With its magic and wit, beloved children’s book “Matilda” by Roald Dahl should have translated spectacularly to the big-stage spectacle of Broadway. While several of the stunts are superb, a predictable plot keeps the show from being enjoyable at an adult level.

Despite its 12 Tony Award nominations, including a nod for Best Musical, there’s a big puzzle-piece missing from “Matilda.” Primarily, the lines seem a little lackluster, and the comedy fails to provoke many laugh-out-loud moments. Even a large man (Bertie Carvel) cross-dressing as the sadistic, kid-hating Miss Trunchbull is a bit of a one-note joke.

But more to the point, it’s the simplicity of the story: The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad, and there’s never any doubt of who will wind up winning the day. The only reason to keep your eyes open is for the fun choreography (Peter Darling), largely accomplished by a cast of child actors, the likes of which are hard enough to herd in minor roles, much less giving them nearly three hours’ worth of showtime to shoulder. Four young girls share the title role, but there isn’t one in the world that could possibly endear us to this Matilda Wormwood. She’s a cute little genius with superpowers, to whom nothing unbearably awful happens, and it’s hard to envision this heroine as an underdog. In moments of fitful boredom, we began rooting for Trunchbull.

In summary, “Matilda” is probably most appropriate for kids or those who aren’t already familiar with the tale. We’d be willing to give the soundtrack (Tim Minchin) a shot on its own, however, thanks to the libretto’s quick lyrics that never condescend to the listener.

The Tony nominations it received:

• Best Musical
• Best Actor: Bertie Carvel
• Best Featured Actor: Gabriel Ebert
• Best Featured Actress: Lauren Ward
• Best Director: Matthew Warchus
• Best Choreography: Peter Darling
• Best Book: Dennis Kelly
• Best Score: Tim Minchin
• Best Orchestrations: Chris Nightingale
• Best Set Design: Rob Howell
• Best Costume Design: Rob Howell
• Best Lighting Design: Hugh Vanstone
• Also, Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro will receive Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre for their performances as “Matilda” in “Matilda The Musical.”

If you go

‘Matilda the Musical’
Shubert Theatre,
225 W. 44th St.
$32-$167,
www.matildathe
musical.com

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A man fell out of a window at Broadway’s Lyceum Theater on West 45th Street on Sunday and landed on the theater’s marquee, according to news reports.

The man was leaning on the window at approximately 2:50 p.m. when he fell, The Daily News reports.

“He went over the windowsill and out,” an FDNY source told the News. “He lost his balance.”

He is said to be in his 60s. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor chest and back injuries, officials said.

The incident occurred shortly before the start of a matinee performance of “The Nance,” starring Nathan Lane.

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No matter how much applause you get at curtain call, it’s never been easy to “make it rain” as a performer. Adam Huttler, the founder and executive director of the arts nonprofit Fractured Atlas, says it can be challenge for performers and artists to see the business for what it is: a business.

“That is what they are — even if they don’t always think of themselves in those terms,” he says. At talks and events, the company helps guide arts organizations toward the financial and nuts-and-bolts incentives that can keep them afloat. This evening, Huttler will lead a panel for Internet Week New York, titled “Revenge of the Art Geeks: How Tech Can Help you Build Audiences and Raise Funds.”

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  VIDEO: “Made Here,” Reggie Watts, Cherry Jones and others share their stories

From the other side of the curtain, actress Cherry Jones is clear about the struggles of getting paid and making art. “It’s intoxicating working downtown — then you have to pay your bills.” she says of the artsy lifestyle in the online documentary series “Made Here.” The relationship between making money and making art in the scrappy downtown performance scene is just one of many topics covered in the series’ three seasons, including health and wellness, raising a family and more.

For Jones, who is most known for her recurring role on the television show “24,” she says television made it possible for her to continue doing the work in the theater that sustains her artistically. “I don’t know anyone left who’s done just theater for the last 30 years. But I have overwhelming respect for them if they have,” she says, with a laugh.” ”I did those two seasons and I made more money than I ever thought I would in my life, and now I can work in the theater any time I want to,” Jones says of her time in TV.

The issues raised in “Made Here” dovetail with the things Huttler encourages arts organizations to address. He says artists need to learn how to “speak business.” “The word ‘customer’ tends to leave a bad taste in people’s mouths,” he says. “People think ‘McDonald’s has customers, we don’t have customers,’ but they do.” Huttler believes that arts organizations that get real about the bottom line have the biggest shot at seeing their art — and their business — succeed.

Huttler has good news for the scrappy artists in “Made Here” and beyond, though:  “For the little guy, I think things are looking brighter than they ever have,” he says. “They have more opportunities to engage with their audiences directly and they can use technology and powerful new ways.”

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After a series of anti-gay attacks in Manhattan, city and state legislators are joining homeless gay youth in an interactive theater performance based on the real-life experiences of the teens involved.

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  Homeless LGBTQ youth rehearse for Theatre of the Oppressed festival

The “legislative performance” is part of a theater festival presented by Theatre of the Oppressed NYC that will take place this Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, at the Church of St. Luke in the Field in Greenwich Village. The legislators’ performance will be on Saturday at 2 p.m.

City Councilmembers Daniel Dromm, Jimmy Van Bramer and Rosie Mendez, City Council Candidate Corey Johnson and New York State Senator Brad Hoylman will join three homeless LGBTQ teen acting ensembles from three local shelters geared at LGBTQ youth: The Ali Forney Center, The Door, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute.

The teens will also be joined on stage by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development policy analyst, Homeless Coordinator Samuel Miller and Department of Justice Regional Director Reinaldo Rivera. 

The plays will deal with the issues that the homeless LGBTQ teens face. Katy Rubin, the 27-year-old founder of both the festival and Theatre of the Opressed NYC, said that one of the main topics is the shortage of shelter beds that are safe for LGBTQ youth and being victims of hate crimes in non-LGBTQ shelters for youth.

There are only 80 bed available in LGBTQ-friendly shelters in New York City, for an estimated 1,800 homeless gay teens.

Some of the teens rehearsing. Clockwise from top: Sophie Nimmannit, TONYC Joker, Member of Door Troupe, Kendall (floor). Credit: Theatre of the Oppressed.

