A Life Lived Mostly in Letters - a Review of The Correspondent
A quiet, slow-burning novel about a woman who feels like an outsider in her own life. Nothing neatly resolves—and that’s exactly why it lingers.
David Szalay on Flesh, the Booker Prize, and Writing at the 92nd Street Y
Winning the Booker Prize sounds glamorous. According to David Szalay, it’s mostly unbearable. In a packed room at the 92nd Street Y, he spoke with Sam Lipsyte about Flesh, the tension between desire and disgust, and why he refuses to let his protagonist explain himself.
Three Very Different Shows, One Very Fringe Experience
A dramedy about friendship and longing, a scrappy cultural sketch show, and a heartfelt solo musical. Three Fringe picks, three completely different outcomes, and a reminder that the risk is the point.
The Party Ends. Then What?
A deeply immersive novel about NYC in your 20s and the quiet, disorienting shift into adulthood. So Old, So Young captures the friendships, choices, and creeping realization that life does not unfold the same way for everyone, and that you may not even notice it happening.
Nicole Travolta Is Doing Meh.
A one-woman show about shopping addiction and spiraling debt promises a redemption arc but delivers uneven pacing, forgotten lines, and a performance that never quite finds its footing. A few celebrity impressions land, but they’re not enough to save a production that feels more forced than fully realized.
Frigid Fringe Dispatch: Book Club Drama and a Very Bad Good Deed
At the Frigid New York Fringe Festival, one play turns a wine-soaked girls’ night into simmering chaos, while another follows a single good deed that spirals wildly out of control. Two very different shows, one shared strength: raw, unpredictable storytelling that reminds you why Fringe still matters.
This Anti-War Play Feels Way Too Familiar Right Now
A revival of Spider Rabbit at La MaMa turns a playful, childlike rhythm into something far more unsettling, tracing how violence is absorbed, normalized, and made into something you can live with.
The Fringe Shows We’re Betting On (Part Three)
Frigid’s New York City Fringe Festival is one of the best parts of the year for discovering new theater in New York. It’s where artists take big swings, follow their instincts, and put work on stage that feels fresh, specific, and alive. This is your greatest chance to see the type of theater that we’re all worried about disappearing. We’ve pulled together a few shows we’re especially excited to see and spoke with the creatives behind them.
Heated Rivalry Review: Two NHL Rivals, One Secret Relationship, Zero Stereotypes
Two NHL rivals turn a locker room moment into a years-long secret relationship that slowly becomes something more. Heated Rivalry flips the script on romance, trading meet-cutes for hookups and delivering a story that’s as comforting as it is hot, with two men who feel real, not like a stereotype.
Soviet Cinema and the Importance of Local Theaters
A first encounter with Soviet cinema leads to a packed screening of Secret Agent at Metrograph, where stunning visuals, quiet paranoia, and a room full of regulars remind one writer why movie theaters still matter.
The Fringe Shows We’re Betting On (Part TWO)
Part two of our NYC Fringe Festival coverage leans into the personal. From a solo show about learning to drive at 40 to save a marriage, to a darkly funny spiral through alcohol and memory, to a glittering, high-energy love letter to New York and the artists who survive it—these are stories about risk, reinvention, and what it costs to keep going. Meet the creators bringing it all to the stage.
Start Here: The Fringe Shows We’re Betting On (Part One)
Frigid’s NYC Fringe Festival is where new theater still feels risky, alive, and worth showing up for. We’ve rounded up a few shows we can’t wait to see, and talked to the artists behind them. This is Part One.
A Ruthless Female Lead Who Refuses to Be Redeemed: The Favorites Review
An obsessive, cutthroat ice dancer who refuses to apologize for her ambition, The Favorites by Layne Fargo is messy, toxic, and surprisingly compelling, even when it completely exhausts you.