always neat woman, who has to have everything in its place; and Alice (Jessica Hecht), the more bohemian, disheveled, not-too-well-put together woman whose house is always a mess. Sort of like Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie might have been 30 years earlier, with one big difference: These women are real.

They start talking, breaking the fourth wall; they are talking to us and telling us how they met and had an instant dislike to each other. Their friendship resulted from each of them having a daughter and the two daughters bonded together, being inseparable and thus forcing the two women to warm up to each other and form a cordial friendship and opening up to us with their backstories; one sees the friendship and co-dependency growing and the events that took place that summer of 1976.

After being worn down from seeing my sixth consecutive show, I was amazed how I was being enveloped by this story. I was actually investing in these women and wanted to know more and more about them and what happens to them. Not that they were extraordinary wonder women; they were everyday women, who are moms, and some of them are wives; they are just navigating everyday life. What makes them so interesting is David Auburn’s brilliant, sensitive, and naturalistic writing. The humor comes from genuine feelings and conversation, not sitcom dialogue. There is honesty in the writing, and this filters out into the audience.

I have seen both Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht in about six different shows each, and I’ve admired their formidable talents. However, I have never seen them be so touching and vulnerable. They are both great technicians who deliver very good performances, but here I got to see two women and not actresses who let their guards down and see what a friendship and bond means to these two women. Their chemistry is theatrical magic.

Daniel Sullivan is a good director, but when given a great script, he outdoes himself. He has fine-tuned these two performances to shine brilliantly. Long after one leaves the theatre, as I am writing this review, I am still thinking about these two women and what became of them.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 30, 2023
Reviewed at April 29, 2023 press performance.

‘SUMMER, 1976’: Laura Linney & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Jeremey Daniel.

‘SUMMER, 1976’: Jessica Hecht & Laura Linney. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘SUMMER, 1976’: Laura Linney & Jessica Hecht. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

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‘COST OF LIVING’: David Zayas & Katy Sullivan. Photo: Julieta Cervantes.

COST OF LIVING
Written by Martyna Majok
Directed by Jo Bonney
Through October 30, 2022
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

By David NouNou

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living is a poignant and touching play that is so ethereal in nature but wallops a heartbreaking punch to the guts. Everything seems and feels real. Everyone has the need to have someone in their life that with whom they can interact and communicate.

Cost of Living examines the relationship of two couples, where in each case one is disabled and the other is able. Eddie (David Zayas) is an unemployed truck driver whose ex-wife, Ani (Katy Sullivan) became a quadriplegic following a tragic accident. John (Gregg Mozgala) is a graduate student with cerebral palsy and has hired Jess (Kara Young) as his caregiver.

The scenes take place at different times. Eddie is in a bar on a Friday night recalling the texts his wife used to send him. In a different scene, Jess is being interviewed by John and needs the job of caregiver desperately. Both Eddie and Jess are extremely lonely, and both have a need to fill their lives. They both need a reason to survive another day. Extraordinary events take place, some real, some by invention of the mind. Their experiences are extremely real and palpable to each which brings them to an intersection to the truth and to connect.

What’s extraordinary for the audience is twofold. The play begs us to ask the question, “What is the cost of living, especially when you can’t put a price on it?” They must connect the dots to reality as well as experience the palpable and heart-wrenching performances given by the four cast members: Gregg Mozgala, Katy Sullivan, Kara Young, and David Zayas. They are further abetted by the excellent and seamless direction provided by Jo Bonney.

There is a haunting quality to Cost of Living that lingers long after leaving the show, and that is the true gift of a night well spent in the theater.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 7, 2022
Reviewed at October 6, 2022 press performance.

‘COST OF LIVING’: Gregg Mozgala & Kara Young. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘COST OF LIVING’: Gregg Mozgala. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘COST OF LIVING’: Kara Young. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘COST OF LIVING’: Katy Sullivan. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘COST OF LIVING’: Katy Sullivan & David Zayas. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘COST OF LIVING’: Gregg Mozgala & Kara Young. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

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‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE’: David Morse & Mary-Louise Parker. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE
Written by Paula Vogel
Directed by Mark Brokaw
Through May 29, 2022
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

By David NouNou

How I Learned to Drive, Paula Vogel’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning memory play, lives eternally when done well. The thrill of seeing the original cast, Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse reprising their roles of L’il Bit and Uncle Peck, is a theatrical wonder that seldom happens. It’s been 25 years since they created these roles and it seems as if time has stood still for these two to bring their characters back to life.

