Openings and Previews
New York Classical Theatre transposes the Shakespeare comedy to the nineteen-tens, for its fifteenth-anniversary production. The peripatetic show, on the grounds of Central Park, is free of charge. Opens May 29.
The centerpiece of “Brits Off Broadway” is this trio of comedies by Alan Ayckbourn, playing in repertory: “Arrivals and Departures” (opens June 4), “Farcicals: A Double Bill of Frivolous Comedies” (opens June 10), and “Time of My Life” (opens June 11). Ayckbourn directs the Stephen Joseph Theatre productions. In previews.
Lucas Kavner wrote this play, directed by Stephen Brackett, in which an unemployed former rock star moves in with his grown son, who is adopted. Previews begin June 5. Opens June 9.
Pipeline Theatre Company presents an encore of this play by Adam Szymkowicz, with music and lyrics by Adam Overett, in which a man returns to his clowning life after his junkie brother is found dead. Andrew Neisler directs. Saturdays only. Previews begin June 14.
Playwrights Horizons presents the New York première of a musical by Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, and Michael Mitnick, set during the Northeast blackout of 1965, in which a sandwich-maker meets a pair of sisters. Carolyn Cantor directs. In previews. Opens June 11.
Todd Kreidler wrote this new musical, based on the lyrics of Tupac Shakur, about life on the streets. The cast includes Tonya Pinkins; Kenny Leon directs. In previews.
Strange Sun Theatre presents a play by Evan Mueller, in which a group of friends attempt to escape a life-threatening epidemic by taking shelter at a cabin in the woods. Kevin J. Kittle directs. Previews begin June 13. Opens June 16.
The veteran Broadway performer Jim Dale wrote and performs this solo show, about his experiences in the theatre. Richard Maltby, Jr., directs. In previews. Opens June 3.
Michael Shannon stars in this 1959 parable play by Eugene Ionesco, translated by Michael Feingold, about a serial killer on the loose in an otherwise utopian city. Darko Tresnjak directs the Theatre for a New Audience production.
The composer and singer Benjamin Scheuer wrote and performs this autobiographical musical, about his coming of age. Sean Daniels directs, for Manhattan Theatre Club. Previews begin June 10.
Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh’s staging of the Shakespeare play stars Branagh as Macbeth and Alex Kingston as Lady Macbeth, in their New York stage débuts. In previews. Opens June 5.
Jack O’Brien directs Lily Rabe, as Beatrice, and Hamish Linklater, as Benedick, in the opening play of the Public’s free Shakespeare in the Park season. In previews. Opens June 16.
Labyrinth Theatre Company presents a dark comedy by Stephen Belber, in which four friends convene at their high-school reunion and hatch a plan to rescue a friend who was kidnapped by a radical political group. Anne Kauffman directs. Previews begin June 14.
Gaye Taylor Upchurch directs the U.S. première of a play by Nancy Harris, about a London woman with a problematic son who receives a mysterious visit from a professional nanny. Mary McCann stars. In previews. Opens June 10.
The Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise
The Play Company presents the English-language première of a play by Toshiki Okada, translated by Aya Ogawa, about the darkness that lurks beneath the lives of thirty-something Japanese professionals. Dan Rothenberg directs. In previews. Opens June 2.
Qurrat Ann Kadwani wrote and stars in this play, about her experiences as an Indian girl growing up in the Bronx. Obaid Kadwani and Claudia Gaspar direct. In previews.
MCC presents this play by Penelope Skinner, starring Greta Gerwig, Jason Butler Harner, and Scott Shepherd, about a pregnant woman who takes her desires into her own hands when she buys a used bike. Sam Gold directs. In previews. Opens June 10.
When January Feels Like Summer
Cori Thomas wrote this play, about the effect that five Harlem residents have on one another and the world around them. Daniella Topol directs the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Page 73 co-production. In previews. Opens June 5.
When We Were Young and Unafraid
Cherry Jones, Zoe Kazan, Cherise Boothe, Patch Darragh, and Morgan Saylor star in a new play by Sarah Treem, in which a woman running a women’s shelter takes issue with the influence that one of the residents has over her teen-age daughter. Pam MacKinnon directs the Manhattan Theatre Club production. In previews. Opens June 17.
LCT3 presents a new play by Ayad Akhtar, in which a young woman clashes with her Muslim family over the book she has written about women and Islam. Kimberly Senior directs. In previews. Opens June 16.
(Read more)
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events/theatre/
Visit Stage Voices Publishing for archived posts and sign up for free e-mail updates: http://www.stagevoices.com/ . If you would like to contribute a review, monologue, or other work related to theatre, please write to Bob Shuman at Bobjshuman@gmail.com .