Theater

Joshua Harmon’s “Prayer for the French Republic,” a play about a family grappling with contemporary and historical antisemitism in France, will transfer to Broadway this winter. The play will be produced by the nonprofit Manhattan Theater Club, which last year presented the play's first run Off Broadway . The production will be directed by David Cromer, who also directed it Off Broadway; it will be staged at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, with previews beginning Dec. 19 and the opening scheduled for Jan. 9. Casting has not been announced. The production comes as concerns about antisemitism have been on the rise in the United States and beyond. Last season featured two shows about antisemitism — the play “Leopoldstadt,” about a Viennese family before, during, and after the Holocaust, and the musical “Parade,” about the lynching of a Jewish businessman in Georgia — both of which are leading contenders for Tony Awards this spring. “Prayer for the French Republic” will be … [Read more...] about ‘Prayer for the French Republic’ Transferring to Broadway

When the playwright and director George C. Wolfe moved to New York City in his 20s, he got a job at an archive for Black cultural history , where his work saving newspaper articles and maintaining records fueled a habit of preserving his own ephemera. “It activated this sort of curiosity-slash-obsession about who gets remembered, what gets saved, what gets valued and what doesn’t,” Wolfe said recently. On Thursday, the New York Public Library announced that it had acquired more than 50 boxes of material from throughout Wolfe’s career, during which he became one of the most sought-after theater directors in the country. His productions, including “Angels in America” and “Bring in ’Da Noise, Bring in ’Da Funk,” garnered multiple Tony Awards, and he’s credited with revolutionizing the Public Theater over a decade as its producer. Working scripts, correspondence with theatrical figures such as Tony Kushner (with whom Wolfe worked closely on “Angels in America”) and photographs … [Read more...] about New York Public Library Acquires George C. Wolfe’s Archives

See the article in its original context from March 22, 1993 Section Page Buy Reprints View on timesmachine TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. It was about a month ago, George C. Wolfe recalled, that he was asked by the executive committee of the New York Shakespeare Festival's board if he'd be interested in taking over the reins of the institution from JoAnne Akalaitis. He was. Then they asked him what he'd do with it. "I told them what I'm passionate about," he said in an interview. "I said you can't create an oasis for … [Read more...] about Shakespeare Festival’s Boss: Idealistic, Romantic and Busy

It sounds like the setup for some kind of droll joke: A lottery winner and a rhinoceros arrive at the birthday party for a dead mystic. Art, and a blowout brawl, ensues. An unusual stew of ingredients, some onstage and some off, has resulted in this strange spectacle’s move from Kentucky to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which, beginning Saturday, Jan. 16, will present “The Glory of the World,” a new play by Charles Mee that takes a silence-and-strife-filled look at the life of Thomas Merton , the 20th-century American Catholic thinker who “remains a source of spiritual inspiration and a guide for many people,” as Pope Francis put it in an unexpected shout-out during his address to Congress in September. The production is being financed by one of the newest and more unexpected patrons of American theater: Roy Cockrum of Knoxville, a onetime Episcopal monk who bought a Powerball ticket at his local supermarket in 2014 and won $259 million . The back story of “The Glory … [Read more...] about The Mystic, the Monk and the Play Brought to You by Powerball

There’s nothing like a death in the family to bring out the worst in people. This unhappy truth is displayed with delectably savage humor in “Bad Jews,” a zesty play by Joshua Harmon that opened on Thursday night at the Laura Pels Theater. Tracee Chimo, leading a flawless cast of four in the best comedy of the season to date, gives a ferocious performance as a young Jewish woman, Diana — she prefers to be called by her Hebrew name, Daphna — aggressively fighting to obtain a religious relic left behind by her grandfather. Opposing her formidable will with a determination that matches hers is Daphna’s cousin Liam (Michael Zegen), who definitely does not prefer to employ his Hebrew name, Shlomo. And don’t think Daphna won’t bring this morsel out when she begins baiting Liam with accusations of contempt for the religion he was born into. But then there’s little artillery left unused when Daphna and Liam begin fighting in earnest for the gold ornament of the Hebrew word “chai” … [Read more...] about Holier Than Thou? Oh, She’s Just Getting Started

Most New Yorkers have probably spent some time in uncomfortably small studio apartments, but it’s doubtful that any has felt more claustrophobic than the one depicted in “Bad Jews,” a new comedy (you were wondering?) by Joshua Harmon at the Roundabout Underground’s Black Box Theater. True, there are lovely views of the Hudson — from the bathroom, yet — but getting to the closet requires trampolining across the foldout bed, and the room is scarcely wider than an aisle in a Target store. This already intimate space is shrunk to shoebox-size proportions by the presence of Diana Feygenbaum, a Vassar senior capable of easily sucking up all the air in a classic six on the Upper West Side. Diana — who prefers to be known by her Hebrew name, Daphna — is portrayed by the marvelous Tracee Chimo as a volatile cross between Sandra Bernhard at her most strident and Sarah Silverman at her most snarky, with maybe a little of the young Barbra Streisand thrown in, as a sort of fabric softener. … [Read more...] about Tiny Space, Big Enough for Emotions