Review: Martin McDonagh’s Satirical ‘Hangmen’: Thin Thread, Bottom-Heavy
After intermission, McDonagh gives his Plot-o-Matic a few more cranks, but what keeps you focused on Hangmen is the retro mood and the superb ensemble, not innovative storytelling or genuine insight into character. His plays are tightly constructed, with dialogue that uses repetition and profanity to musical effect, but they are woefully mechanical.
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‘for colored girls’ Is a Timeless Movement in Compassion
After playwright Ntozake Shange’s death in 2018, her sister—the playwright Ifa Bayeza—said, “I don’t think there’s a day on the planet when there’s not a young woman who discovers herself through the words of my sister.” As I watched the revival of Shange’s “choreopoem” for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow […]
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‘How I Learned To Drive’ is a Nuanced Exploration of Memory
As the adage goes, “More Vogel, less Mamet.” Right now on Broadway, this is just beginning to come true, or at least approaching it. Although we have to suffer through both David Mamet’s problematic and dangerous rant about male teachers being pedophiles and a lackluster revival of American Buffalo, we also are graced–thank God–with a […]
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