Theatre to watch in New York FT critics review the latest shows on Broadway and beyond Dublin debauchery and family ties in Little Gem at the Irish Repertory Theatre, New YorkThree overlapping monologues are woven together skilfully in Elaine Murphy’s play Moulin Rouge! The Musical! — flimsy Broadway take on Baz Luhrmann’s filmThere’s razmatazz but little else in this stage spectacle at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre We’re Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time — a strange, witty one-man show at the Public Theater, New YorkDavid Cale’s musical is a tale of youthful awakening in suburbia Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon enliven a fresh Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de LuneTerrence McNally’s story of hesitant romance is thoughtfully revived at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre Screen junkies sing their pain in Octet at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New YorkDave Malloy’s new musical addresses a very contemporary form of addiction Susan Sarandon returns to the New York stage in Jesse Eisenberg’s Happy TalkThe new drama serves up misery and narcissism at the Pershing Square Signature Center More from this Series Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class in New York — an unravelling family and a food fightThe playwright’s 1977 portrait of farming lives in freefall opens at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York Antigone in Ferguson — a cathartic experience at St Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, New YorkThis production of Sophocles’s tragedy emerged from the death of a black teenager in Missouri Beetlejuice — a slick new musical at the Winter Garden Theatre, New YorkThe stage adaptation of Tim Burton’s film offers one strikingly memorable performance Ink — mesmerisingly good tale of Murdoch and The Sun shines on BroadwayJames Graham’s tabloid takeover drama brings Fleet Street to the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, New York Tootsie — cross-dressing movie gets a magnetic musical makeoverSantino Fontana’s assured performance drives Scott Ellis’s fluid staging at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway Hillary and Clinton at Golden Theatre, New York — an exercise in wishful thinking now appears rather datedLaurie Metcalf and John Lithgow offer impressionistic versions of the real-life couple Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus — Beavis and Butt-Head meets the BardNathan Lane and Kristine Nielsen bring Vaudevillian flair to Shakespeare follow-up at Broadway’s Booth Theatre A foul-mouthed Adam Driver stars in Burn This at the Hudson Theatre, New YorkThe star’s rambunctious performance is the best thing about this dated melodrama Norma Jeane Baker of Troy at The Shed, New York — Ben Whishaw and Renée Fleming star in a retelling of Euripides’ storyAnne Carson’s play at the new cultural complex blends past and present, drama and music Glenda Jackson struggles to stand out in a gaudy, trashy King Lear at the Cort Theatre, New YorkThe actors often seem bewildered by Sam Gold’s production of Shakespeare’s tragedy The Lehman Trilogy comes to New York — drama in thrall to the forces of financeInside the Park Avenue Armory, an eerie emptiness evokes the invisible abstraction of money itself in Sam Mendes’ production Nantucket Sleigh Ride at the Lincoln Center, New York — meta-literary pyrotechnicsJohn Guare’s zany new play is packed with dizzyingly clever references Isabelle Huppert stars as a neurotic housewife in The MotherFlorian Zeller’s drama about a family under pressure makes its New York debut at the Linda Gross Theater Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag at the SoHo Playhouse, New YorkHilarious, bawdy and laced with sadness, this one-woman show portrays of the isolation and hedonism of contemporary London “Daddy” is a provocative portrait of racial tensionsA piece of biting social commentary at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York Superhero, Tony Kiser Theater, New YorkThe absence of a proper villain further exacerbates this musical’s lack of bite Alice by Heart — a sophisticated musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll set during the BlitzThis production, at the Robert M. Wilson MCC Theater Space in New York, sheds the books’ dark undertones but adds an understated pathos Boesman and Lena — a racially charged Waiting for Godot set in apartheid South AfricaAthol Fugard’s portrait of dispossession and despair resonates in New York, where homelessness has soared Farce meets tragedy in Lynn Nottage’s By the Way, Meet Vera StarkAn energetic staging tackles race and