The performances in the festival are interactive: the teens act out a scene and then invite the audience onstage to improv, act out, and brainstorm solutions to the issues portrayed in the scene. At the performance involving legislators, the audience’s ideas will be shaped into policy proposals by the legislators, and the audience will vote on the proposals.

In a similar festival in Brazil, this kind of Legislative Theatre has led to policy changes in education, prison rights, and civil rights, Rubin said.

The performance, as well as all other performances and panel discussions in the festival, are free of charge and open to the public.

“We really want everybody’s voice to be part of the dialogue,” Rubin said.

Legislative Theatre Performance

Saturday, May 18 at 2 p.m.

The Church of St. Luke in the Fields

487 Hudson Street

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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In OWNED, Ray and Ed are bartenders who know what they want. Morgan is a rich girl who wants everything. When Ray and Ed get a last shot at fulfilling their dreams, what could possibly go wrong?

Venue: TBG Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues

Go Knife Edge Productions for tickets.

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Broken Fences is a play about friendship, fear, and all the other possibilities by Chicago playwright Steven Simoncic.

When Czar and April buy a home in a black neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, they find community with Hoody and Dee, who live next door. But can these two these families stay connected without destroying themselves and each other?  It’s crazy, it’s whack. And everybody’s in it, from the skittish best friends from the suburbs, to the militant brother (a barista at Starbucks), and the wild child street kid who can’t keep his pants up or his stash on the DL.  It’s a banging new world…of $7 coffee and $6 cheese snacks.   Cardio Boot Camps and hand-me-downs.  Jacked up taxes and gang tags. It’s the last stand of neighborhood, turf, tradition. It’s Broken Fences, a hilarious, scorching new play about friendship, fear…and all the other possibilities.

Broken Fences plays Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., with additional performances on Sunday, May 12 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 18 at 2 p.m.

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Robin Amos Kahn is the mind behind “Scrambled Eggs,” a new, women-focused comedy now running off-Broadway. We sat down with the playwright, a former screenwriter for daytime soap operas, to chat about how much of this narrative — starring Amy Van Nostrand, and co-written by Gary Richards — comes from her own life experiences. Plus, how did she face the challenges of transitioning from writing major drama for the small screen to getting big laughs from a live audience?

What is “Scrambled Eggs” about?

For me, it’s really an everywoman’s story about this one character that’s very universal, about this certain crossroads that causes her to look back over her life. … She is physically going through certain symptoms that she doesn’t understand, and she’s at a place in her life where she’s wondering if she’s losing her mind.

How much of it is drawn from your own experiences?

Some of it is based on my own life. I’ve always had a lot of close girlfriends; so I’m always saying to them: “Are you going to do this? What happened to you? When you were dating, did you do this?” So all of those stories inform this play, because we are our relationships and friendships. … A lot of this is based on shared memories and shared experiences.

Is it just targeted to middle-aged women?

No. This character goes back over her entire life, [from] family life with her parents to her dating life. My daughter, who is 25, really relates to the younger period of dating. And men seem to love this play because it gives them insight into women in a way that they don’t usually have, and they also get to laugh at themselves and laugh at some of the foibles of women — at some of our craziness. … It definitely seems to touch people at different stages of their lives.

Did working with Gary Richards help add the men’s point of view?

The original story was that I was writing a solo show, and I was going to perform it. And I worked on it with a dramaturge. Then I completely chickened out and said, “Just give it to a good actress – I don’t want to get onstage and do it!” So we had an actress do a reading, and Gary, who’s a writer and a director said, “I think this would make a great play. Let’s bring all the characters to life.” So the two of us did that, and it evolved.

How was it moving from writing dramas for TV to a comedic play?

Comedy is much less challenging for me. Soaps are much more challenging. My analogy for writing soaps was that I was a ballerina with 30 pound weights attached to my feet. Everything I wrote, I wanted to be funny. There was one show I could be funny on, and that was “Guiding Light.” But every other show was very serious, and every time I wrote something funny they’d cross it out. … I admire great drama. I worship Tony Kushner, I wish I could write “Angels in America.” But I’m going to be me — it’s going to come from a much more humorous place, because that’s just who I am.

What’s your favorite moment in the play?

There’s a scene with the parents when the character was a child — and for me its about growing up in a family that’s really dysfunctional, and how do we do it as a child, and how do we feel good about ourselves when we’re in dysfunction. I actually wrote about it in a writing group once [and] tissues were passed around the room, and then I wrote it as a funnier piece now. [It’s] extremely poignant. So for me, that’s the moment. But there are a lot of them.

Where did the title come from?

The title actually came from [actor/writer] Eric Bogosian, who is one of my comic heroes. [He] read an early version, and he said, “I have the perfect title for you: ‘Scrambled Eggs.’” It just stuck. And when you see it, you’ll know why it’s a good title.

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As You Like It by William Shakespeare

As You Like It follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle’s court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden.

Event Venue : Powerhouse Theater

Event Date : July 19-22

Event Time : 6:30 PM

Call : 509-529-6500

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AGAMEMNON By Aeschylus on July 5-8 at 6:30pm

Free to the public with no reservations necessary.

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As part of the York’s Developmental Reading Series, License to Marry takes place on the day of Helena and Ramon’s wedding,  Mayor Vega receives the news that he is to be elevated to a post in the king’s cabinet.  It is his reward for having conducted the town’s affairs without a single error. On this festive day, however, an error comes to light of monumental dimensions. Ramon, expecting Helena to be his bride, is married to her mother, Minerva, instead. What complicates matters is that it is to everyone’s advantage to keep this misfortune from coming to the attention of the king’s courier.  To add to the complexities of the situation, Minerva’s husband, having been given up for dead, returns and demand’s his conjugal rights.

Cast Includes: Josh Kohl, Millinee Barrister, Michael Marcotte, Lars Woodhul, Mark
Womack, Melissa Parks, Alexandra Pappas, David Barron, Frank Basile

All readings are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis and take place at The York Theatre Company.

For tickets click here

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There are things that everyone knows about Mike Tyson. The weird stuff. The frightening stuff. The flat-out insane stuff. The stuff of legends. Holyfield’s ear. Years of domestic strife. Bouts of volatility and violence (an occupational hazard, perhaps). That face tattoo.