Set throughout the 1960s, the story follows the strained sexual relationship between Li’l Bit (Mary-Louise Parker) and her aunt’s husband, Uncle Peck (David Morse) from her adolescence through her teenage years and into college. The play delves into pedophilia and the ability to control and manipulate. All this is in the guise of learning how to drive a car.

The narrative shifts to different time periods starting in 1969 in a parking lot in rural Maryland. Li’l Bit is 17 and we see what seems for the first time, Uncle Peck unhooking her brassiere through her flannel shirt and admiring her breasts. She feels discomfort with this act, and the scene breaks into Li’l Bit describing her dysfunctional family life and the dynamics of her family. Her father left her mother early on, her grandparents called her Li’l Bit because of her small breasts when she was young. Her biological Aunt Mary was married to Uncle Peck and he became her father figure.

Like any memory play, times shift and one thinks of things at different stages of their life. Li’l Bit has a lot of memories of events that took place in 1968, to 1964, and all the way back to 1961. Whether it was in the car, a restaurant, a motel, the memories keep flooding.

Inserted is a wonderful scene of Aunt Mary (Johanna Day) confessing to the audience that she knew what was happening. The fact that her husband was an alcoholic, but Li’l Bit in a deal with Uncle Peck stopped him from drinking. He shaped up, and she knew that Li’l Bit was manipulating her uncle to get him to do some of these things. In a heartbreaking moment, Aunt Mary says that she just has to sit it out till Li’l Bit goes to college in a year and she can have her husband back.

The whole play has to be seen to be appreciated for its nuances. Not everything is as clear as it seems. There are gray shadings, but that’s for the audience to decide. Mark Brokaw, the director keeps the proceedings moving without any confusion of the different times.

Seeing the original cast members—Mary-Louise Parker, David Morse and Johanna Day—is one of the highlights of this theatrical season. A definite must-see.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 24, 2022
Reviewed at April 23, 2022 press performance.

‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE’: Davis Morse & Mary-Louise Parker. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE’: Chris Myers & Mary-Louise Parker. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE’: (left to right) Mary-Louise Parker, Johanna Day & Alyssa May Gold. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.

‘HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE’: Mary-Louise Parker & David Morse.

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‘LACKAWANNA BLUES’: Ruben Santiago-Hudson (center) & (seated) Junior Mack. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

LACKAWANNA BLUES
Written & directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Through November 12, 2021
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

261 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.manhattantheatreclub.com

By David NouNou

Set in Lackawanna, New York, past and present, this is an autobiographical play in which Ruben Santiago-Hudson portrays himself as the child Ruben, and the adult version of himself as well as multiple characters from the past fondly remembered. Mostly it is a beautiful tribute to his adopted grandmother, Nanny, Ms. Rachel Crosby.

Nanny took him under her wing at an early age when he was left in her care by his mother. On multiple occasions he states that she was more like a mother to him. Nanny took him everywhere and they shared their life together. Along the way many characters crossed their path. Mr. Santiago-Hudson imbues all these characters, good or bad, with humanity and respect. Utmost is his respect for Ms. Rachel. Their love and their bond is palpable. Not only is the love and respect coming from Mr. Santiago Hudson, but from the many people whose lives Ms. Rachel touched. Their stories are told in little vignettes.

Mr. Santiago-Hudson has written this play and directed it in such a vivid way that you can visualize Nanny and all the quirky characters they both met along the way. You can almost taste the glazed ham and the cornbread that Nanny made for him and all her boarders. The show is mostly noteworthy for the mega-talented Mr. Santiago-Hudson himself. His performance is absolutely riveting, from the twinkle in his eyes when he impersonates Nanny to the tears in his eyes at the end.

Mr. Santiago-Hudson is accompanied by the brilliant guitarist Junior Mack, who anchors the mood of the play with a soulful blues style. Incidentally, in addition to his many talents as actor, playwright/director Mr. Santiago-Hudson is an excellent harmonica player.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 5, 2021
Reviewed at November 4, 2021 performance.

‘LACKAWANNA BLUES’: Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo: Marc J. Franklin.

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