In a year where it was very difficult to be a woman “Simple Math” offers a cathartic revelation for countless people who have been assaulted and then groomed or shamed into silence with its message being: you’re not alone, and more importantly it isn’t your fault. And given the current political climate one can’t help but commend that.

Rooms full of missed opportunities sprawl across Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theatre where Steven Levenson’s new play “Days of Rage” is running through November 2018. Mr. Levenson, the award-winning book-writer of “Dear Evan Hansen, tackles the important issues of nationalism, xenophobia, and racism against the backdrop of a radical collective of three friends protesting the “atrocities” of the Vietnam War.  The time is October 1969 and Spence (an intense yet vulnerable Mike Faist), Jenny (a devoted and lonesome Lauren Patten), and Quinn (an unbridled and combative Odessa Young) share a ramshackle old house in upstate New York where they espouse the tenets of Lenin, Marx, and Engels and are engaged in recruiting other anti-war advocates to join them in a road trip to Chicago where an estimated twenty-five thousand will gather to rage against the war, the President, and the establishment.

“YouthandDeath”, written, directed, and choreographed by Chris Bell, tells several stories of his life all strewn together in the fragmented way that one would recall things from memory using beautiful dance, a narration from Bell that feels very much like a spoken word poem, and a unique selection of music ranging from Cole Porter to Nicki Manaj. It features an ensemble of four dancers (Nicole Baker, London Brison, AJ Guevara, and Katarina Lott) each representing a different essential aspect of life, being (in no particular order) Youth, Death, Change, and Beauty.

After greeting the audience at New York Theatre Workshop, playwright Heidi Schreck introduces her play “What the Constitution Means to Me” as follows: “When I was 15 years old, I travelled the country giving speeches about the Constitution at American Legion halls for prize money. This was a scheme invented by my mom, who was a debate coach, to help me pay for college.” For ninety minutes, Ms. Schreck rehearses those speeches not for prize money but to remind the audience that the Constitution has been less protective of human rights than its drafters intended and to warn the audience that the main culprit in this diminution of protection is the Supreme Court of the United States.

Unless your heart is as cold as ice, "Bright Star" will handily win you over right from the start, then make you emotional, and then even later, embrace you tightly in a great big bear hug, as if to ensure you that even in the bleakest of situations, there is always a bright light in the distance that can guide you to where you need to be.

I tremendously respect and admire playwrights who bring an immediacy of personal reactions to their stories of racial conflict and tension within the theatre. The Stratford Festival’s recent production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is only one example that comes to my mind. I had read in earlier press releases that Marco Ramirez’s “The Royale” deals with racial tensions in the Jim Crow era.  As I sat quietly waiting for the play to begin, I wondered if audiences are becoming saturated to the point where we feel nothing about this theme?

Sometimes a dish made with wholly familiar ingredients can feel fresh just because of the way they’re put together. Maybe you use higher quality cocoa in your brownies. Or perhaps it’s the addition of a secret ingredient that does the trick. Peanut butter chips or, I don’t know, marijuana. Those exact treats are featured in Long Wharf Theatre’s 2018-2019 season opener “The Roommate” and, like a good pot brownie, the play often feels like a bite of comfort food spiked with a woozy twist.

“Fame the Musical” is currently touring the UK with its 30th Anniversary tour, this week it stops off at Edinburgh’s delightful King’s Theatre.

The musical follows students of the New York City High School of performing arts, and their struggles to succeed or perhaps fail at reaching the career of their dreams.

Each year, the Jim Henson Foundation aims to keep their namesake’s legacy alive and well by granting an annual Family Grant to an organization creating innovative new examples of children’s storytelling through puppetry. One recent example is the latest production to be showcased at The Tank: “The Amazing Story Machine”, a new story that tells the story of how seven generations after the brothers Grimm changed children’s storytelling forever with their book of fairy tales, the cousins Grimm seek to do the same with their brand new invention…only for things to not go quite to their plan along the way.

