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Prince Faggot, a joint production of Soho Rep & Playwrights Horizons @ PH

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The Play: Prince Faggot; a speculative narrative that imagines that the now-11-year-old Prince George has grown up to be a gay man struggling to balance the responsibilities that come with being heir to the British throne and his desire to be true to himself and to the mixed-race man he loves Written by: Jordan Tannahill        Directed by: Shayok Misha Chowdhury One good thing: All six members of the cast are played by proudly queer actors and it’s great to see them in roles that so fully explore experiences like theirs without exploiting them or playing them just for laughs One not-so-great thing: The sex scenes are so intense that phones have to be locked in Yondr pouches before audience members can enter the theater—and although they’re beautifully lit and sensitively staged, those scenes don’t really need to be that explicit to make their point    

Beau: The Musical, an Out of the Box Theatrics production at Theatre 154

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The Play: Beau: The Musical, a thirtysomething musician looks back at his youth, growing up as a gay kid in Tennessee during the ‘80s and ‘90s while trying to manage his sexual identity, his single mother’s love life and the relationships each of them has with the father who once abandoned her  Concept, book and lyrics by: Douglas Lyons               Music by: Ethan D. Pakchar & Douglas Lyons                                      Directed and choreographed by: Josh Rhodes One good thing: The toe-tapping country-rock score is terrifically performed by an onstage band lead by Matt Rodin and its members are just as entertaining when they double as the show's cast    One not-so-great thing:  It would have been great if the show had spent a little more time with the father/grandfather’s story because it’s one that’s not as fami...

Trophy Boys @ MCC Theater

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The Play: Trophy Boys, the four-member debate team from an all boy’s high school is given one hour to come up with arguments to defend the prompt on why feminism is bad for women in this satire about patriarchal privilege and toxic masculinity that purposefully casts actors who were assigned female identities at birth to play the male roles. Written by: Emmanuelle Mattana        Directed by: Danya Taymor One good thing: Matt Saunders' set of a classroom at an elite private school for girls—complete with a gallery of she-roes on the wall—is so pitch-perfect that that you can almost smell the mix of book glue and Billie Eilish Eau de Parfum One not-so-great thing: The characters may be male but this is just a variation on the “angry young woman” play in which characters muse about how women are mistreated and then express their anger with some kind of ritualistic dance; Taymor calibrated it perfectly in the Tony-nominated “John Proctor is the Villain” but less so h...

Low Country @ the Atlantic Theater Company

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The Play: Low Country,  two desperately lonely people—he’s on parole and struggling to regain visiting rights with his kid; she’s a failed actress who’s returned to their rural South Carolina town with some unfinished business of her own—have a first date that reveals secrets about their pasts and challenges their ability to move ahead unscathed Written by: Abby Rosebrock        Directed by: Jo Bonney One good thing: Babak Tafti and Jodi Balfour turn in committed—and very sexy—performances as the troubled couple One not-so-great thing: The ghost of Sam Shepard haunts this play that is less an homage and more a lesser imitation     

Angry Alan @ Studio Seaview

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The Play: Angry Alan; a sly satire about one middle-aged white guy’s descent into the most toxic and self-pitying parts of the manosphere  Written by: Penelope Skinner, created with Dan Mackay        Directed by: Sam Gold One good thing: John Krasinski puts his nice-guy image to good use in an awards-worthy performance that mines the show’s many comedic moments, almost creates empathy for a man who considers himself a loser and then just as effectively unleashes the resentful rage that can come when such men see themselves as victims of society  One not-so-great thing: I suppose there’s the danger that some viewers may not get the satire and walk away feeling “seen” but this is a really smart and entertaining show so my only real complaint is why the New York Times which makes almost every other show it reviews a “Critics Pick” somehow chose not to do so for this one    

Call Me Izzy @ Studio 54

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The Play: Call Me Izzy; a one-person show about a rural woman who tries to use her gift as a naturally-talented poet to escape her life as a longtime battered wife Written by: Jamie Wax        Directed by: Sarna Lapine One good thing: Jean Smart, who’s won all kinds of awards for her TV work especially in the HBO series “Hacks”, makes an equally praiseworthy return to the New York stage for the first time in 25 years One not-so-great thing:  The play seems somewhat gratuitous since it offers no fresh insights about domestic abuse and its ending is particularly unsatisfying    

The Imaginary Invalid, a Red Bull Theater production at New World Stages

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The Play : The Imaginary Invalid, a trimmed-down version of the 17th century French farce about a hypochondriac whose obsession with his health blinds him to all the machinations that are going on around him Written by: Moliere      Adapted by: Jeffrey Hatcher        Directed by: Jesse Berger One good thing: The cast includes some of the funniest theatrical clowns in the business, including Mark-Linn Baker, Arnie Burton and Stephanie Styles One not-so-great thing: The pacing is sluggish, which can be the kiss of death for a farce