There was a touch of theater in the Women’s March over the weekend, with protesters’ signs adapting “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins to fit current events, and the return of those pink pussy hats. Women dominated actual New York theater as well, with Bernadette Peters beginning her performances in Hello, Dolly; a new documentary about Raisin in the Sun playwright Lorraine Hansberry (watch in full below), and the announcement of a forthcoming book (in April) of photographs chronicling early Barbra Streisand, 1963 to 1966, her Broadway era.
“Art cannot change events. But it can change people…Because people are changed – enriched, ennobled, encouraged – they then act in a way that may affect the course of events,,,”
–Leonard Bernstein#ArtActionDayhttps://t.co/fonqrNe1mK pic.twitter.com/ckF57QUANb— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 20, 2018
The Week in New York Theater Reviews
Death is well-suited to the stage, according to a philosopher quoted in “The Undertaking,” a play about death and dying written and directed by Steve Cosson, the artistic director of The Civilians. Actors playing Lear or Hamlet allow us to “practice” death, the philosopher explains; they are “ventriloquising” death for us. Death is such a common theme and occurrence in live dramas that theater might as well be called one of the fatal arts.
Given this prominence of death in theatrical life, and The Civilians’ own track record, “The Undertaking” winds up an underwhelming undertaking.
A white police officer shoots a black driver five times after pulling him over for a minor traffic violation. But things are not what they seem in “Black, White & Blue”by William Watkins, one of the six 10-minutes plays in the ninth annual Fire This Time Festival.
Watkins’ play is the most overtly political, and one of the most effective, in the evening of short plays that is the centerpiece of this year’s Fire This Time Festival, which showcases the work of early-career playwrights of African and African American descent, running through January 28, 2018.
Watch Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart
For those outside the coverage area, here’s the trailer:
The Week in New York Theater News
The 63rd annual Obie Awards, presented on May 21, 2018, will have a new host — John Leguizamo — and a new venue — Terminal 5, which is on W 56th St. , far from the Village, but close to a new center of theater in Manhattan.
Weekend With Sam, Feb 3-4 at La MaMa ETC: Readings of the work of Sam Shepard including two unpublished works from LaMaMa Archive Cast: Matthew Broderick, John Slattery, J Smith Cameron, Peggy Shaw, Erin Markey, Gia Crovatin, Frederick Weller FREE but reservations required.
Guastavino’s Pampamapa • María Elena Walsh’s Como la cigarra
Randy Newman’s Political Science • Woody Guthrie’s Old Man Trump
Deaf activist, actor, reality competition winner (@ANTMVH1 AND @DancingABC) and really hot model Nyle DiMarco is now one of the producers of @LesserGodBway, opens Ap 11
I want to better 70 million Deaf lives worldwide.
Please RT to spread awareness, thank you. pic.twitter.com/xQC0vpGaGY
— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) August 23, 2017
At @MCP_US‘s Broadway Classics in Concert, @raminkarimloo, @LauraOsnes, @MsLeaSalonga @normlewis777 @Ryan_Silverman & more will sing Gershwin, @MrJasonRBrown @AIMenken, Lucy Simon + more
Feb 20 @carnegiehall https://t.co/avdtQhN1vB pic.twitter.com/txNoWuEkRg— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 18, 2018
The original @BAM_Brooklyn ~ 1895, at 176 Montague Street, which opened in 1861 – & burned down in 1903.
Photo of the week from @brooklynhistory pic.twitter.com/u2VAzoWdNb— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 18, 2018
RIP Bradford Dillman, 87, TV & film star, and the original Edmund Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night on Broadway (There he is to the left of Jason Robards Jr, Fredric March, and Florence Eldridge) pic.twitter.com/oOSTHKAVrR
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) January 19, 2018
