Mary Shelley's Frankenstein-- a " chamber-ama" starring Fobert Fairchild

Frankenstein's monster was  indeed  a  freakish  experiment--  but  his name  should  never have been Freakenstein--  per my headline  in the original post . . .

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - Robert Fairchild is the star attraction of the Ensemble for the Romantic Century's unique approach to literature's most famous monster story. Read M

Our London critic reviews Hamilton's triumphant arrival in her city

Hamilton The Hamilton phenomenon takes London by storm . . .

A Place to Call Home-- Australia's homage to the melodramatic genre

Check  our  www.curtainup.com/movitalk.html       to  bing on all  5  seasons. . . .

My review of Farinelli and the King--a thrill for Handel and Rylance fans

Broadway Farinelli and the King - Music director/composer Claire Van Kampen's first play reimagines the unusual story of a deranged 18th century Spanish King and famous opera star and . . . with her husband Mark Rylance to handle the "kinging" . . . Read

Curtainup's review of the latest 12th Night-- a thumbs up

Twelfth Night, or What You Will - Fiasco Theater takes up residence at Classic Stage Company for a simple, satisfying production of one of Shakespeare's best plays. Rea

The Children: an apocalypse and a love triangle rolled into a fascinating but disturbing new play

The Children - this acolyptic story of what could indeed happen more than occasionally, isn't exactly easy to promote as holiday fare. Still, it is indeed to be savored for its fine writing, direction and acting. Read More

too bad about the early closing of M.Butterfly--I found it well worth seeing

M.Butterfly - New earlier closing date: 1/14/18! David Henry Hwang's bizarre East-West socio-political romance, updated and back on Broadway. . . Read More

Meteor Shower-- Amy Schumer and Steve Martin fans are eating it up. . .

Meteor Shower - There are tons of people at the Booth Theater getting a really big bang from the bucks they spent on tickets; their enthusiasm no doubt fueled by their enthusiasms for Amy Shumer's TV stand-up routines and long love affair with Steve Martin's off-kilter humor. . .

Describe the Night: An Epic fact & fiction based history play by Rajiv Joseph

Describe the Night- Rajiv Joseph's epic history play is a thematic take on how a fiction writer's technique of making up stories tends to be used as a weapon to rewrite the truth. . . Read More

Describe the Night--an epic mix of fact and fictgion

Describe the Night- Rajiv Joseph's epic history play is a thematic take on how a fiction writer's technique of making up stories tends to be used as a weapon to rewrite the truth. . . Read More

SpongeBob SquarePants-- the popular cartoon pops into Broadway's Palace Theater

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical - Embodied by a caper-cutting dynamo named Ethan Slater, Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants joins a long list of cartoon characters who have gravitated to the Broadway stage. Read More

Once On This Island-- beautifully revived

Once On This Island - This musical may be small in its scope, but when compared to some, it achieves its own sense of grandness by being both magical and seductive— an unbeatable combination. Read More

The Parisian Woman- strictly a star vehicled for Uma Thurman in

 Uma Tnurman stars  in   Beau {House of Cards} Willimon's    behind-the-tweets  send-up of  the   political and  sexual  peccadillos  of  members and  wannabe power players in the Trump  administration . . .

My review of 20th Century Blues--engaging, splendidly performed

20th Century Blues - Susan Miller's engaging play gives four women over age 60 a chance to display their considerable talents. . . Read More

My review of Harry Clarke, atriumph for Billy Crudup & David Cale

Harry Clarke -Though I generally prefer plays calling for more than one actor on stage, I'm always ready to be smitten. All it takes is a really unique concept and a superb soloist— case in point, playwright-songwriter David Cale's Harry Clarke, starring Billy Crudup. Read More

Our critic loved Jocelyn Bioh's snappy comedy

School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play - Jocelyn Bioh's snappy comedy provides a fresh take on the comedy of high school drama. Read More

My review of the wonderful The Band's Visit on Broadway

The Band's Visit on Broadway - Charming as ever. Don't miss it! Read More

my review of Office Hour

Office Hour - Julia Cho's play at the Public is painfully, perhaps too much so, timely Read More

