The Public Theater

Stage Door: February House

Fern Siegel | Posted 05.23.2012

Read More: Arts, Poets, Writers, W.H. Auden, Literature, Carson McCullers, February House, The Public Theater, NY Around Town, Public Theater, Arts News

The trials and tribulations, both artistic and personal, of this singular crew would make a compelling story. However, the characters of February House are drawn in brushstrokes; there isn't enough at stake.

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Watching GATZ: Sometimes You Just Have To Go See An 8-Hour Play

Carol Hartsell | Posted 04.18.2012

Read More: Gatz, The Great Gatsby, The Public Theater, Comedy News

"Word on the street is you went to see an 8-hour play. WTF?" I can't decide whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that it seemed completely incongruous to those who know me that I went to the marathon event that is Elevator Repair Service's "GATZ" at the Public Theater. Not only was I willing to go see this long-ass play, but I also happened to love it.

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Intense, Ironic, Iconic: Hahn-Bin Takes Joe's Pub at The Public

Jim Luce | Posted 02.12.2012

Read More: Hahn-Bin, East Village, Joe?S Pub, Korean-Americans, Joseph Papp, Amadeus, Young Frankenstein, Jim Luce, Peter Samelson, Music, Astor Library Building, The Public Theater, Itzhak Perlman, Carnegie Hall, John Blacklow, Arts News

Hahn-Bin is the ultimate perfectionist. The theater manager confided to me the musician had arrived ten hours before the concert to prepare -- to get everything just right. And just right it was.

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First Nighter: Mike Daisey Takes a Big and Sour Bite Out of Steve Jobs's Apple

David Finkle | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Spaulding Gray, Steve Jobs, Foxconn, Jean-Michele Gregory, The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Apple, Shenzhen, The New York Times Op-Ed, Jean Shepherd, The Public Theater, Mike Daisey, China, Arts News

During the nearly two-hour intermissionless talk, technology-worshiping Daisey does acknowledge that Jobs was "the only hero I ever had." But that was prior to a trip he made not that long ago to Shenzhen, China and the Foxconn manufacturing plant.

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First Nighter: Two Shakespeare "Problem" Plays Cause Additional Problems in Central Park

David Finkle | Posted 08.30.2011

The "problem plays" Shakespeare uncorked in the early 17th century contain enough problems that there's no call for directors and players to add new ones. That, however, is what's transpiring in the Public Theater's summer 2011 Central Park offerings.

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Stage Door: Knickerbocker, Woman Before A Glass

Fern Siegel | Posted 07.25.2011

Read More: Jonathan Marc Sherman, Knickerbocker, Modern Art, Entertainment, Theater, Peggy Guggenheim, The Public Theater, Off-Broadway, Arts News

The production is an intimate work, resting on 40-year-old Jerry's impending fatherhood. Sherman, who has long traced his own emotional travails, starting with the heartfelt Women and Wallace in 1990, keeps the tone light here.

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First Nighter: Tony Kushner's Intelligent Homosexual's Guide... Continues Genius Display

David Finkle | Posted 07.05.2011

Read More: Stephen Spinella, Michael Cristofer, Eli Yale, Slavs!, Steven Pasquale, Danielle Skraastad, Robert Browning, Matt Servitto, Angels in America, Michael Esper, Linda Emond, Arthur Miller, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Michael Greif, A Bright Room Called Day, Hettiene Park, K. Todd Freeman, Anton Chekhov, Brenda Wehle, Tony Kushner, Edward Albee, The Public Theater, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Molly Price, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures, Or Change, Andrea Del Sarto, Eugene O'Neill, Homebody/Kabul, Arts News

Kushner has produced a play also reminiscent of Arthur Miller at the top of his form, a play about which many ticket buyers will conclude he's equaled Miller's best.

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Countrywide, Free Theatre Stands up to Dictators

Lauren Gunderson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Belarus, Theatre, The Public Theater, Belarus Free Theatre, Activism, Belarus Dictator, Belarus President, Arts News

After protesting Belarus' president, Belarus Free Theatre's members were jailed and denied the right to perform. But after smuggling themselves across the border, US theatre companies nationwide are standing up in solidarity.

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Upcoming Theater Festivals Offer Dozens Of Great Plays

AP | MARK KENNEDY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Manhattan, Off Broadway, Plays to See, Great New York Theater, New Plays, Ny News, Broadway, Theater, The Public Theater, Manhattan Plays, New York News

NEW YORK — It's another chilly January in New York and that means some hot new theater offerings. How about a version of Homer's "The Iliad" do...

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The Great Game: Afghanistan Ensemble Actors Profile

Lily Bevan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Tom McKay, Oskar Eustis, Nicholas Kent, Great Game: Afghanistan, The Tricycle Theatre, Afghanistan, Indhu Rubasingham, The Public Theater, Play-Reviews, Arts News

"I think the sense that, in however small a way, we are doing something to inform and enlighten people about the complexities of Afghanistan and our involvement there is very rewarding."

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Theater: The Great Game Gamble at The Public; Les Miz at Paper Mill

Michael Giltz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The Public Theater, Les Miserables, Paper Mill Playhouse, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Entertainment News

The Great Game: Afghanistan -- an 11 hour, 12-play marathon -- is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts; The 25th anniversary touring production of Les Miserables, now at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, is superior to the Broadway revival in every way.

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Theatre of the Right Damn Now -- The Great Game: Afghanistan tours the US

Lauren Gunderson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Theatre, Political Theater, Berkeley Rep, The Public Theater, Afghanistan, Tricycle Theatre, Play, British Council, Theater, Skirball Center, Arts News

I knew very few facts about the history of our almost 10 years running war partner. Until this play. This is not historical drama, it is dramatized history.

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First Nighter: Public Theater's Merchant of Venice and Winter's Tale Are Problems, Only the First of Which Is Solved

David Finkle | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Oskar Eustis, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Al Pacino, The Winter's Tale, Lily Rabe, Michael Greif, Jesse L. Martin, The Merchant of Venice, Daniel Sullivan, The Public Theater, Heather Lind, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare in the Park, Arts News

Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis decided to do some problem-solving during this summer's Shakespeare in the Park series.

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Willem Dafoe: The Village Idiot and Our Town

Regina Weinreich | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Our Town, The Public Theater, Diot Savant, Thornton Wilder, Willem Dafoe, Entertainment News

There's been talk that the much lauded production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town will move to Broadway. While the producers deliberate this move, let me say, you can really smell the bacon in this play.

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