Superbly acted, unusual tragi-comedy

Gruesome Playground Injuries-an unusual romance that will have you laughing and crying . . .

A DC stop for the remarkable Black Watch. . .

Black Watch- International success hasn't spoiled this remarkable show's impact. .

The Irish Rep does justice to Friel's triple monologue

Molly Sweeney-Staged simply and effectively by Charlotte Moore and in the grandest/familiar tradition of Irish story-telling, Brian Friel's 3-way monologue hasn't a rigid bone in its body. . .

A valient attempt to make the mlk train make a comeback

The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore- Try as she might, Olymptia Dukakis can't elevate this allusion filled play from its ranking at the lower end of Tennessee Williams' canon

The enterprising Flea Theater's latest disappoints Curtainup's critic

American Sexy-Despite the best efforts of four very talented Bats, Trista Baldwin's characters remain underdeveloped and implausibly inconsiste

Best selling novel interesting but flawed on stage

Connecticut

Brian Tee and Bill Doyle (Photo: T. Charles Erickson )

Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson's best-selling novel and the popular film now at Hartford Satage. . .

A still winning satire on tabloid journalism

What the Public Wants-Arnold Bennett's satire about a newspaper tabloid mogul gets a funny, attention holding and surprisingly relevant revival at the Mint Theater . . .

A century old play still fun if not quite as its author intended

The New York Idea- one can't help wondering if Landon Mitchell would be happy with David Auburn's quite drastic changes of his 1906 comedy . . .

Spellers still holding their own in this hit musical

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee-The popular spelling bee musical buzzes into the Paper Mill Playhouse . . .

This comedy not a big laugh in New Jersey

The Little Dog Laughed-Douglas Carter Beane's comedy at New Jersey's Bickford Theater . . .

London audiences get rare chance to learn more abouGuthrie

Woody Sez-Woody Guthrie musical rich in biographical detail scheduled to tour after current run. . .

Curtainup's London critic likes this Shakespeare. . .

Tiger Country-Nina Raine's latest play about doctors in the National Health Service

The costumes make this long "Walk" exciting

The Walk Across America for Mother Earth - This show owes much of its success to Darrell Thorne's colorful make-up and Machine Dazzle's costumes which are as dramatic as they are dazzling. . .

Ibsens' grim play gets sparkling performances

John Gabriel Borkman- Ibsen's penultimate play --reviewed with an Afterword about Fiona Shaw's insights . . .

The Pearl theater does Moliere

The Misanthrope- Sean McNall's Alcestedelectably decimates a society made up of fools and fops. Too bad the support cast isn't as uniformly outstanding. . . .

An All-Star cast . . .the season's must-see new play

Other Desert Cities- The people gathered in this California drawing room are a politically divided and indivisibly connected family whose dialogue sparkles with enough quotable quips to rival Oscar Wilde. . .

A surprise hit at 59E59 Theaters-- catch it while you can

Room 17B- a fascinating amalgamation of vaudevillian routines, with a little audience participation thrown into the mix. . . .

Our critic liked this 6-actor version of Shakespeare's so-so play

Cymbeline- a spunky bare bones production of Shakespeare's notoriously difficult play has fresh clarity and charm. . . .

Friendship and ambition Hollywood style

Screenplay- a Hollywood story with a Faustian twist . . . .

Our NJ critic likes this world premiere about two scientists

New Jersey

The How and the Why - Sarah Treem's invigorating new two-character play at the McCarter . . .

Ciurtainup's Paulanne Simmons liked this little musical . . .

l-r: Mickey Sumner, Alicia Meer, Evangeline Johns, Annette Hunt, Lauren Fox in Hillbilly Women

Hillbilly Women this may not be as much fun as a big Broadway musical , but it touches the heart in ways that are not easily forgotten . . .

Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell doesn't drag in drag

The Importance of Being Earnest- In this latest revival of Wilde's ever popular farce the lady is a guy . . .

an improv show that works. . .

Baby Wants Candy - Each performer of this improv show is both funny and talented, and the chemistry of the collective unit is exceptional. . . .

Curtainup's Elizabeth Ahlfors likes Richard Skipper as Carol Channing

Richard Skipper as Carol Channing in Concert - an affectionate, music and fun-filled portrayal. . .

Ethan Hawke in new family drama-- yes, it's dysfunctional

Ethan Hawke, Ann Dowd (Photo: Monique Carboni )

Blood From a Stone -If a star ranking system were applied to dysfunctional family dramas, with five for situations extreme to the point of violence, this new play would handily rate 5 stars. .

This girl talk not worth listening to

Girl Talk: The Musical- a disappointing sequel to Girls Night: The Musical

The 2011 Under the Radar Festival is a mixed bag. . .

Under the Radar Festival- a sampler of five of this annual festival's offerings . . .

Edinburgh Festival winner now at the Flea

Metamorphoses- Pants on Fire's set's Ovid's famous tale in World War II-era London .

One woman does all of King Lear-- well, nearly all

Nearly Lear - this solo adaptation of Shakespeare's classic isn't nearly as effective as the real thing . . .

If you like solo shows--check out John Lithgow's latest

John Lithgow

John Lithgow: Stories By Heart-- a new solo show at the Mark Taper

A poignant new play about bad things happening to good people

A Small Fire-this world premiere is Adam Bock's most serious play . . .

This Dracula is bloodless. . .

Dracula- This latest, but unfortunately poorly-acted and seriously misdirected resurrection of the play manages to make victims of those in the audience as well as those consigned to the stage.

Curtainup's Simon Saltzman on rare old musical as concert

Return of the Controversial Knickerbocker Holiday- two chances to catch an important example of vintage musical political satire. . .

Sir Ayckbourn's holiday season farce typically saddens and amses

Season's Greeting- Alan Ayckbourn's funny/sad 1980 farce is, of course, proving a popular choice for the Christmas period at the National Theatre: .