The Humans

91/100

Photo by Joan Marcus
By Stephen Karam. Directed by Joe Mantello. At the Helen Hayes Theatre.

What's it About? "After a sleepless night, Erik Blake has brought his family from Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s new apartment. As darkness falls outside the crumbling pre-war duplex, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point."

Consensus: Yeah, they like it. Citing basically every single possible element as outstanding, critics are absolutely over the moon for this play, which has just opened on Broadway after a successful run off-Broadway last year. Particular praise is given to the cast, who most critics agree mesh absolutely perfectly to create a devastatingly funny and truly horrifying theatrical event. Several critics have cited this as the best thing on Broadway (yes, Hamilton, better than even you). The singular true criticism of any critic (Matt Windman of am New York) was that the plays oppressively dark tone was difficult to stomach, though that was offset by another critic (Alexis Soloski of The Guardian) who was careful to point out the positive thematic elements of the work. Regardless, this seems to be a can't-miss play for fans of high quality drama.

Edit: Terry Teachout weighed in and, big surprise, didn't care for it (he's rather notorious for striking down new works), saying that, while acceptable, it doesn't break the mold enough to be worth seeing, though he loves the cast.

Buried Child

53/100

Photo by Monique Carboni
Written by Sam Shepard; Directed by Scott Elliott. At The New Group through March 27.


With large praise for Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, but mixed reception for the rest of the production, the consensus here appears to be that Sam Shepherd's once revolutionary Buried Child seems to have aged poorly. The living room drama turn on its head appears to no longer shock and awe like it once did, instead feeling rather heavy-handed. Critics seem evenly divided on the style of the production, which aims for a kind of dramatic naturalism. Some find this style to help bring the play into reality while others say that it merely becalms what should be an evening of nonstop intensity. The supporting members of the cast are roundly criticized for their uncertain performances and while some critics remain staunchly positive, this production definitely seems to not be the must-see production many were hoping for.

Smart People

52/100

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Written by Lydia R. Diamond. Directed by Kenny Leon. At Second Stage Theatre through March 6

In the vein of recent Pulitzer prize-winning plays, Smart People is a play that announces itself as one about "ideas" from the beginning. And while these postmodern ideas on racism appear to be mostly well realized, Diamond appears to have forgotten the fact that the baseline for every good play is good dramaturgy. Ideas in search of a play is the general consensus amongst New York critics, who feel that the play seems to do nothing other than talk endlessly without any consideration as to what makes a play good at the root. Many also feel that the physical production is intensely problematic, citing problems with the scenic design, costumes, and the detached direction from Kenny Leon that prevents the play from ever taking fire like it should. Critics have nothing but praise, however, for Mahershala Ali, considering his performance to be the indisputable highlight of the play, but Joshua Jackson has come under some scrutiny for his performance, which is described as being decidedly the weakest amongst the cast. One critic (Marilyn Stasio of Variety) did find the discussions of modern racism to be interesting enough to recommend the play, but almost everyone else found that the theatre is not really the place where one would like to be lectured and suggested skipping out on this one entirely.

Update: Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal has weighted in (his column is only once a week) and he really loves it, saying that Diamond is a fantastic new theatrical voice and the play effectively tackles every issue that it tries to, though he finds the cast less than spectacular.

Cabin in the Sky

61/100

Photo by Joan Marcus

Music by Vernon Duke. Lyrics by John LaTouche. Book by Lynn Root. Choreography by Camille A. Brown. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Charles Isherwood of the New York Times probably put it best when he described Encores' production of Cabin in the Sky as "musically vibrant, dramatically a dud". Perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising, given that Encores' mission is specifically to present works of theatre that could not receive commercial productions, but critics seem to have really taken against the book to this show. It was written in 1940 and while it is about a group of African-Americans, it was written entirely by white men. One can imagine the kind of well-meaning racial prejudice that might end up in show's book, but critics also found that the show lacked any real stakes or proper dramatic arch. Many critics, too, found that Ruben Santiago-Hudson's direction was a cluttered mess that did not do much to help matters once people stopped singing and started talking. The critics were not, however, restrained in their praise of the score by Vernon Duke. Lead by a powerhouse cast of singers and given new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, even the most measured critics seemed to recommend the production just to hear the score performed live. In fact, that's what Encores originally set out to do, so this one seems to be a fun night out if you're just looking to hear some great songs performed by a great cast.

Prodigal Son

58/100

Photo by Joan Marcus

Written and Directed by John Patrick Shanley. At MTC Stage I at City Center through March 27

Critics are all over the map for this Prodigal Son. While almost all agree that its general structure is formulaic to say the least, some consider it to be a riveting execution of a well-made play while others consider it to be a thoroughly unexciting evening. Some even go so far as to say that the play is obnoxiously self-aggrandizing (the play is semi-biographical) and an almost painful night at the theatre. Shanley's direction, too, has received a mixed reaction. Is it refreshingly simple or amateurishly simplistic? The one thing that everyone seems to be able to agree upon, though, is that the lead performance by Timothée Chalamet is very good, with the only dissenter being Matthew Murray of Talkin' Broadway who considers the performance to be too one-note for its own good. Even the level of praise for that, though, seems to be wildly varied. Some consider it to be one of the most impressive stage-debuts they've ever seen while others merely say that he appropriately fills out the juicy role he has been given. There are no raves, however, for this play, with even the most positive of reviews admitting that it's primary virtue is its entertainment value, which makes us here at TCD believe that this might be one worth skipping.

Edit: Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, who always files his reviews weekly, has been added to the score, and he seemed to love it, praising its truthfulness and the strength of the cast.

The Woodsman

79/100

Photo by Matthew Murphy

By James Ortiz and Jen Loring. Directed by James Ortiz and Claire Karpen. At New World Stages Through May 29

Critics are, for the most part, in love with The Woodsman, quick to make favorable comments about its reversal of Wicked's approach to a story about Oz before Dorothy, especially how it omits the spectacle and in its stead focuses on the storytelling. Citing its visual genius, inventive use of puppetry, thoughtful performances, and earnest heart at the center of the story, critics can't seem to stop finding things to praise. Almost every critic, however, pointed out that its usage of sounds, music, and a limited amount of words creates problems for the work as a whole. While some (Variety's Marian Stasio) found the music rather tiresome and the nonverbal cacophony of sounds to be grating, others (Talkin' Broadway's Matthew Murray) found the speeches at the beginning and end of the play to be overly self-important and detrimental to the work as a whole. Either way, critics found this to be a throughly impressive night at the theatre, though many have decidedly said that it is not so enjoyable for very young children.