21 stories by "Alex Simmons"
THE DANISH PRINCE, DECODED Focused staging and strong performances bring Hamlet’s inner life into view at BAM. The National Theater’s Hamlet at BAM follows in the tradition of other fine…
MAY THE FUNNY FORCE BE WITH YOU A solo show that blasts fandom toxicity into hyperspace Plot a course, prime the hyperdrive, and punch it, Chewie! A sci-fi multimedia solo show lands in the …
A DANGEROUS STORY, TOLD FROM THE OTHER SIDE A provocative two-hander that shifts the lens onto the older man in a fraught relationship Teacher-student affairs are a classic subject of drama …
A FEMINIST REFRAME Peculiar Works Project's ambitious reimagining offers striking ideas but struggles to make its case with uneven execution Alessandra Lopez There's an ancient folktale of a…
BOXING, BLOODLINES, AND BURIED TRAUMA A smart, muscular, triumphant and thrilling two-hander that lands every blow What's worse? The monsters we fight, the monsters we carry, or the monsters…
DIM SUM, DAD JOKES, AND DOWNTOWN DELIRIUM It's ridiculous, but Richard Chang's solo show serves up wordplay, warmth, and a wonderfully wild cultural mashup. ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✅
ALGORITHMS, ETHICS, AND THE COST OF INFORMATION A sleek, jargon-charged tech thriller that trades in privacy, prediction, and moral gray zones Between ownership battles over data-rich social…
One of the great pleasures of New York City is that it's a place where it feels perfectly normal to hear someone say, "I'm headed to SoHo to see an adult Christmas puppet show," and mean it …
A TIME WARP TO THE 1970s WOMEN'S MOVEMENT, REFRACTED THROUGH 2025 EYES STILL SQUINTING TOWARDS EQUALITY "Why does it feel somehow like it's all slipping away? And how do we get it back?" Tha…
A HEAUX-LY COMMUNION Ars Nova kicks off its 2025"2026 season with a salacious and sanctified evening featuring Brandon Kyle Goodman in Heaux Church"a sermon on unabashed self-love (and yes, …
NOTHING CAN TAKE YOU FROM JEN TULLOCK'S PERFORMANCE We've all seen the headline flash on TV: "New Book Tells All About Author's Escape from Restrictive Religious Upbringing." It's a story th…
MIND OVER MATTER: IDEAS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN JOHNATHAN SPECTOR'S INTELLECTUALLY COMPELLING THIS MUCH I KNOW When was the last time you made a choice? What went through your mind? Did you kno…
A KNOCKOUT OF CONSCIENCE You always "step in," says Jacob " that's what you do when your mates are about to fight. Growing up in The Meadows, Nottingham, that lesson kept him safe (well, saf…
LOU WALL SLAYS, AND THAT'S NO LIE Whether a comedian is obligated to tell the truth in their act comes up in mainstream discourse every once and a while. Plenty of comedians start a comedy b…
THIS SOW BELONGS TO EVERYBODY There's the actor's nightmare, there's nightmare productions, and then there's Excorcistic: The Rock Musical which is nightmarishly twisted and sick. But don't …
SINSATIONAL SENSATIONALISM OR, WHAT HAPPENS IN TIMES SQUARE, STAYS IN TIMES SQUARE Escape artistry emerged as a formal performance art in the 1860s, when the Davenport Brothers popularized t…
HOLY LAND, HOLY LAUGHS Comedy goes a lot of places, and some say a comedian can and should be able to joke about anything. But what if a comedian wants to go to Israel and the Palestinian te…
QUIPS AND CHORDS Seasoned comedian Gianmarco Soresi asked a jovial audience member at Public Theater's cozy Joe's Pub: "Did you go to school for musical theater?"; "What was the last musical…
A BEACON OF NOPE A secluded matriarch, a remote cottage on the Irish coast, and a haunting family secret. The key components of an Irish drama are here. Yet despite strong performances and a…
One of the most difficult crises to recover from is assault, let alone the assault from an intimate partner. Do you tell anyone? Do you confront? Do you forgive? To muse over these questions…
A PUUUURFECT REVIVAL IS SERVED "Get your life!" says the pre-show announcement as the lights dim in the Perelman Performing Arts Center before last night's opening of this much talked-about …