But there’s also other stuff. Like an inexplicable fondness for pigeons, arguably the most common bird in the aviary hierarchy. You’d have guessed maybe peacocks. Or bald freaking eagles. But no, Iron Mike loves pigeons. He also loves theater. All kinds of theater. He digs Porgy and Bess and cites the little known (among non-theater heads, at least) Cuba and His Teddy Bear – the Reinaldo Povod-written play starring Robert DeNiro that enjoyed a 53-show Broadway run in ‘86 — as one of his favorites. The dude is a little bit enigmatic. He’s also a known hot-head, though not these days, as both recent behavior and self-testimony indicate that Tyson is a changed man, maybe even a bit of a Zen man.

Still, when you’re tasked with calling Mike Tyson up on the phone to interview the champion heavyweight boxer-turned-actor about his one-man play Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (directed by similarly legendary Spike Lee) — for which he’s currently wrapping up a 19-date tour with a stop at the Kimmel Center in Philly and a penultimate stop at the Wang Theatre in Boston — you’re a little nervous.

This writer was tasked with just that. The following are excerpts from a conversation held over a very bad connection on an iPhone, from the cafe car of a southbound Amtrak. Excerpts because the other thing Iron Mike is known for is that signature lisp. If you’ve ever tried to talk to anybody on a cell phone with a bad connection on an Amtrak cafe car, you’re likely aware that it is….difficult. (A seventh listen to the recorded transcript of this interview revealed that Mike Tyson did not, in fact, tell this writer that he once watched Ben and Jerry perform A Bronx Tale. Though that would have been amazing.)

Mike Tyson on deciding to do a one-man play.
Me and my wife was watching [not Ben and Jerry] do a Bronx Tale onstage and it was just so amazing, you can’t even imagine. Inspiration is an understatement. We was hanging on every word they said and I said ‘Baby, I think I can do this.’ Because, I mean, when I’m in Europe, and in Asia, I’m onstage talking about myself. People ask me questions from the crowd. But when I do it in America, I feel like it’s coming from an artistic point of view. And so we did it for two weeks at the MGM Grand and sold out every night….mostly foreigners. Every night, foreigners! And then Spike Lee called me when I was in Poland and asked me to take it to Broadway. And now we’re on a nationwide tour.

On pre-stage ritual.
I make sure I’m in the best physical and spiritual shape I can possibly be in. I just think of myself as being, like, one of the great stage performers. Like, you know, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Julie Garland, and all those guys. Frank Sinatra. I’m talking about real entertainers, I’m talking about really explosive entertainers. The dancers! That kind of stuff.

On a bomb threat that got called in to his New York show.
Yes, there was a bomb threat. But they caught the guy, they caught the guy. But that’s okay. And they’re going to do that to me? Can you imagine me dying on a Broadway stage?! Holy Moley! Well they got the guy…I think it was fake. He wanted to do another, um, Colorado movie theater shooting….online….and that helped the FBI catch him.

On his favorite story to tell onstage.
When I had my street altercation with Mitch Green. I had a street fight with Mitch Green — a boxer – and I’m explaining to the crowd what happened. Oh, amazing. It’s not meant to be, but it gets a lot of laughs.

On the suggestion that that’s good, because isn’t his show meant to be half-comedic and half-serious?
No! I don’t want to be anything comedic. Nothing comedic! But sometimes people laugh.

On his favorite city on the tour.
I’ve been to….man. I’ve been to St. Louis, I’ve been to San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Where else? San Diego. Where else? San Jose, Atlanta, North Carolina, Mississippi, Miami, Tampa, all over the place.

On his favorite city on the tour to hang out in, though.
Hey, I don’t do no hanging out. But I did like Durham, North Carolina, that was a nice town.

On whether he had to read Fifty Shades of Grey to “research” for a scene in Scary Movie 5.
My wife reads that stuff, I don’t read that stuff. They just told me what to do. I don’t listen to my wife about no Fifty Shades of Grey. Yeah, I don’t want to read that stuff.

On stage versus screen acting.
I love stage acting, I don’t love anything more than stage acting — that’s instant gratification right there. You have people breathing, you have instant gratification.

On his favorite sports movies of all time.
Gentlemen Jim and Raging Bull.

On the best Rocky movie.
Big time Rocky fan. The one with Mr. T in it was the best.

On the one question he never wants to be asked again.
I don’t know…I’m so accustomed to answering any question anybody asks me. I’m not afraid to answer any questions.

On Zach Galifianakis.
He’s a really good guy. I think he’s a good guy. He’s a very normal person. He’s more normal than I am! He’s real normal, a good guy.

On the funniest actor in The Hangover.
Zach was the funniest. Zach. Zach. Zach. Zach. Number one, Zach. Zach was funnier than everybody.

On pets.
I just love animals, you know. They need people to take care of them. It’s a cold world out there. They live longer under the care of human beings than they do in the wild, in the care of the nature. Nature is harder on them.

On pigeons.
That’s just what I do. That’s my culture, that’s where I come from. You do that.

On his favorite pet pigeon.
No favorites, I have a lot of pigeons I like.

Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth        

PHILADELPHIA
May 2 @ 8 pm
Kimmel Center, 300 S Broad St.
$20-$500
tickets.kimmelcenter.org

BOSTON
May 4 @ 8 pm
Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St.
$33.25-$503.75
citicenter.org

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  VIDEO: Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard on the Arsenio Hall Show

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DIFFERENT ANIMALS centers on Jessica Tarver, a young woman still clinging to the gospels of romantic comedy and happily-ever-after.  But by her late twenties, she finds herself languishing in Spartanburg, South Carolina – reeling from the sting of a failed business venture, disappointed by her May-December marriage and committing adultery in the bathroom of an Olive Garden.  Though Jess finds a figment of romance in her childhood friend William Burnip, now a charismatic liberal activist and the pastor of her Lutheran church, Will is interested in little more than sex.  Meanwhile, Jessica’s husband Leo sets his sights on Molly Gardner, an unstable young coworker, who in turn falls in love with both of the Tarvers at once.  When the couple tries to save their marriage by inviting Molly into the bedroom, Jessica is torn between an electric new friendship and an inescapable tie to Will.

