Your resource for New York City theater Off- and Off-Off-Broadway.
Theater Reviews
Carl Holder’s new show is called Out of Order because, while it has all the usual components of a play—not only plot components like “inciting incident” and “rising action” but production components such as the curtain call, a talkback, even a content warning—they don’t occur in their usual order.
It’s impossible to ignore chemistry, whether it’s as basic and essential as two molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen, or as toxic and unwelcome as a string of PFAs. In Charles Randolph-Wright’s Duke & Roya, the chemistry goes beyond the molecular level, as Jay Ellis and Stephanie Nur demonstrate in the title roles. It’s a powerful component for this play, which by turns is romantic and political and covers a lot of ground without quite bursting at the seams.
Jethro Compton’s stage adaptation of the classic short story The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance delivers a taut and compelling drama that both honors and subverts the conventions of the Western. Directed with precision and emotional clarity by Thomas R. Gordon, this new production retains the story’s essential moral conflict—between truth and legend, justice and lawlessness—but deepens its resonance by introducing a new character and themes that can speak powerfully to a modern audience.
In Emmanuelle Mattana’s Trophy Boys, four debaters huddle in an empty schoolroom (nifty scenic design by Matt Saunders), strategizing for the final match of an interscholastic tournament. They’re seniors at Imperium, an elite boys’ prep school; the imminent debate is against a team from a similarly tony girls’ school. This is the swan song of the boys’ high-school extracurricular lives. They’re undefeated and, being fiercely ambitious, terrified of losing this last debate, especially to a female team.
With Breakin’ NYC, director and choreographer Angel Kaba transforms the stage into a pulsing time machine, tracing hip-hop dance’s rise from the pavement of the Bronx to the global spotlight of the Olympic Games. More than a dance showcase, the production is a celebration of resilience, rhythm, and rebellion—told through the language of hip-hop. After a popular holiday run of 20 performances last year, Breakin’ NYC returns with its vibe intact. The charismatic Ajalé Olaseni Coard hosts the 75-minute show and keeps everything moving along.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Lower East Side festival scheduled
The Lower East Side Festival will take place on Memorial Day weekend at Theater for the New City (155 First Ave. at 10th St). Dozens of artists from the worlds of theater, music, cabaret, dance, aerial arts, film and poetry with personal or professional roots on the culturally and historically rich Lower East Side will be on hand for entertainment from May 26–28. Performers who will participate in the 22nd annual festivities include singer/writer Gretchen Cryer, singers KT Sullivan and Luba Mason, playwright Eduardo Machado, Penny Arcade, the Upright Citizens Brigade, the Folksbiene National Yiddish Theatre and Fairy Tale Marionettes, among many others. One of the highlights will be on Saturday, May 27, starting at noon when Theater for the New City presents performances on an outdoor stage at First Avenue and 10th Street from 2–5 p.m. Admission to all events is free. For a complete calendar of event dates/times, call (212) 254-1109 or visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net. —Edward Karam
In the revival of Crystal Skillman’s Open, now playing under the deft direction of Jessi D. Hill, Megan Hill delivers a mesmerizing solo performance as the Magician—a woman who attempts to conjure the truth of a personal tragedy through the language of illusion. What unfolds is not merely a magic show, but a deeply felt meditation on love, loss, and the fragile hope that words—and maybe even spells—can undo the past.