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Review: "Twisted" Fills the Exploitation-Comedy-with-Music Need You May Not Have Known You Had

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Twisted Written by Joel Greenhouse Directed by Joe John Battista Music by Peter W. Dizzoza and Joe John Battista Lyrics by Joel Greenhouse Presented by Theater for the New City Executive Director Crystal Field at Theater for the New City 115 1st Ave., Manhattan, NYC September 28-October 15, 2023 Andrew Ryan Perry, Xue Yun Zhang, Tony Del Bono, Christine Weiss Beidel, Brian Belovitch, Robert Z Grant, Penny Balfour, Larry Fleischman, Evan Laurence, Maude Lardner Burke, Sevin Ceviker, JC Augustine. Photo: Hillary Wyatt. In a fog-drenched opening scene featuring sex workers in peril, Twisted , a new play with songs, wastes no time in establishing the existence of an ancient cult that worships a pre-Christian reptilian god. Prior to this beginning, the show projects film-style opening credits full of thunder and lightning and atmospheric bayous, further evoking the exploitation movies to which it pays comedic homage–particularly those of the 1960s, although one might equally be put in mind
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Review: "Friends with Amenities" is Pure Theatrical Pleasure

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Friends with Amenities Written and performed by Ahsan Ali and Lisa Jill Anderson Directed by Sarah Norris Presented by Pendragon Theatre and New Light Theater Project at 59E59 Theaters 59 E 59th St., Manhattan, NYC September 14-30, 2023 Lisa Jill Anderson and Ahsan Ali in Friends with Amenities . Photo by Hayley Garcia Parnell At least some of you reading this have bar friends - those people, usually, for obvious reasons, other regulars at a particular establishment, whom you may have been acquainted with and chatted with for years, but never beyond the confines of your mutually preferred pub. Ali (Ahsan Ali) and Natalie (Lisa Jill Anderson) are, at the start of superb two-hander Friends with Amenities , bar friends—and more specifically, a two-person pub trivia team currently on a hot streak. But when Ali accompanies Natalie back to her apartment after their most recent trivia victory, it will have profound ramifications for their relationship to one another in this beguilingly funn
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Review: "The Jester's Wife" Makes Much of History's Minor Characters

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The Jester's Wife Written and directed by T. J. Elliott Presented by Knowledge Workings Theater LLC at the 36th Street Theatre 312 W 36th St., 3rd. Fl. September 21-October 8, 2023 Jester (Steve Weatherbee) entreats Wife (Emma Taylor Miller) to join his scheme while Stranger (Xander Jackson) observes. Photo by Marjorie P. Elliott When we tell stories, what forces shape not only which stories we choose to tell but also who the protagonists are and who ends up relegated to the margins? The Jester's Wife , written and directed by T. J. Elliott and billed as a Dark Ages comedy, raises such questions by, in a Stoppard-esque move, approaching the story of medieval Irish martyr St. Dymphna by decentering Dymphna herself in favor of those who would normally play at best supporting roles in the tale. This shift foregrounds reflections on gender, religion, power, and art, all wrapped in a hilarious production that would make the titular jester–and his wife–proud. Wife (Emma Taylor Mille
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Review: "Relapse" is the Recovery Off-Broadway Needs

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Relapse: A New Musical Book and lyrics by J. Giachetti Music by Louis Josephson Directed by Joey McKneely Presented by Gotta Believe Theater Group at Theatre Row 410 W 42nd St., Manhattan, NYC September 2-23, 2023 Vinny Celerio (as Intrusive), Nicole Lamb (as Intrusive), Mia Cherise Hall (as Melinda), Zummy Mohammed (as Intrusive), and Audree Hedequist (as Intrusive). Photo by Thomas Mundell | @MundellModernPixels “WebMD has nothing on me.” —Your intrusive thoughts Recovery and relapse. It is a process and cycle that nearly 21 million people in the U.S. consider themselves to be in. Substance abuse and other psychological conditions that prey on obsessive thoughts and behaviors became a terrifying emergency during the pandemic. Not only did substance abuse and overdoses rise during it, but treatment for these conditions became more difficult to access. Many films, series, books, and other media claim to be the art we need after COVID. Theater was a form that was especially hit hard
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Review: "Irregulars" Treats Its Characters' Failings with Hilarity and Compassion

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Irregulars Written and directed by David Adam Gill Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at the Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th St., Manhattan, NYC September 7-24, 2023 Marie Elèna O'Brien, John Peña Griswold, Eric Svendsen, Jonathan Peck, Mickey Pantano. Photo by Mordecai Nuccio The titular Irregulars in the rollicking new comedy from David Adam Gill, Artistic Director of New Ambassadors Theatre Company, hail not from London's Baker Street but Brooklyn's own Carroll Gardens, but if the mysteries with which they are concerned are intrafamilial rather than criminal, they are no less important–and a lot funnier–for that. The title Irregulars literally refers the business, Roger's Irregulars, which sells irregular clothing, that is owned by one of its characters, but metaphorically encompasses Roger (Todd Butera) and his immediate family and in-laws, as well as a couple of those in that extended family's immediate orbit. Playing in repertory with the terrific
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Review: "Tight Five" Stands Up to Mortality

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Tight Five Written by Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold Directed by John Peña Griswold Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at the Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th St., Manhattan, NYC September 7-24, 2023 Priyanka Arya Krishnan and Jennifer Downes. Photo by Mordecai Nuccio. Most of us have plans for self-improvement that are contingent with some kind of "if only"–if only we had more time or funds or resources or support, surely we would succeed, perhaps even transformatively. In Tight Five , a superb new play from New Ambassadors Theatre Company's Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold, one woman offers another the chance to have all of the obstacles on her path to the top of her career removed. The question, though, as always with such offers, is, at what cost? As the funny and captivating Tight Five , playing in repertory with the equally terrific new comedy Irregulars (read our review here ), unspools its answer, it tackles big questions of what it means
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News: Irondale Ensemble Project Celebrates 40th Anniversary Season with Theater Grottesco's "Consider This"

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Irondale , now celebrating forty years of artistically ambitious, and cutting-edge theatre, invites longtime friend and collaborator Theater Grottesco to bring their proactive and funny and hilarious one-man show Consider This to The Space at Irondale September 28th and 29th at 7:30 p.m. Recognized globally for their audacious approach to live performances, Theater Grottesco masterfully weaves together classical and modern theatrical styles, embarking on a lyrical odyssey through culture and imagination. Consider This is a 60-minute romp through the very roots of Western theater which not only resonates with the company’s foundational ethos but also encapsulates the essence of their extensive artistic portfolio. The performance opens with a reflection and a question: There were times when theater artists were changing the world. Are they still? From the grandeur of Greek Tragedy to the playful artistry of Commedia dell’Arte, from the whimsical world of Clown to the enigmatic allure o
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