Showtimes are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

For tickets click here

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This event is part of the River to River Festival

Open Rehearsals: Jun 16 – 22 6:30pm (2 hr.)
Performance: Jun 23 – 26 12pm, 1pm (15 min.) / Jun 27 1pm, 7pm (60 min.)

Brookfield Place Plaza, 200 Vesey Street

Open Rehearsal: Jun 30 6:30 – 8:30pm
Performance: Jul 1 – 2 12:30pm (60 min.)

One New York Plaza

Created by Bessie Award-winning Third Rail Projects (Jennine Willett, Tom Pearson, Zach Morris, Artistic Directors), Roadside Attraction is a versatile new work housed in and around a vintage 1977 Coleman pop-up camper that has been retrofitted to become the stage and setting for a new dance/theater performance, which incorporates the intimate, quirky, stunning and startling choreographic sensibility that is the hallmark of Third Rail’s critically-acclaimed work.

Roadside Attraction is a family vacation that steps back in time to when Supertramp was on the radio, Connect Four was on the folding table, and frisky business was in the bunks. Mom’s red “Candies” clapped from the camper’s linoleum kitchen window before she emerged in her cheetah print bathing suit with matching blanket, her platinum wig blowing in the breeze. Exploring expectations, acceptance, and the excruciating but illuminating identification with family role models, Roadside Attraction is a slice of nostalgic Americana, replete with string lights and lawn chairs.

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Broadway’s big, flashy musicals tend to get a lot of press. There are definitely several that we’re looking forward to this spring (“Pippin,” “Kinky Boots,” “Hands on a Hardbody,” to name a few). But we also wanted to devote some page space to the historically less glitzy genre of the Great White Way: straight plays, which refers — without irony — to standard nonmusical fare, be it comedy or drama. Here’s a look at some of the those upcoming shows.

‘Lucky Guy’
One of the most buzzed-about plays of the season marks Tom Hanks’ Broadway debut in “Lucky Guy,” written by the late Nora Ephron. Despite the duo’s history working on such titles as “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail,” don’t expect a witty rom-com to unfold onstage. This work by the former New York Post employee returns to her roots, focusing on the role of journalism in the 1980s — specifically, the career of real-life, ill-reputed tabloid columnist Mike McAlary. Opens April 1, www.luckyguyplay.com

‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’
This interpretation of Truman Capote’s classic novella stars Emilia Clarke (TV’s “Game of Thrones”), Cory Michael Smith (“The Cockfight Play”) and George Wendt (TV’s “Cheers”). The plot follows “it” girl Holly Golightly, immortalized on film by Audrey Hepburn, as she navigates the complicated intersection of love, money and self-discovery in 1940s Manhattan. The adaptation is penned by Tony-winning playwright Richard Greenberg (“Take Me Out”). Opens March 20, www.breakfastattiffanysonbroadway.com

‘Orphans’
You may have heard about this one already largely thanks to the upheaval caused when Shia LaBeouf abruptly left the cast last month, to be replaced by Ben Foster. Foster joins
original cast members Alec Baldwin and Tom Sturridge in this dark play about desperate and disparaging orphan siblings who commit an emotionally weighted kidnapping in the City of Brotherly Love. “Orphans” is written by Lyle Kessler and directed by Daniel Sullivan. Opens April 7, www.orphansonbroadway.com

‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’
After a sold-out run last year at Lincoln Center, Christopher Durang’s latest comedy returns to Manhattan. It follows three siblings who are reunited in their childhood home — with the controversial addition of the movie star sister’s new boy toy. The original cast returns for this limited engagement, including David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver. Now playing, www.vanyasoniamashaspike.com

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Returning to New York City for the seventh year, FRIGID Festival brings together a collection of exciting, uncensored performance art pieces ranging in theme, tone and structure from stand-up comedy to burlesque, from one-acts to full-length plays. The works take place in multiple downtown venues during the festival’s run from Feb. 20 to March 3, and artists collect 100 percent of the proceeds — along with, of course, invaluable exposure. We spoke with Executive Director Erez Ziv about what FRIGID has in store for 2013.

Congrats on seven years! How did FRIGID originate and how has it progressed?

The idea for FRIGID was first introduced to us by Christina Augello of Exit Theater, who runs the Fringe Festival in San Francisco. She and I met when she came to check out The Red Room for a possible rental, and we started talking and she told me about this festival that gives 100 percent of box office proceeds back to the artists. I thought it sounded great! It fit the mission of Horse Trade like a glove, and within a couple of months I was in Montreal meeting with all the Fringe producers from Canada. … Over the past seven years the festival has grown steadily from year to year, with more attention from press, more audiences and more applicants every year.  Growing capacity steadily has allowed us to distribute close to $30,000 to participants last year, up by more than 50 percent from the first year!

Who is the target audience? Will it appeal to people who are used to big-stage shows?

Our target audience is theater lovers, and really anyone who enjoys live performances. Regular Broadway audiences do come to the festival year after year, so they must have enjoyed what they saw the year before! Our productions are certainly not as big and flashy as the shows uptown, but we have some good shows that anyone who enjoys live theatrical entertainment will enjoy. We also have shows that appeal to people who would not normally go see a show uptown, or who can’t afford the steep Broadway prices.

There seems to be an eclectic mix. What’s the common thread?

The common thread is art! The work is new, fresh, exciting and surprising. Most importantly, it is all created and performed by some of the hardest working people in show business, self-producing indie theater artists.

How do shows qualify for FRIGID? Have they all been previously staged? Do they all join this North American “circuit” together?

The work qualifies simply by virtue of having been created.  All year long we and everyone else in town reads scripts, bios, resumes and reviews, we preview shows and examine past work we ask interns what they think, we confer with committees, we do readings and readings and then we do more readings! This is the one chance a year we get to just let things happen and see what comes out. … We pull shows out of a hat! Literally, a top hat.

What are some of the standouts this year and why?

