A Great "Tempest" For Our Time

KenderTheater (‪@KenderTheater‬)

1/16/17, 10:34 PM

I highly recommend ‪the Donmar Warehouse's all female "Tempest"  ‪@stannswarehouse, ‬the third in director Phyllida Lloyd's Shakespeare Trilogy set in a womens'  prison.  It's smart, creatively staged & enormously entertaining, with a great cast led by the indomnidable Harriet Walter as Prospero.  The womens' prison arc comes to a rightful & thoughtful conclusion that makes the play especially relevant to our present day societal issues and concerns.   See it before it closes on Feb 19.

"Dear Evan Hansen" Feels Forced & False

KenderTheater (‪@KenderTheater‬)

1/16/17, 1:41 PM

‪I may be in a small minority on this, but on second viewing "Dear Evan Hansen" again felt emotionally shallow and psychologically unconvincing to me.  I just could not buy what was being put forth on stage, and I find the score just middling in quality.  However, Ben Platt gives an outstanding lead performance that will likely be remembered at awards time in the Spring.

"Yen" Is Only Partially Satisfying

KenderTheater (‪@KenderTheater‬)

1/16/17, 1:38 PM

"Yen" @mcctheater‬ is a dark, intermittently engaging play exploring issues related to emotional isolation/ deprivation of chilren.  A decent play, but not a great one.  The acting still needs some work, but Justice Smith and Stefania LaVie Owen show great promise.  Lucas Hedges needs to find more comfortable stage footing, but given that he is a relative novice to the stage, that will likely develop as he experiences more performances.  "Yen is well directed and quickly paced by Director Trip Cullman, who has a knack for directing young actors.

Great Ensemble Cast Makes "Jitney" Soar

KenderTheater (‪@KenderTheater‬)

1/14/17, 12:02 AM

A superlative ensemble cast, including the always fine John Douglas Thompson and Andre Holland, brings AugustWilson's "Jitney" to vivid life on Broadway ‪at Manhattan Theatre Club's Friedman Theatre.  It is hard to imagine 2017 will see a better cast or play revival on Broadway than this.  Get tickets now before they are all deservedly gone.