Writer: Jaymes Jorsling Director: Christopher McElroen Reviewer: Carrie Lee O’Dell In 1957, American photographer W. Eugene Smith moved to a loft building in Manhattan’s flower district, where he conducted his Jazz Loft project. Though the neighborhood was dicey, his building was frequented by a number of jazz greats— Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, and Thelonius Monk among them—who came to play ...

Writer: Edgar Oliver Director: Randy Sharp Reviewer: Alithea Howes Edgar Oliver is a strange man. His emotions are not passionate, that word seems too active, rather they are deep and enduring. His voice is languid, resonant, and hauntingly strange. One’s best guest at placing the origin of his accent is Halloween Town. The story he tells is fittingly haunted, not ...

Co-Creators: Erika Latta, Ivan Talijancic Director: Ivan Talijancic Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers WaxFactory’s latest project at the Connelly Theater, Lulu XX, is in fact a resurrection of a piece co-creators Erika Latta and Ivan Talijancic first developed in 1999.  In today’s sociopolitical climate, this downtown performance art piece proves timely.  Using the works of Frank Wedekind and Alban Berg as inspiration ...

Director/Creator/Choreographer: Lauren Hlubny  Composer: Thomas Giles  Book: Alexis Roblan  Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers  It seems the state of the world of late is foisting outrage fatigue among humans across the globe.  With the twenty-four-seven news cycle, covering everything from environmental devastation to political unrest to local and national tragedies, there is always something out there to break our hearts or ignite ...

Director: Jesse Freedman Reviewer: Carrie Lee O’Dell When one thinks of kung fu films, many things come to mind: intricate fight choreography, long-held grudges, battles for honor, whooshing sounds to mark every punch or kick, and, if you’re Meta Phys Ed. artistic director Jesse Freedman, lengthy debates surrounding Jewish religious law. Meta Phys Ed.’s latest production, The Talmud, which meshes ...

Adaptors: Open Heart Surgery Theatre Based on the poems of: Wislawa Szymborska Director: Coleen MacPherson  Reviewer: Maggie McMuffin “I have to guess on the spot just what this play is about.” One would think with a line like this set toward the beginning that it would be hard to follow This is Why We Live. After all, it is a ...

Choreographer: Jenn Freeman  Composer: Dani Markham  Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers  It seems of late, that run times of shows are of utmost importance to audiences.  Particularly in New York, where it is rare to ever plan just one activity in a single evening, knowing when a show is meant to end is as pertinent as the start time to those purchasing ...

Writer: Martin Moran Director: Seth Barrish Reviewer: Alithea Howes “I wanted to tell you all about a dream I had, but first…” Is how Martin Moran’s  All the Rage begins. There are a lot of “but first”s in this deceptively casual show. It feels like a meandering conversation with an old friend, all tangents and abrupt topic shifts, with surprising humor ...