I am excited about “Traditional Dances of Sri Lanka” — they are coming all the way from Sri Lanka, and their show promises to be well worth the trip. This is writer/performer Una Osato’s fourth year in the festival, and if her previous shows are any indication “exHOTic Other” will be great. We met and fell in love with John Grady at last years festival, so I’m looking forward to his new show, “Little Pussy.” The same goes for “My Pussy is Purrin’ Again” by 78 year old Dyan Forest, who did “I Married a Nun” last year. “A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup” is coming all the way from Tokyo, Japan! … This is her first time in the FRIGID Festival. I’ve been hearing a lot of great buzz about her, so I’m really excited to finally see her perform. But the show I am most excited about is the one I am not expecting, every year there is at least one show that really takes me by surprise and those are the ones I always enjoy the most.

Follow Metro’s theater critic on Twitter: @TMichelleMurphy.

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Credit: Josh Lehrer

The cynic’s pick: ‘PASSION’

“Passion” is a twisted love story about a relationship founded on obsession and manipulation. The antithesis of a rom-com, this dark musical will appease those who are intrigued by the intensity of infatuation and the complexities of newfound love. For Sondheim fans, it’s a no-brainer. And those who like to be first-to-know will be impressed that you heard about this under-the-radar restaging that’s new to town as of this weekend (Feb. 8). www.classicstage.org

Credit: Joan Marcus

The confident choice: ‘PICNIC’

No matter who you are, it takes a lot of courage to bring your date to a play where Sebastian Stan spends half the time onstage shirtless and gleaming with sweat. Here he’s a down-on-his-luck drifter who falls for a small town’s most prized bachelorette. We won’t tell you how that seemingly doomed affair turns out, but we will guarantee that you’ll earn major points for being bold enough to stare at Stan while sitting next to your SO. www.roundabouttheatre.org

Credit: Michael Brosilow

The long-term ticket: ‘WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?’

Committed couples get comfortable with one another; they operate in a language that only they can understand. This production takes that kind of long-haul love to the next level, showcasing theater’s most cohesively dysfunctional husband and wife as they bait and mock a newly married duo over a long night of cocktails. And it’s all in the name of breaking familiarity and pushing their relationship to the next level. Despite the epic levels of gamesmanship to which this particular pair have taken their matrimony, the play’s still recognizably romantic in a way that many longtime lovers will understand. www.virginiawoolfbroadway.com

Credit: Joan Marcus

The introductory date: ‘THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD’

Isn’t it great at the start of a relationship, when there’s still a lot of excitement and, well, mystery? If you’re just starting out with someone new, a musical comedy is the perfect pick that will let you relax together and laugh. With audience participation and surprise endings that change every night, there’s plenty within this uproariously convoluted plot for you to talk about. And regardless of the twists and turns this choose-your-own-adventure might take, you’ll be good to go knowing that every single performance is going to end in a love song. www.roundabouttheatre.org

Credit: Joan Marcus

The safe bet: ‘ONCE’

As the top Tony winner of 2012, “Once” is likely to hit the mark for even the hard-to-please theatergoer. Romantic and haunting, the story follows musicians who realize they each bring out just what the other person needs most. If all else fails, there’s a bar right onstage so you can grab a glass of wine to smooth over any misgivings about your taste in musical theater. But in our professional opinion, if your date doesn’t like “Once,” you should probably just reconsider the relationship. Unfortunately, this is also one where it might be hard to score tickets — but if you can, you really can’t go wrong. www.oncemusical.com

Follow Metro’s theater editor via Twitter: @TMichelleMurphy.

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Holmes, 25, a former neuroscience graduate student, is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder for a shooting rampage on July 20 that killed 12 people and wounded 58 in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado.

Holmes, who was also expected to be in court, is accused of opening fire during a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Attorneys are expected to say on Wednesday whether they are ready for next week’s preliminary hearing, at which prosecutors will lay out evidence against Holmes so that a judge may decide if there is enough basis for him to stand trial.

However, Holmes could waive his right to that hearing and enter a plea instead.

Holmes’ lawyers, whom analysts have suggested may be laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, have said he suffers from mental illness and that he had sought to get help prior to the shooting.

Police have said that minutes into the film on July 20, Holmes left the theater to don a suit of tactical body armor, helmet and a gas mask, before returning to open fire on the unsuspecting crowd with multiple weapons.

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One of the victims of the gunman who opened fire into the crowd of people watching a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises,” was Jessica Ghawi, a young sports journalist who had narrowly escaped a similar mass shooting at Toronto’s Eaton Centre in June.

Ghawi (who goes by Jessica Redfield online) wrote on her blog June 5 about the experience of cheating death, describing her sudden urge to get fresh air before a gunman opened fire in the exact area where she had been just moments before.

Her Twitter account shows a back and forth with a follower yesterday about her plans to see the newest Batman film. The final tweet she sent before she was killed last night at the Aurora, C.O. theater said, “THE MOVIE DOESN’T START FOR 20 MINUTES.” 

The Colorado shooter, dressed in black and a gas mask, threw a can of tear gas into the theater about 20 minutes after the film started. He then sprayed the crowd with bullets, killing Ghawi and at least 11 others and injuring dozens of people.

Ghawi had shared in her blog after the Eaton shooting that she discovered a new-found appreciation for life:  

I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.

The suspect in last night’s shooting, 24-year-old James Holmes, was arrested by police who found
him standing near his car after crowds of people fled from the theater.

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A masked gunman killed 14 people at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in a suburb of Denver early on Friday, sparking pandemonium when he hurled a teargas canister into the auditorium and opened fire on moviegoers.

Fifty others including children were wounded in the attack on the showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in a mall in the Aurora suburb, some of whom were treated for the effects of tear gas, hospital officials said.

“This is a horrific event,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference, adding that a suspect was taken into custody in the parking lot behind the theater.

Police said the Aurora gunman had appeared at the front of the theater during the movie and released a canister which let out a hissing sound at the theater before gunfire erupted.

Dozens of police were at the scene, and the authorities evacuated the area while they checked for any explosive devices. They said there was no evidence of a second gunman.

Wendy Post, who was waiting to be reunited with her daughter at a local high school following the shooting, said her daughter told her the shooting erupted just minutes after the film began.

“She saw the exit door open and something was thrown across the screen, and then shooting started,” she told local NBC affiliate 9News television. “It was chaos.”

President Barack Obama, who was notified of the shooting on Friday morning by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, urged Americans to “stand together” with the people of Aurora in the hours and days to come.

“Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time,” Obama said in a statement.

“As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family,” he added.

