Juan Michael Porter II

"So what are the characters of playwright Rajiv Joseph's Letters to Suresh to do when all they’ve been tasked with is reciting the contents of their exposition-heavy letters aloud in direct address to the audience? The answer is to serve as talking heads for material that feels better suited for an article in The New Yorker than it does for an Off-Broadway play." Full Review

"The playwright has taken ethnographic pains to expertly capture the speaking patterns of his characters, and director Saheem Ali weaves together a world that feels like real life, even when the action branches into the supernatural. His ace collaborators include costumer Ayite, choreographer Moultrie and hair and makeup designer Cookie Jordan. Together with a uniformly wonderful cast, they movingly convey 'Sugar’'s central message: Love prevails even in a hopeless place." Full Review

"Holland crafts powerful stage portraits that play on Duff's swaggering buff blackness and Horowitz's timid, well-meaning whiteness; their physical interaction suggests a tense game of chess that keeps threatening to spill over into violence or sex...Although their star turns yield moments of heartbreaking drama, 'Dutch Masters' remains a one-note issue play. The basic situation is implausible...The back-and-forth interrogation that ensues seems formulaic." Full Review

"Grappling with midlife 'conscious uncoupling' promises to unleash all sorts of demons in 'My Brilliant Divorce.' That no monsters end up appearing in this potentially hilarious vehicle for a woman of a certain age has everything to do with Melissa Gilbert’s miscasting...Gilbert comes off as a sweet shiksa milquetoast, knocked flat by the sudden turn of events but without a proportionate sense of rage; she is delightfully engaging, but has none of the conspiratorial vengeance one craves." Full Review

"Because its performances are so fully rendered and points so wonderfully tackled, one does not realize that 'Neighbors' follows a parroting formula of, 'You know what the problem with you people is? Let me tell you,' until well after the fact. The majesty of what playwright Cubria has accomplished, and the astute hand with which director Moreno has rendered it, is such that it is difficult to fault him for this cheat. The end game is this magnificent production." Full Review

“A barnyard-raising show with unflagging energy…There are too many songs...These people are constantly and inappropriately breaking out into song…This production hovers on the edge of greatness by virtue of its marvelous production values and performances. Though the ‘choreography’ is quite bad, Heffernan's direction is solid…If this show wants to fly, it needs to pare down on the interminable singing and focus on the songs that really matter.” Full Review

"The sort of thing that one chortles through from paragraph to paragraph while unraveling additional meanings until the final period lands...There is so much to slog through, with so little actually happening, that missing even a beat means losing five or twelve points...Thank goodness then for the vivid balls-to-the-walls acting...Though always clever, the proceedings risk becoming exhausting, particularly during the second act...Oh but that ending is a beauty." Full Review

"All families have their secrets, but few handle them as entertainingly as the Mabry family in Douglas Lyon’s Chicken & Biscuits. All is not perfect by the play’s end but...It’s the perfect take home message as we continue to navigate the viral pandemics that are tearing our nation apart." Full Review

"Working with a superb multigenerational cast, Campbell-Holt fleshes out every uncomfortable nuance in Roper's collection of mostly two-person conversations. Placid as some of the interactions might look from our voyeuristic vantage point, they are tense with potential violence; corruption, betrayal and resentment are never very far from the surface." Full Review

"Buried under long passages of nonsense in 'The Stone Witch' is a moving tribute to confronting one's heroes...The problem is Bitterman's focus on mental illness. When depicting insanity onstage, anything can happen and frequently does—but the mere absence of reason is rarely interesting. Zuckerman coaxes honest reactions out of his performers, but watching Peter repeatedly struggle with Simon's hallucinations grows exhausting as they slog through the largely meaningless confusion." Full Review

"Purports to excavate the background of Billy The Kid but buries the lede beneath lackluster dialogue that mistakes clichés for insight...Encumbered by Charles Cissel's flat prose, these actors fail to register as anything other than cinematic stand ins. In fact they look as if they are marking time along with the rest of us until curtain falls. In lieu of direction, Gabriel Vega Weissman has the actors yell their lines as if increased volume will summon greater lucidity. " Full Review

"Using a sly hand, Malik dispenses information through rapid fire thoughtful humor and honest dialogue that flows naturally. Fahmy's direction, Esler's scenic design, and Kengmana's lighting embrace this seamless quality by treating the show as if it were one beautiful dream sequence...It is undeniable that 'Mecca' wraps things up too tidily, however that resolution feels earned and gratifying. Like the production team, the entire cast is flawlessly marvelous." Full Review

"Yassur's direction is bold and intelligent. Rosen's translation is clear...Unfortunately most of the performances are delivered in one mode: whiny, angsty, and loud...As the play's prime character, Twersky spent the bulk of his time mugging at maximum volume regardless of what was happening...The musicality of language and nuances found in measuring a breakdown between insanity and reality were missing. Despite that, the illustration of the play's themes...was clear." Full Review

"It's a violent little play full of gallows humor, misogynistic cracks, and rambling word games that go on for too long and yet, there is something to it. 'Love Is Dead!' gave a rough premiere tonight at The Secret Theatre. Beneath its plodding pace, one thing is clear: the work is a modern-day penny-dreadful, though with more 'South Park' style than Grand Guignol wit." Full Review