broadway
The recipe for good theatre is simple, not easy. Clean writing, intriguing characters, and solid acting get you 99% of the way there. The revival of Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw, up now at the Helen Hayes Theatre, has everything you need for good theatre and not much that you don’t.
review
At its core, Every Brilliant Thing is theatre for normies, written for the lowest common denominator of audience member. In seeking to be meaningful to everybody, it strips itself of depth.
broadway
It’s a doomed effort, the kind of production that makes you feel bad for those putting it on. Not because they are doing badly, but because the Sisyphian nature of their task is so tragically clear.
broadway
There's something that feels dirty and voyeuristic about watching this play (and not because of the nudity). We watch these people spiral, we watch them fall apart, we watch them kill others and then themselves. And for what? I’m not sure. It's a bit trauma-porny for my taste.
broadway
Throughout, the cast and crew at Studio 54 swing for the fences. They wind up with a double. There’s nothing wrong with an extra base hit—but it isn't quite the home run that they’re trying for.