Come for the Cod, Stay for the Serial Killer
Looking to read cool books on an 1885 tall ship in Lower Manhattan? Here’s why the South Street Seaport Museum Book Club—and its hidden fourth-floor exhibit—are NYC's best-kept secrets this fall.
Miles Away from Charming: A Review of country People
A move to Vermont, an unfinished PhD, a possible affair with a hot ski instructor, and a grown man who thinks his life is a fairy tale. Daniel Mason's On Country People promised quirky small-town charm. Instead, it delivered Miles, a protagonist with the energy of a former theater kid who still does Jim Carrey impressions at parties. Unfortunately, the real blizzard was my patience wearing thin.
To Be or Not to Be? Becoming Hamlet Let the Audience Decide
What happens when Hamlet's audience becomes Hamlet? Sarah Wadsley explores an inventive Off-Broadway adaptation that turns Shakespeare's tragedy into a collective theatrical experience, with surprising moments of truth.
Chooch Toddlers, Chicken Cutlets, and the Women We Miss
A warm, witty, and deeply personal review of Elizabeth Wellington Rollins’s The Three Graces of Pearl Street. Beyond the over-explained hot flashes and editorial flaws lies a moving tribute to Italian-American matriarchs, lost heritage, and the women who taught us how to love around a dinner table.
The Siblings Don’t Leave the Bedroom in Les Enfants Terribles
Two siblings, one bedroom, and a private world of games, obsession, and jealousy. Crawl Space brings Jean Cocteau’s Les Enfants Terribles startlingly close to its audience in an intimate new adaptation.
REVIEW: John of John by Douglas Stuart
Gorgeously written and almost unnervingly immersive, John of John drops you onto a remote Scottish island where family, religion, and the place that raised you are nearly impossible to escape. I admired the novel more than I loved its plot, but its people and landscape stayed with me.
New York’s Hottest Love Affair Is Underground
Hot platforms, screeching trains, and a 1974 New York classic: a love letter to the NYC subway, inspired by Film Forum’s NYC In Transit series and the New York Transit Museum’s 50th anniversary.
An Obsessive Night at Books Are Magic
Literary translator, medical student, and now novelist Lizzie Buehler stopped by Books Are Magic to talk about The Obsessed, her anxious, funny debut about academia, relationships, and the strange places our obsessions can take us.
Chekhov, But Make It Therapy Speak
Chekhov gets a modern psychological makeover in The Real Ivanov. But when a character explains everything he’s feeling, is there anything left for the audience to discover?
Review: We Hexed the Moon by Mollyhall Seeley
Four women try to hex the moon into cheese, the moon quits anyway, and somehow it all becomes one of the most compelling novels about female friendship I've read this year. Mollyhall Seeley's We Hexed the Moon is weird, funny, unsettling, and unexpectedly tender.
IF You Love Theater Go See Isla. That’s the Review.
ISLA proves you don’t need a massive budget or flashy tech to make theatrical magic. With puppetry, shadows, live music, and a deeply personal story of family and Cuba, this is the kind of show that reminds you why you love theater in the first place.
This Play Thinks Getting a Job Is the Ultimate Betrayal
A sharp political satire set inside a snowed-in Williamsburg apartment, Chapter Meeting delivers big laughs and strong performances, even if its ambitious script could use a tighter edit.
Raising a Glass to Oil & Whiskey: A Fresh Take on Musical Theater
Blending the energy of a Nashville concert with the intimacy of Off-Broadway, Oil & Whiskey delivers powerhouse vocals, heartfelt performances, and a fresh take on musical theater. Playing beneath the West Bank Cafe at the Laurie Beechman Theater, this country-infused production proves that two seemingly different worlds can make beautiful music together.