showbusiness at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York Lin-Manuel Miranda’s co-produced musical Freestyle Love SupremeThe hip-hop group’s on-the-hoof musical at New York’s Greenwich House Theater was an entertaining if somewhat tame affair Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano in True West — manic charm and nervous energySam Shepard’s shaggy-pony story of warring brothers opens at the American Airlines Theatre, New York New departures for Neil LaBute at the Davenport Theatre, New YorkThe LaBute New Theatre Festival features three grimly plausible one-act plays by the writer Under the Radar Festival, Public Theater, New York — teenage angst and asylum seekersTwo shows exemplify the range and depth of this annual festival Choir Boy — a startling play by Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraneySchool-based drama makes its Broadway debut at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre Blue Ridge at the Linda Gross Theater, New York — a punitive society in microcosmA halfway house full of misfits is the setting for Abby Rosebrock’s new play To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway — Aaron Sorkin sucks the life out of Harper LeeJeff Daniels is a muddled Atticus Finch in this meddlesome adaptation at the Sam S Shubert Theatre Strange Window — a clever, topical riff on Henry James at BAM Harvey Theater, New YorkJames Gibbs updates The Turn of the Screw for the digital age Clueless, The Musical is just as enjoyable as the filmA faithful stage adaptation at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York Fabulation, or the Re-education of Undine — a mordantly funny dramaA PR woman experiences a blitz of misfortune in Lynn Nottage’s play at the Pershing Square Signature Center, New York Slave Play — a raunchy exploration of interracial relationships at the New York Theatre WorkshopJeremy O. Harris’s new play explores murky psychological territory Bryan Cranston is on barnstorming form in Network on BroadwayIvo van Hove’s compulsively watchable adaptation of the prophetic 1976 movie comes to the Belasco Theatre The White Album — a lively adaptation of Joan Didion’s essay at BAM Harvey Theater, New YorkThe writer’s reflections on the 1960s come to life on stage Tom Stoppard is out of his depth with The Hard ProblemThin characters skim over a perennial conundrum at New York’s Lincoln Center Theater Thom Pain (based on nothing), Signature Theatre, New York — fun with solipsismMichael C Hall brings a devilish charisma to bear as he delivers Will Eno’s darkly whimsical monologue The New One — a tale of woe and neurosis at the Cort Theatre, New YorkMike Birbiglia explores fatherhood in his new one-man show The burden of racism hangs heavy over Eve’s Song at the Public Theater, New YorkPatricia Ione Lloyd’s new play has an ever-present sense of unease Fire in Dreamland, Public Theater, New York — a dramatic flame that fizzles outRinne Groff’s new play is centred around a 1911 amusement park blaze Carey Mulligan gets gritty in Girls & Boys at Minetta Lane Theatre, New YorkThe star exudes self-deprecating charm in Dennis Kelly’s sharply observed one-woman play about modern romance Cyprus Avenue, Public Theater, New York — pitch-black satireDavid Ireland’s play explores sectarian hatred in contemporary Northern Ireland Skintight, Laura Pels Theatre, New York — bracingly cynicalVanity and hypocrisy are exposed in Joshua Harmon’s new black comedy Othello, Central Park, New York — a shift of focus from race to genderThis open-air Shakespeare is uneven, but the performances suggest a bold re-reading Everyone’s Fine with Virginia Woolf, Abrons Arts Center, New York — consistently hilariousThe cast navigates playwright Kate Scelsa’s zany twist on Edward Albee with deadpan flair The Boys in the Band, New York — Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto get nastyA birthday party full of gay men descends into cruel jibing in this tightly wound staging of Mart Crowley’s play at the Booth Theatre The Iceman Cometh, Bernard B Jacobs Theatre, New York — played by the bookStarring Denzel Washington and Colm Meaney, this is a production that needs to take more risks Harry Potter comes to Broadway in a thoroughly rewarding productionHarry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre delivers theatrical thrills — and a touching tale of adolescence and fatherhood Carousel, Imperial Theatre, New York — going round in circlesRenée Fleming provides emotional subtlety but sounds a little underpowered in Jack O’Brien’s old-fashioned staging Mean Girls, August Wilson Theatre, New York — a deficit of nastinessTina Fey has toned down the material in her musical adaptation of the teen comedy
