Theater

“WAITING FOR GODOT IS A RUBBISH PLAY.” So declared Keith McNally in an Instagram post that caught my eye. “I urge you not to see Waiting for Godot.” Accompanying the statement was an image of the two stars who headlined this fall’s production at Broadway’s Hudson Theater, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. The play is the latest in what regular theatergoers and visiting tourists may have started to recognize as a recurring theme in New York’s theater scene: an overwhelming number of big-name Hollywood screen actors dotting their playbills. These players are here to make their bones and increase their prestige as “true” thespians, often by attaching themselves to tired

Many years ago, and well retired, I was working in my study at home when the phone rang and a voice said, “This is Tom Stoppard. David West put me onto you.” David was the professor of Latin at Newcastle University and it emerged that Tom used him when he had queries about Latin, but now had a question about the ancient Greeks. When he couldn’t answer it, David suggested that Tom should call me. I felt a vast chasm of ignorance opening in front of me and have no memory of what the question was – but my reply must have satisfied him because he continued to throw the

Masquerade honors and innovates the legacy of Phantom of the Opera

Every detail, every sound, every object feels intentional

The musical flirts with nonconformity and then, scared, retreats into its own shadow

An irreverent musical about the ‘life’ of a mysterious dead body forces us to confront death

Sarah Snook excels in her 26-role masterclass — but there’s too much tech

Someone — I forget who — suggested the idea of my play as a joke, and I thought it was a good one

The original cultural punch of the 1970s production has been replaced with gaudy, empty commercialism

The language itself — and the on-the-nose themes that Amy Herzog has unsubtly emphasized — feel like they could be sourced directly from Twitter/X

Director Maria Friedman has harnessed revelatory performances from her three leads to create a theatrical masterpiece