My review of Ayad Akhatar's new play

Junk - If Shakespeare were still with us and writing history plays about kings and those seeking to usurp them, he'd not be looking to Holinshed's Chronicles for plot ideas. Instead, like Ayad Akhtar, he'd subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times to find his dramatic personae

My review of the new M. Butterfly on Broadway

Broadway M.Butterfly - David Henry Hwang's bizarre East-West socio-political romance, updated and back on Broadway. . . Read More

My review of the "new" M. Butterfly on Broadway --

M.Butterfly - David Henry Hwang's bizarre East-West socio-political romance, updated and ba

Illyria- how the free shakespeare in the Park came under siege

Illyria - Richard Nelson takes us back to 1958 when Public Theater founder Joe Papp faced the collapse of his dream of free Shakespeare productions. Given where it's runing the Shakespeare festival not only survived and thrived, bu it's still free! Read More

Our review of People, Places & Things at St. Ann's

People, Places & Things - Duncan Macmillan's play is a timely depiction of the physical, psychological, and social impact of addiction. It's hard to imagine the sundry crafts of theater being brought together more expertly to dramatize the peril and pain of life at the mercy of drugs. Read More

The Portuguese Kid-- Trump jokes galore from John Patrick Shanley

The Portuguese Kid - John Patrick Shanley is back with another comedy about moonstruck losers. . .this one aiming for freshness with a running "how could you vote for Trump" joke. . . Read More

Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is well worth reviving

Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train - The play still warrants all of the praise heaped on the original production. It stands tall next to all of Stephen Adly Guirgis's work that has followed. .

Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song with Michael Urie and Mercedes Ruehl

Torch Song - After almost half a century Harvey Fierstein's story about drag queen Arnold Beckoff's quest for a satisfying love and family life is dated, an artifact of gay history on stage . . .but not so his dialogue is and characters . . . Read More

Time andthe Conwayscorrection: a pre-edited version was accidentally loaded Friday-- correct version now on line!

Time and the Conways - J. B. Priestley's 1937 "time play" presents us with a diverse representatives of the British middle class attempting to prosper and regain its equilibrium in the years between the two great world wars

my review of Time and the Conways as revived at the Roundabout

Time and the Conways - J. B. Priestley's 1937 "time play" presents us with a diverse representatives of the British middle class attempting to prosper and regain its equilibrium in the years between the two great world wars. . Read More

my review of Brian Friel's last full length play, The Home Place

The Home Place - Brian Friel's final visit to Ballybeg at the Irish Rep Read More

Elevator Repair Service's vaudevillian Measure for Measure

Measure For Measure - Elevator Repair Service applies its unique stylistic tricks to Shakespeare's problem play, and it lots of fun . . .Read More

Gaslight-- an entertaining revival with a relevance to the problem of bullying

Gaslight - This excellent revival of Patrick Hamilton's 1938 thriller still entertains Read More

The Honeymooners-- the 50s sitcom now sings and dances

The Honeymooners -  Weiner's score is conventionally melodic giving a bright frame for Mill's pleasantly facile and flippant lyrics.Read More

The Lover/The Collection -- two well worth seeing early Pinter 1-acts in DC

The Lover/The Collection - Both these one-act plays by Harold Pinter deal with relationships in language that is spare and rich, illuminating as well as confusing. . . Read More

No Wake-- a funeral that turns a family drama witha love triangle twist

No Wake - Though playwright William Donnelly doesn't always manage to make the glib banter and more painful undercurrents mesh fluidly, there is a lot that's heart-touching and compelling here.

Sheryl Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things gets a 2nd Run

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Tiny Beautiful Things - Sheryl Strayed's "Sugar" adapted and performed by Nia Vardalos is back for an encore run at the Publis's Newman Theater. . . s Read More

Desperate Measures--very, very loosely inspred by Shakespeare Western Musical is lots of fun

Desperate Measures -the emphasis in this very loose take on Shakespeare's play is on comedy and the fine cast and ear-pleasing score succeed in making it wonderfully entertaining..