Colorado has suffered mass killings in the past. In 1999, two students opened fire at Columbine High School in the suburb of Littleton, near Denver, killing 12 students and a teacher.

PEOPLE SCREAMING

Police spokesman Frank Fania said the suspect was thought to be in his early 20s. He was carrying a knife, a rifle and a handgun when arrested, and one other gun was recovered from the theater. The gunman was also wearing a bulletproof vest.

“He did not resist, he did not put up a fight,” Fania said.

Police said the suspect’s apartment building had been evacuated and police were looking for explosives there after the suspect made statements about explosives in his residence.

CNN quoted one witness as saying he saw a “guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people.” Another witness said the gunman opened fire during a shoot-out scene in the movie, leading to confusion.

“We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots and little explosions going on. Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out,” one witness told CNN.

“As soon as we got out, there were people running around and screaming.” He said friends had told him the gunman was wearing a gas mask.

One man told the NBC affiliate that he was in the adjacent theater watching another screening of the Batman movie when he heard gunshots and the theatre filled with thick, choking smoke.

He saw bullets holes in the wall, and some people in his theater were wounded: “I heard moaning…they were in pain.”

Fania said police received the first call about the shooting at 12:39 a.m. local time (06:39 GMT) and responded within “a minute or two.”

Local hospitals were alerted to a “mass casualty incident.” Media reports said 10 people died at the scene and four died later in hospital.

A spokeswoman for Denver’s Swedish Medical Center said three people had been admitted to that hospital with gunshot wounds and were in critical condition. Another hospital, Denver Health, had received six wounded, one of whom was in critical condition, spokeswoman Kalena Wilkinson said.

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To celebrate the recovery of his senses and his reacquaintance with his cross-dressed ‘wife,’ the Lord has an acting troupe perform a matrimonial comedy in the couple’s honor. As in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” this induction seems to lend the main action a didactic quality, an important factor to keep in mind when interpreting the intentions of both playwright and director. For those unfamiliar with the plot, the story that follows concerns the marriage prospects of the two daughters, the elder “shrew” Kate and the widely desired Bianca, of “a rich gentleman of Padua” who will only consent to marry off the younger after finding a husband for her less desirable sister.

As with Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice,” Kate’s beliefs must be sacrificed and her character censured by play’s end to complete the comedic cycle from social discord to cohesion by marriage. Like the Jewish moneylender, she naively believes in the ostensible laws of her society and the personal liberty they seem to grant, making her complete submission to her husband Petruchio the punchline to the play’s running joke about the necessary subjugation of rebels and reprobates to the communal will for the smooth functioning of the body politic. Her fierce individualism was allowed to develop because her father protected her from the reality of her privileged yet limited station, and it must now be repudiated to restore balance to the economic order.

But this is Shakespeare, so what appears at first glance to be a simple reification of rigidly defined class and gender roles quickly becomes a hilarious and complex examination of the fluidity and constructed nature of these very things. Starting with a worker turned aristocrat whose wife is really a manservant, we move on to servants masquerading as their masters and wealthy gentlemen posing as poor tutors. Since we are all actors playing many roles throughout our lives, Kate’s ultimate decision to take on the role of an obedient wife to a man she chose to marry is as much an act of freedom as one of obedience. In this light, Bianca’s marriage of love to Lucentio appears as little more than the acceptance of a social imposition carried out on a whim.

However, these textual subtleties go undeveloped in this production, where Kate’s grotesque treatment by her fortune hunting husband Petruchio is never questioned by Arbus, who directs the other characters to stand around in awkward silence during these moments, a choice that proves neither entertaining nor meaningful. This decision, or lack thereof, reveals Arbus’ refusal to take a stance on the matter or impose any personal vision on the proceedings. I suppose that a generous viewer might infer that this is meant to suggest people’s inability to intervene in such abhorrent behavior or condemn our indifference to the suffering around us.

Typical of Arbus’ superficial reading are the manic performances of Maggie Siff and Andy Grotelueschen as Kate and Petruchio, who substitute sweaty, slapstick energy for depth and timing. Though occasionally amusing, Matthew Cowles is barely discernible and mostly incoherent as the tinker Christopher Sly, another indication of the broad comedy that Arbus resorts to rather than undertaking a riskier but potentially deeper reading of the text. Similarly, the Wild West setting substitutes spectacle for insight, distancing us from the material so that we are left with neither a greater understanding of Shakespeare’s time nor our own. Like most Broadway productions, “The Taming of the Shrew” gets by on its smooth professionalism without offering anything of daring or nuance. Then again, what can one expect from a production sponsored by Deloitte, the world’s second largest “professional services network.”

Click here for more on theater from Oleg Ivanov.

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A painful, haunting work, “Beyond the Horizon” starts as an adventure story of young love and life on the high seas and ends as a nightmare of domestic recrimination and thwarted dreams. Robert and Andrew are caring brothers living on their father’s farm and in love with the same woman, their beautiful neighbor Ruth. Robert is a poetic stargazer about to embark on a voyage around the world as an apprentice on his uncle’s ship, whereas Andrew is a pragmatic everyman set to take over the family farm. Ruth makes her romantic choice on the eve of Robert’s departure, setting off a series of events that tear apart the happy family and result in individual misfortune for each character. The illusion of love soon gives way to hardship and regret for those that stay, while the one who leaves finds himself wishing he had remained. Like the Jacobean dramatist John Webster as described by T.S. Eliot, the play reveals that even at this point in his career O’Neill “was much possessed by death / And saw the skull beneath the skin.”

Robert’s youthful interest in fairies and other childhood wonders ill equips him for a life of toil and practical business, and the sickly boy with literary aspirations is soon broken by a sisyphean cycle of drudging labor and bad luck. He is one of the living ghosts that occupy so much space in O’Neill’s work and life, half-dead men and women who move through life like shadows in a dream, whose visions never materialize, whose revolutions never come. Aside from Uncle Dick bearing an uncanny resemblance in appearance and performance to Cap’n Crunch, the characters perform with suitable understatement and simplicity under Ciarán O’Reilly’s forthright direction. This play was the moment American theater finally came into its own, and from the elusiveness of Andrew’s self-made wealth in Argentina to Uncle Ben’s jungle riches in “Death of a Salesman,” our playwrights continue to ponder its ambivalent examination of the American Dream’s deadly promises.