“Billy Elliot” is a feel-good story of a mining town on strike getting together to support a child who has the chance to get out of the town. The show is full of great dancing, catchy music written by Elton John, and a script by Lee Hall that never lags. This production at the beautiful recently renovated 19th Street Theatre was of professional quality.

In this sense, “Constellations” constitutes a dazzling counterargument on both the theoretical and practical level to the idea that all meaning lies dormant in, for example, a script or sealed up inside the words on a page; and that no matter who utters them, or how, or in what context and physical space, they will mean the same thing. For this and many other reasons, it follows that only a talented and experienced actor can pull off Payne’s play. No doubt with invaluable assistance from director Mark Shanahan, and fostered by an excellent company that rarely misfires, Sandberg and Williams are terrific. They never miss a beat.

I’m pretty sure British theatergoers have seen a resounding revival of classic farce in recent times, both in London and across regional theatres. In the years since the revival of Richard Bean’s “One Man, Two Guvnors” back in 2015, I’ve noticed a resurgence in the genre that combines slapstick with endless gags in a bid to bring the auditorium roof down. As luck would have it, then, the new revival of Mischief Theatre’s “The Comedy About a Bank Robbery” has just rolled into the Leeds Grand Theatre.

Under Leigh Silverman’s exquisite direction, the cast delivers a profoundly moving ensemble performance that insists the audience make the ultimate choice whether Emily will publish the essay. Fact and fiction have significant roles to play in humankind’s story telling.

While thought-provoking “Stranger than a Rhino” is sure to polarize audience members on either side of the political spectrum with what at first glance is a blunt approach to what anyone would consider incredibly challenging subject matter. But know that the piece does redeem itself in the last five minutes and for the audience member that goes in genuinely assuming no ill-intent it is sure to provoke stimulating conversations on the train ride home.  

The cast is splendid in their roles and the songs soar filling the entire theatre, yet the story line fails at the end with its weak consequence for such a selfish plot by a teenage boy. While creating an important role for himself to feel a sense of belonging, the boy gets girl and then loses girl, disappoints many because of his dishonest actions.

Brick Road Theatre’s production of “Mamma Mia!” offered the powerful and energetic blast of warm island air this rain-soaked Dallas-Fort Worth-area crowd desperately needed on an otherwise dreary Friday night. Dynamic choreography, robust vocal stylings and charging musical numbers served as the ideal backdrop for this exuberant story celebrating the joyful heartbreaking and passionate moments life throws our way.

Telling a story about the unrealistic expectations of perfection through the lense of  daytime television, an unapologetically plastic-perfect medium, is a brilliant concept. Though, I found myself wishing that “Serving Brulee” would take the time to lean into that concept a little more, peel back on the jokes, letting them come from a place of truth rather than absurdity, and leave us wanting seconds.

Normal Ave, a relatively young company has started off their third season with a production of “Completeness” that is sure to affect audiences of all ages. Written by Itmar Moses and directed by Jeremy Landes “Completeness” is a love letter to non-committal relationships with a relevant exploration of how the millennial generation approaches or rather avoids approaching relationships. 

Since 2003, The Tank has earned a reputation as one of the leading venues in New York for presenting some of the most unique work, presented by artists who aren’t afraid to think outside the box. When I say this, this often includes works that take social and cultural issues that are prevalent in society, and thus covered frequently in the arts, but explores them in a way that is experimental and different from most mainstream contemporary works. That is especially true of Ruffles, the latest world premiere to find a home at this venue this month.

“Wouldn’t you like to have someone as honest as Harry S. Truman in office now?”

 At least, that’s the question that was posed by the prolific Ego Actus Theatre Company, as they revived the autobiographical one-man show “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry” this past weekend. Originally written by Samuel Gallu, former President Truman is brought back to life by prolific actor J. Dolan Byrnes, who brings a unique perspective to a role such as this, having once served as a Congressional aide during the Reagan administration.