With the second half of the 2024-25 theater season in full swing, there are Broadway plays opening weekly, as they will be until the Tony nomination deadline at the end of April. In the meantime, one mustn’t forget the very compelling Off-Broadway offerings that are not only more affordable, but often more fulfilling. Here’s a look at three plays currently on the boards.
Ghosts. Through April 26 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre in Lincoln Center.
****/***** (four stars out of five)
Henrik Ibsen’s 1881 morality play, Ghosts, has certainly lost some of its shock value over the past century, with its subject matter initially considered so offensive in Victorian England that it was vilified in the press as exhibiting “putrid decorum.” Ironically, in its latest iteration, a 110-minute adaptation by Mark O’Rowe at Lincoln Center under the direction of Jack O’Brien, it is reduced to a rather familiar study of family relations and conflict. Purposefully or not, O’Brien has craftily cast this tale of uncertain parentage and difficult filial relations with four of the five actors coming from American acting dynasties.
Lily Rabe (daughter of playwright David Rabe and actor Jill Clayburgh) and Hamish Linklater play two very different parents to Ella Beatty (the daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) and Levon Hawke (son of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke). When young Oswald (Hawke), an up-and-coming painter, returns from Paris ailing from what is likely an incurable and fatal case of syphilis (possibly inherited from his philandering, now-deceased father) he is lovingly welcomed by his mother Helena (Rabe) and her 15-year-old house servant, Regina (Beatty), who appears smitten and wants to care for him. But there’s one irreconcilable complication, and the story spirals into inevitable tragedy, helped along by Linklater’s well-meaning and greedy Engstrad who believes he’s Ella’s father; and Pastor Mandors, played by the always terrific Billy Crudup, who has both too much faith and too much willingness to abuse the good will of others. John Lee Beatty’s understated but attractive set of richly toned wooden furnishings provides the perfect mood for this gloomy study of the human condition. And of the “nepo babies,” as the kids call them these days (unfairly in this case), Levon Hawke acquits himself particularly well, especially considering this is his first outing on the professional stage. With growth and experience he could very well prove to be an excellent actor in due time.
Conversations With Mother. Through May 11 at Theater 555 (555 West 42nd Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues).
***½ /***** (three and half stars out of five)
Sometimes superficial plays covering too familiar topics that don’t teach us anything new are exactly what we need. Matthew Lombardo’s Conversations With Mother embraces just about every possible cliché about the relationship between an overbearing mother and a troublesome yet loving son. However, under Noah Himmelstein’s concise direction it’s refreshing and, ultimately, quite entertaining—a very easy evening of theater that nonetheless explores difficult topics and scenarios. Construed as a series of telephone or in-person conversations (with each new scene titled with a mother’s familiar admonitions like, “Did You Get a Job Yet?”) between Maria Collavechio (Caroline Aaron) and her youngest son, Bobby (Tony winner, Matt Doyle). The conversations are self-aware and replete with meta references that almost, but not quite, break the fourth wall, winking at the audience. Yet, somehow, they all work. Aaron, best known for her portrayal as an extremely loud, overbearing, and hilarious Jewish mother in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” is almost the same, delightful character here, except Catholic. Doyle effectively and impressively plays Bobby through several decades of his life, from adolescence through late middle-age, as he manages being a gay, only occasionally employed playwright in the 1970s and 1980s, somehow managing to dodge AIDS. The dynamic between mother and son is both touching and heart rending, providing a poignant evening of theater.
Vanya. Through May 11 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, Greenwich Village).
***/***** (three stars out of five)
The Irish actor Andrew Scott is unquestionably one of the great thespians of our time. His stunning performance as the arch-villain Moriarty on the BBC’s “Sherlock” brought him into sharp public focus in the US and he has shined in countless roles since (notably Netflix’s 2023 hit, “Ripley”). Now he’s flexing his acting muscles in Vanya—Simon Stephens and Sam Yates’ adaptation of Chekhov’s beloved Uncle Vanya—in which he alone plays all eight characters. Following an acclaimed 2023 run at the York Theatre in London, Vanya has crossed the Atlantic for a 10-week stretch at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Indeed a feat on Scott’s behalf, it unfortunately also reconfirms that a complicated play with multiple characters needs different actors for all those roles. Despite Scott’s best efforts, this story of several people experiencing disappointments in life, along with painfully unrequited love, becomes muddled and confusing as we try to suss out not only what exactly is taking place, but who’s speaking at any given moment. Sam Yates (who also directs) missed an opportunity to edit out some rather long (in this instance) lulls and a prolonged ending (which works in a traditional production, but not here). Seeing Vanya provides a very satisfying opportunity to see a masterful actor at work, but it falls short when it comes to delivering a palatable version of a classic and beloved play.