A sequel to “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” for which he won his final Pulitzer, “A Moon for the Misbegotten” concerns the Hogans, a family of tenant farmers, and their bittersweet relationship with their endearing yet self-loathing landowner James Tyrone. An alcoholic theater dilettante and disgusted womanizer, Jim was based on O’Neill’s older brother, who died of alcoholism at the age of 45 within three years of their parents. The play starts with Mike, the youngest of Phil Hogan’s three sons, taking his father’s accumulated fortune of $6 and running away from the farm with the help of his only sister Josie. Despite Phil’s constant blasphemy and endless bickering with his daughter Josie, we soon realize that the two are actually a fairly happy pair with a deep and abiding love for one another. With her bruised knees and amazonian health, Josie would have people believe that she’s a fallen women who has been with every eligible man in the county, a lie to cover her insecurity and loneliness that secretly pains Phil, though he halfheartedly plays along, and irritates Jim, who tells her to cut it out because of his genuine admiration for the father and daughter.

A kind of surrogate son to Phil, Jim enters reciting Latin and is an immensely likable, affable, and gentle person when sober. But when he drinks his mind often wanders through dark memories and secret sorrows, culminating in a confession to Josie on a long moonlit night about his revulsion with the circumstances of his mother’s death and his contemptible reaction to it. Having wallowed too long in a shallow, ugly world at least partly of his own making, Jim can no longer abide the corruption around him and the decay within. He is near the end of his days, by choice and circumstance, O’Neill capturing his disgust as lucidly as a mirror. Often quoting Ernest Dowson’s masterfully decadent poem “Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae,” Jim too is “desolate and sick of an old passion,” prey to the grief of his insurmountable personal losses that falls upon him “when the feast is finished and the lamps expire.”

O’Neill was greatly influenced by the themes and staging of Ancient Greek Tragedy, his characters existing behind masks emotional and psychological in abstract spaces that easily lend themselves to experimental productions. Director J.R. Sullivan errs in relying too heavily on a realistic set and especially in overdoing the naturalistic sound design, with its superfluous singing of birds and cicadas, reminding one of the rural silence Chekhov wrote into his plays to stymie Stanislavski’s equally overzealous naturalism. Otherwise, the cast and crew does an admirable job of realizing O’Neill’s stark yet exhilarating story of one man’s losing battle with his past and the silent demons of his soul.

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‘Death of a Salesman’
Philip Seymour Hoffman brings dramatic clout to this Arthur Miller classic as Willy Loman, while Andrew Garfield will pull in the younger crowds as the handsomely angsting Biff. The cast also includes Linda Edmond and John Glover. With a tight ensemble balancing varying shades of eminent talent, this show may have a seasoned heritage but it promises to be anything but stale.
Now in previews; opening March 15. www.deathofasalesmanbroadway.com

‘Newsies’
Another movie-musical adaptation for the stage, “Newsies” revisits the story of plucky newsboys with the heart and gall to stand up (and sing and dance) and strike in 1899. Wow, has it really been 20 years since we first sang along to our 1992 VHS? Also: Is it too much to ask for a Christian Bale cameo? Look for six brand-new songs in addition to the ones you already know by heart (c’mon, you know you do).
Previews begin March 15; opening March 29. www.newsiesthemusical.com

‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
The 1971 gospel rock concert by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice is injected with new life and revamped for a modern retelling of J.C.’s electric youth. The cast lacks a heavyweight name (aside from, perhaps, director Des McAnuff) — but what name do you need other than the titular superstar? We just wonder how tourists will be able to choose between this and “Godspell.”
Now in previews; opening March 22. www.superstaronbroadway.com

‘Peter and the Starcatcher’
Don’t worry, “Newsies” is fulfilling the Disney-on-Broadway quota — and this isn’t just a children’s theater adaptation of “Peter Pan.” Billed as “the Neverland you never knew,” this retelling is an adventurous origins story of the boy who won’t grow up. A dozen actors play more than 100 imaginative roles in a show that’s suggested for ages 10 and up.
Previews begin March 28; opening April 15. www.peterandthestarcatcher.com

‘Once’
You may remember this title from when it was called at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song in 2008. The hit musical film about love and art under pressure, by breakout duo Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, has been adapted for the stage. This time, the young lovers are played by Steve Kazee and Cristin Millioti – and yes, they play their own instruments. Now in previews;
opening March 18. www.oncemusical.com

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After increasingly successful years, “Broadway Backwards 6” raised a record-breaking $281,243 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in 2011. On March 5, “Broadway Backwards 7” hopes to do it again. “I heard from a little bird at Broadway Cares that we may just break last year’s record on Monday, but we’ll need to sell every last ticket,” the show’s creator/director says. “But it’s not about breaking records. It’s about helping more people.”

Bartley tells us Robin De Jesus is singing “My Fair Lady,” and Betty Buckley will do “one of the greatest (and bloodiest) Stephen Sondheim musicals.” Also onstage are Adam Pascal, Andrew Rannells and George Takei. “Oh, and we’ll have one of the great duets from ‘Chess.’ And there will be a little ‘West Side Story,’ ‘Aida’ … I think that’s enough for now. You’ll see the rest on Monday.”

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Oddly, “Waldo” is at its weakest when it’s most focused on its central conceit. When Lee is spouting Emersonese, the play seems forced and a little leaden. But playwright Rob Ackerman has surrounded Lee with a trio of likable characters whose evolution makes for enjoyable, if lightweight, fare. 

Foul-mouthed Gus is perhaps a little overdone in the profanity department, but Dykstra’s energy in the role is contagious and you can’t help but like the guy. Rehn’s Sarah is down-to-earth but not without depth or neurosis. Cynthia is the biggest surprise, functioning as a commentator to Sarah through most of the show, then stepping out of the background and blossoming at the end. Dorr White relishes the transformation. 

And then there’s Lee, front and center, a catalyst without convincing catharsis. Boston is solid but Lee’s existential angst never quite rings true. It’s easy to get swept up in the breezy charm of “Call Me Waldo,” but it leaves you with a slightly hollow feeling. 

