Plays
The Theatre
Ralph Fiennes Sidles His Way Into Power as Macbeth
A hit British production of Shakespeare’s ever-timely tragedy arrives in D.C.
2023 in Review
This Year’s Best Theatre
On Broadway and off, a return to deep introspection—and Stephen Sondheim.
The Theatre
High Camp and High Tragedy in Two Electrifying Off Broadway Productions
Becca Blackwell and Amanda Duarte play exuberant, boundary-pushing alter egos, and the Irish Rep revives Brian Friel’s stately “Translations.”
Culture Desk
“Death of a Salesman” Reborn, This Time in Mandarin
A new play turns Arthur Miller’s experience of directing the play in Beijing into a bilingual meditation on cross-cultural encounters.
Cultural Comment
Jon Fosse, the Nobel Prize, and the Art of What Can’t Be Named
In his novels and plays, the Norwegian author has continually probed the limits of the perceptible world.
Q. & A.
Larissa FastHorse Becomes the First Native American Woman to Bring a Show to Broadway
The playwright behind “The Thanksgiving Play” discusses her satire of theatre and U.S. history, the enduring prevalence of “redface” in casting, and how a background in ballet made her a better writer.
Persons of Interest
Jodie Comer Puts Her Talents on Trial
The actress often plays women defined by their mastery. In “Prima Facie,” she takes on her toughest role yet: a lawyer who defends men accused of sexual assault.
The Theatre
The Wounded Bluesmen of “Hang Time”
In Zora Howard’s play, at the Flea, three Black men hanging in midair discuss their world views, seemingly stuck in the gray gap between life and death.
The Theatre
Jessica Chastain’s Close Listening in “A Doll’s House”
Jamie Lloyd’s ascetic production of Ibsen’s 1879 drama eliminates nearly every conventional marker of character, location, or gesture.
The Theatre
A Minor Play by Lorraine Hansberry Gets Lost in a Major Revival
Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan star in “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window.”
The Theatre
A “Piano Lesson” with No False Notes
LaTanya Richardson Jackson directs a stunning encore of August Wilson’s most enigmatic work.
The New Yorker Interview
Tom Stoppard Faces His Family’s Past
A conversation with the playwright about the long journey to “Leopoldstadt,” which has just come to Broadway.
The Theatre
Fall Theatre Preview
The Broadway transfer of “KPOP,” “1776” with a twist, Tom Stoppard’s personal new play, “Leopoldstadt,” and more.
The Theatre
Harmonic Lightscapes in Two Furtively Spiritual Plays
In both Will Arbery’s “Corsicana” and Brian Watkins’s “Epiphany,” the terror of love and the agonies of belief are illuminated by the sensitive lighting design of Isabella Byrd.
Cultural Comment
The Tensions of Modern Britain in Jez Butterworth’s “Jerusalem”
The 2009 play, currently in revival, finds new resonance in a post-Brexit reality and with Boris Johnson hanging on at 10 Downing Street.
Culture Desk
The 2022 Tony Awards: How Broadway Got Its Groove Back
Ariana DeBose shined as the host, Michael R. Jackson’s “A Strange Loop” was deservedly awarded, and the night was high-spirited fun.
The Theatre
Sarah Silverman’s Childhood Pee Problem Takes Center Stage
“The Bedwetter” turns the comedian’s memoir into a goofy, sweet, and hopeful musical.
Onward and Upward with the Arts
A Hamlet for Our Time
In a bold new production, the director Robert Icke finds resonances in Shakespeare’s canonical play which make it feel made for this moment.
The Theatre
Daddy Issues in a Pair of Plays
James Ijames’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Fat Ham,” at the Public, and Édouard Louis’s “Who Killed My Father,” at St. Ann’s Warehouse, both feature queer, questioning, father-haunted protagonists.
The Boards
Old Funny Guys Playing Old Funny Guys
Billy Crystal and David Paymer kibbitz at the Friars Club about “Mr. Saturday Night,” their 1992 movie turned Tony-nominated musical, and about no longer requiring old-age makeup.