Shame or the Doomsday Machine NYC Reviews and Tickets

70%

(1 Rating)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Quirky, Funny, Fluffy

About the Show

Theater for the New City's Street Theater Company will opens its 42nd annual tour with a free, outdoor musical in which the Theory of Relativity is used to explain modern politics.

'Shame or the Doomsday Machine' is a bouncy joyride through the undulations of the body politic, with astute commentary couched in satire, slapstick, and songs which vary in style from bossa nova to hip hop to Gilbert & Sullivan-style operetta. The production will be staged with an elaborate assemblage of trap doors, giant puppets, smoke machines, masks, original choreography, and a huge running screen or "cranky" providing continuous movement behind the actors.

Free performances will tour closed-off streets, parks and playgrounds throughout the five boroughs until September 16. Find a full list of locations and showtimes here.

Show-Score Member Reviews (1)

Funny, Quirky, Fluffy

See it if A street show that is funny, political but not too in your face. Sets are well thought of. Grab a crate and watch.

Don't see it if If fire engines or people walking by bother you. If you want a big production musical.

Critic Reviews (1)

"A tuneful and anarchic mix of rock, rap, physics, politics, satire, and vaudeville, featuring scenes as varied as a classroom in New York City, a Black Hole in the Universe, and Club Mad, 2000 feet below Mar-a-Lago, each presented in hand-painted scenes on a hand-cranked scrolling backdrop. Ok, so the show is not subtle. But it is fun, and entertaining, and there is even something of an arc, and a loud, clear, and hopeful message."
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Trailer

Creative team

Crystal Field

Writer / Director and Lyricist

Joseph Vernon Banks

Composer

Theater for the New City

Producer