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The Merchant of Venice @ Classic Stage Company

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The Play: The Merchant of Venice; the problematic tale of an anti-semitic merchant whose inability to pay back a loan he took from a Jewish moneylender results in a dramatic trial that hinges on justice, bigotry and mercy Written by: William Shakespeare        Directed by: Igor Golyak One good thing: Veteran actor Richard Topol who has done such fine work in so many plays about Jewish oppression finally gets a crack at playing the moneylender Shylock, even if he’s being made to do it while wearing a Groucho mask, a Dracula cape, a blood-soaked shirt and vampire teeth One not-so-great thing:  In an effort t o realize his vision of the play as a “comedy,” di rector Igor Golyak has dragged in every gimmick he could think of— the Groucho mask, an actor on a unicycle, bubble machines, superhero costumes, video projections, rap music and breakdancing, puppets, puppets having oral sex—but he’s unable to find a way to make those things mesh with the innate tragedy of S...
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Welcome to The Big Dipper @ the York's Theatre at St. Jeans

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The Play: Welcome to the Big Dipper;  Amish farmers,  drag queens,  descendants of an Underground Railroad conductor and the spirits of the Mexican painter Frieda Kahlo and Annie Edson Taylor, the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel, make for too-unbelievably strange bedfellows in this lackluster musical  set in an inn during a blizzard   Music & Lyrics by: Jimmy Roberts    Book by: Catherine Filloux & John Daggett    Directed by: DeMone Seraphin One good thing: The simple set of doors on rolling casters and the subtle video projections of snow falling against a night sky are elegant reminders of how much a production can do on a limited budget One not-so-great thing: Robert Cuccioli, still in great voice two decades after starring in Jekkyl & Hyde, deserves a better showcase than this one    
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Strategic Love Play @ the Minetta Lane Theatre

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The Play: Strategic Love Play, a slightly awkward play about an awkward first date between two insecure people Written by: Miriam Battye        Directed by: Katie Posner One good thing: This is an Audible production so you’ll soon be able to listen to this two-hander in the comfy confines of your own home One not-so-great thing: Both Michael Zegen and Heléne York commit wholly to their characters but those characters, particularly hers, are somewhat annoying, as is the play’s ending    
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The Light and The Dark (The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi) @ 59E59

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The Play: The Light and the Dark (The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi); a paint-by-the-numbers version of this gifted 17th century painter’s struggles to be recognized as an artist at a time when, regardless of their talent, very few women were accepted as professional painters Written by: Kate Hamill        Directed by: Jade King Carroll One good thing:  As the dozens of books that have been published about her attest, Gentileschi is a fascinating subject One not-so-great thing:  Hamill, who also stars as the artist, is clearly incensed by how Artemisia was treated, particularly by the men in her life, but she channels that anger into long harangues that unfortunately come off more as pedantic Ted Talks than affective drama, shedding very little new light on this feminist icon    
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The Blood Quilt @ Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse

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The Play: The Blood Quilt; four very different sisters gather after their mother’s recent death at their family home on a Georgia sea island to continue the ritual of making quilts to memorialize their family’s history in this drama that attempts to cover too much, from the complicated relationships among the siblings— and with their mother — to such outside issues as gentrification and the legacy of slavery Written by: Katori Hall         Directed by: Lileana Blain-Cruz One good thing: The actors are all good but first among equals is Crystal Dickinson who brings not only gravitas to the role of the eldest sister who stayed behind to care for their mother in her final days but a good Geechee accent too; still the true standouts are the dozens of beautiful handmade quilts loaned to the production by the Brooklyn Quilters Guild One not-so-great thing: Blain-Cruz’s has added directorial gestures that are supposed to be culturally appropriate but come off as t...
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Swept Away @ the Longacre Theatre

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The Play: Swept Away; four shipwrecked seamen are faced with a terrible choice about how to save themselves in this dark and sober musical about sacrifice and redemption Music and Lyrics by: The Avett Brothers     Book by: John Logan     Directed by: Michael Mayer One good thing: John Gallagher Jr. as a gruff veteran mate and Stark Sands as an unwilling but sensitive recruit are both fine but the show’s real star is Rachel Hauck’s set, which beautifully creates a 19th century whaling ship during the first half of this 90-minute show and then, assisted by Kevin Adams’ muscular lighting and John Shivers’ visceral soundscape, transforms during the shipwreck One not-so-great thing:  The Avett Brothers’ folk rock songs, taken from one of their earlier albums about a real similar shipwreck, are pretty and fit the story but they sound so much the same that the score became a sonic blur for me        
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King Lear @ The Shed

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  The Play : King Lear; a fast-paced version of the classic tragedy about a monarch whose reckless decision to prematurely divide his kingdom among his daughters leads to the disintegration of his family and his own descent into madness, starring Kenneth Branagh and a group of recent graduates from London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts Written by: William Shakespeare        Directed by: Rob Ashford, Kenneth Branagh and Lucy Skillbeck One good thing: Branagh, who trained at RADA and served as its president from 2014 until stepping down earlier this year, makes only a so-so Lear but gets good mentor points for giving so many young actors the chance to appear in such a high-profile production, and a few of them—including Doug Colling as the virtuous nobleman Edgar and Saffron Coomber, giving off the vibes of a young Zoë  Wanamaker in her feisty portrayal of Lear's middle daughter Regan—show true promise One not-so-great thing:   Aggressively trimming ...
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