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However, Moliere’s farcical comedies don’t need to be bellowed. The Parisian playwright’s works are highly satirical and self-aggrandizing in their own right, so they beg for subtlety and a steady directorial hand. There is none of that in “Playing Moliere,” which comprises three of the master’s one-acts running back-to-back in Battery Park City through March 11.

New York Classical Theatre is known for creating site-specific works; aside from an office pavilion, you might find the company performing in the park or even on a moving ferry. Seeing 17th-century parody in a contemporary business setting — at 7 p.m., suits are still heading home from work — is a unique experience. The modern atmosphere should feel like a stark contrast to the period costumes and ceremonious language, but somehow makes the production more intimate. Viewers cluster together on benches or sit directly on the marble floors; accidental passersby respect the performance while heading for the PATH. But sitting three feet from the lamps that help define the “stages,” it is still hard to hear all the quick and clever turns of phrase that are vital for getting the full gist of Moliere.

A cast of eight rotate parts in “Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed,” “The Forced Marriage” and “The Imaginary Cuckold.” Thankfully, all three plays total scarcely more than an hour.

Kids in attendance are riveted by the over-the-top acting and goofy costumes (think: big skirts, bigger wigs and at least one character in drag). This concept could be smartly marketed toward families, if only it didn’t cut so close to dinner and bedtime. Adults may appreciate the unusual setting, but ultimately ask for more from the show. But at least it’s free, and it’s an approvable example of theater thinking outside of the box.

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Gabe McKinley’s script builds nicely toward its inevitable climax, sharing glimpses of Jay’s shortcomings without hitting us over the head with them. He populates the story with stock but complex newspaper types who avoid becoming stereotypes. Perhaps the most interesting is Times lifer Frank King (Larry Bryggman). A seasoned veteran, he sees the end of his career is nigh and copes with a mixture of resignation, good nature and barely perceptible desperation. 

Publisher Junior (David Pittu), whose family has owned the paper for decades, loves to pontificate about its legacy — which is amusing but can also be overdone. He appoints Hal Martin (Arilss Howard) as executive editor, who in turn appoints Gerald Haynes (Peter Jay Fernandez) as the first African-American managing editor. Things become racially charged as Haynes becomes Bennett’s patron, since Bennett is also black. 

Director David Leveaux paces the show beautifully, although occasionally it gets slowed down in exposition. Overall it’s a satisfying, modern riff on the old-fashioned newsroom drama. 

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Financial challenges forced it to shut down in 2004, but its distinguished school and junior company DTH II continue to function. This week, under the direction of Keith Saunders, DTH II performs four pieces and screens an inspiring film at the Joyce, demonstrating that black dancers can excel at ballet.
George Balanchine’s 1955 “Glinka Pas de Trois,” new to the ensemble, draws promising performances from Ashley Murphy, Davon Doane and Flavia Garcia. Live music enlivens “Six Piano Pieces,” a newish work by David Fernandez that sends four couples flirting and frolicking in party clothes. Christopher Huggins’ “In the Mirror of Her Mind” leaves Murphy at the mercy of three mysterious men who fling her around.

An ambitious world premiere, Donald Byrd’s “Contested Space,” hammers the dancers with Amon Tobin’s quirky percussive score. The jazzy choreography demands everything from 10 strong performers.

DTH director Virginia Johnson is currently touring the country, auditioning dancers for the 2013 rebirth of the senior company. Stay tuned; a renaissance in black ballet awaits.

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Nixon plays Vivian Bearing, an English professor who is also a lead scholar of the metaphysical works of John Dunne. Juxtaposing his thoughts on mortality against her own experiences with stage 4 ovarian cancer, Bearing breaks the fourth wall to explain her dissolution to the audience. After all — she admits a moment after exposing her immanent vulnerability — she is first and foremost a teacher.

The setting is sparse, with entire environments insinuated by such ornaments as a desk, bed or chair. Despite a few pillars giving it depth, and a rotating wall conveying transitions of time and space, the Friedman stage often seems much larger than necessary for this intimate work. Without much to look at, you’re led to focus on the sharply written dialogue and Nixon’s nuanced expressions. Spanning 100 minutes without an intermission, this task does liken to attending a collegiate seminar. There’s plenty to learn and experience, but it isn’t a play to see for entertainment’s sake.

What you do want to go for is the talent. Nixon brings what is essential to this Pulitzer Prize-winning piece: the subtle, searching, yearning side of Bearing — who is, after all, the soul of “Wit.”

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She is Diana, played with panache and a thick Russian accent by Janeane Garofalo in “Russian Transport” at Theatre Row. With deadpan delivery, Garofalo makes Diana an almost clownish yet authentic bully. Her threats (“I pull you fingernails out”) are empty, but you wouldn’t want to get on her bad side, especially if you’re one of the offspring she keeps under her thumb.    

But her effect on her children pales next to that of their Uncle Boris, newly arrived from Russia. He galvanizes 14-year-old Mira’s sexuality in ways that are not always clear or pleasant. And he recruits 18-year-old Alex (Raviv Ullman) into chauffeuring unknowing young girls, presumably destined for the sex trade, from the airport.

Director Scott Elliott elicits uniformly strong performances from the tight ensemble, which also includes Daniel Oreskes as Diana’s husband, Misha.  Derek McLane’s set convincingly evokes a Sheepshead Bay duplex, but scenes played on the upper level lose some of their immediacy. 

Playwright Erika Sheffer has a gift for delivering information obliquely, although occasionally her lack of specificity is frustrating. Still, watching Alex struggle with his dilemma against the backdrop of family life worn thin by Boris’ disruptive presence is consistently involving. With a nonchalant style that seems rambling but is actually structured, Sheffer keeps you engaged, if sometimes puzzled.

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But as the number of deaths mounts, Richard no longer needs to be two-faced. He’s reduced to pure evil. The play becomes repetitive and Spacey’s bag of tricks shrinks: he’s loud and shrill and not much else. He valiantly carries on for over three hours, but he’s ultimately undone by the material. How many murders can you mastermind while keeping it fresh?

Mendes makes brilliant use of drums to create tension, but his choice to cast two girls as young princes is distracting.?His direction suffers from an inability to find, or at least maintain, variety in a powerful, but ultimately monotonous, bloodbath.

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