Our critic like this revival of George Kelly's The Show-Off

The Show-Off - a worthy revival of George Kelly comedy. .

Lots to like about this As You Like It

As You Like It - For most of its 100 minutes, John Doyle's production doubles its pleasures. That's even though the running time has probably been cut to half of its usual length and there are just ten actors to play out the multiple games in a forest that doesn't have a single tree. . . Read More

The Treasurer--another look at difficult life situatons

The Treasurer - Max Posner depiction of one man's battle with the slings and arrows tossed at his aging mother and the sleeping demons of resentment they stir in him isn't light entertainment. But Peter Friedman sure offers a master class in nuanced acting. . . Read More

Oslo timelier than ever in London

Oslo The big hit from Broadway arrives in London telling the tale of the most unlikely peace process in secret talks between the Israelis and the PLO.

Mary Jane a painfully realistic new play by Amy Herzog

Mary Jane - Director Anne Kauffman hit the perennial nail on the head in describing Amy Herzog's title character as a modern day Job. . . Read More

Robert LuPone returns to stage in The Violin, a 3-character play about a sure-to fail Stradivari heist

The Violin< - Outstanding performances make Dan McCormick's 3-hander about a lost Stradivari worth seeing. . .Read More

Fact based --but with liberties taken-- Small World about Stravinsky's music in Disney's Fantasia. . .

Small World - a small, well-acted play about two men with very big egos. . . Read More

The Flea inaugurates it's new space with Inanimate

Inanimate - The Flea inaugurates their new theater with a unique take on the romantic comedy by Nick Robideau. Read More

Suzan-Lori Parks'2nd Red Letter play In the Blood--harrowing but not to be mssed

In the Blood - A stunning new production of Suzan-Lori Parks' 2nd Red Letter Play. . . Read More

Curtainup's Lizzie Loveridge reviews Howard Brenton's intriguing play

The Blinding Light Howard Brenton's intriguing play looks at the playwright August Strindberg's time in Paris reflecting on his life and obsessions . .

On the Shore of the Wide World an early play by Simon Stephens at the Atlantic Theater

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On the Shore of the Wide World - Simon Stephens' early play not on a par with his more recent work Read M

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Grace B. Mathias-- ambitious but flawed new playnew pla

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Grace B. Mathias - Michael Yates Crowley's uses a ambitious exploration of a persistent rape culture as experienced by an American high school girl. Read More

For Peter Pan On Her 70th Birthday fails to really soar

For Peter Pan On Her 70th Birthday - Even with a committed cast, headed by Kathleen Chalfant this one act meditation on aging and dying never escapes feeling like watching someone's home movies with commentary about landmarks in their family's shared memories. Read More

Suzan-Lori Prk's Red Letter Play #1- F**king A--In the Blood next week. . .

F**king A -A fine director and cast give new life to Suzan-Lori Parks' 2003 play that's as relentlessly downbeat and bloody as any Greek tragedy. Read More

Lots of additions to our on-off Broadway pages

Our  constantly  updated annoated  on and  off-Broadway   pages   now nclude  1918  productions.
Check  them  out:


www.curtainup.com/add-bway.html
 www.curtainup.com/add-offb.htmlt

Our London criitic reviews Knivesin Hens

Knives in Hens Yael Farber directs a revival of David Harrower's 1995 play about a medieval power struggle between man and wife . . . -

Prince of Broaway-- a lot to like-- but hardly a strong musical memoir. . .

Prince of Broadway - a sampler of 17 of the shows Harold Prince has directed and some 30 of those shows' breakout hits . . . Read More

The Mint completes its Teresa Deevy project with Suitcase Under the Bed-- 4 1-acts

Suitcase Under the Bed - This evening of 4 short plays by Teresa Deevy completes one of the Mint Theater Company's most ambitious and welcome rescue missions of a playwright whose work deserves wider recognition

Christopher Shinn's new play Against premieres in London

Against The premiere of Christopher Shinn's latest play is about a Silicon Valley billionaire turned philanthropist to make fundamental changes to society with Ben Whishaw in the lead . . . -