The Playgoer: The Season Ahead

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Thursday, August 05, 2010

The Season Ahead

by Dr. Cashmere
 
There will be plenty of time over the next few weeks to moan, to complain, to lament. But for now, a quick list of some productions I'm looking forward to in the coming season. In no particular order:

--GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph at Second Stage. I heard good things about ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER at Second Stage Uptown in 2008. But, if memory serves, by the time the strong reviews surfaced the run was nearly sold out--and there wasn't an affordable ticket to be had.

(That seems to happen repeatedly with well-reviewed Second Stage Uptown offering, including right now with BACHELORETTE, where all seats seem to be $63 after the inevitable service charge. Aren't these supposed to be the risky, offbeat plays that theatregoers are being invited to take a chance on? Look at that--managed to work in a complaint after all.)

--THREE WOMEN by Sylvia Plath at 59E59. I'm no Plathophile, still I was surprised that I'd never heard about this play. The London production appears to have garnered mixed reviews.

--THREE PIANOS by Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duffy and Dave Malloy at New York Theatre Workshop. I saw the version of this production that went up at the Ontological-Hysteric Theatre a few months back. So this is really just a recommendation of a superb ensemble-created work.

The play is a meditation on creativity, biography and the work of Franz Schubert. But it's more playful and accessible than that sounds--and intermittently hilarious.

--THE PEE WEE HERMAN SHOW by Paul Reubens at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Reading Charles McNulty's LA Times review, this production seems to be as much about camp and nostalgia as anything else. But I've got a soft spot for Mr. Herman, so this will have to do until the Judd Apatow film surfaces.


Also BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, both of which I missed the first time around.

What are other people looking forward to?

1 comment:

Aaron Riccio said...

Sheila Callaghan's ROADKILL CONFIDENTIAL will be her return to 3LD (9/7).

Sarah Ruhl's ORLANDO will be at CSC (9/8).

Edward Albee's ME MYSELF & I will be at Playwrights Horizon (9/10).

It's looking like a good season, and I'm looking forward to getting back to work. (But first, the Fringe!)