The Play's the Thing

Eliza Doolittle could've danced all night, and I could've watched Barlett Sher's beautiful production of My Fair Lady all night. I am not the warmest person. I'm a bit cynical and not sentimental in the slightest. I roll my eyes when people talk about how hard they cry over shows that should not bring anyone to tears. But sometimes a production just comes along and is so perfect and stunning, like My Fair Lady , that it is a joy to watch, that prove that underneath that cynical shell, I am at heart a sentimentalist. My Fair Lady isn't a perfect musical. Sure, it can be problematic, and yeah, Higgins is a real jerk, and maybe it is a bit dated for 2018 (I assure you, it is not Carousel ) but Barlett Sher really can work magic to make these familiar, old, even creaky musicals so fresh, and well, magical. Sher's magic begins with his casting. Eliza is played by the splendid Lauren Ambrose. Ambrose's Eliza has great agency, and feels like an equal to Higg...

There is much to like about Admissions : it's proof that playwright Joshua Harmon can be versatile in his subject matter and writing and the acting, lead by Jessica Hecht at her best, is uniformly excellent. The play grips you for 90 entertaining minutes. But it is yet another entry in the "let's be as timely and relevant as possible" catalog that has consumed the New York theater scene this season. And look, I have said multiple times that good theater should reflect the time in which it is written, and that is a product of what's happening in the world. However, between Relevance , Kings, and now Admissions, I am tired of every playwright standing on a soap box to prove he or she is the most with it, the most "woke," as the kids would say. Just write a play, just tell a story, let us find meaning. However, what Admissions also does right is engage the audience in a dialogue of ideas, and it left my boyfriend and I with much to discuss after the fi...