All stories by Ben Brantley on BroadwayStars

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Theater Review: 'King Lear' in an Enchanted Setting Along the Hudson River by Ben Brantley

In the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival production of "King Lear," a sylvan world surrounding the Boscobel House and Gardens is transformed from enchanted daylight into deepest night. …

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Monday, August 12, 2013

Theater Review: 'Love's Labour's Lost,' Loosely Speaking, in Central Park by Ben Brantley

Alex Timbers's romping adaptation of "Love's Labour's Lost" is part of Shakespeare in the Park.    

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Critic's Notebook: Creating Barbra Streisand in 'Buyer & Cellar' by Ben Brantley

"Buyer & Cellar," whose subject is a really, really big star, considers the great divide of renown that separates the idol from the idolized.    

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Critic's Notebook: 'The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable' in London by Ben Brantley

"The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable" is an immersive theatrical production in London.    

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Theater Review: 'The Designated Mourner' by Wallace Shawn, at Public Theater by Ben Brantley

"The Designated Mourner," Wallace Shawn's unflinching look at New York intellectuals, has been given a not-to-be-missed revival at the Public Theater.    

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Friday, July 19, 2013

Theater Review: 'Master and Margarita' Is Staged at Bard College by Ben Brantley

In "The Master and Margarita," an adaptation of the Russian masterwork at Bard College, the Devil pays a troublemaking visit to 1930s Moscow.    

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

London Stages, Full of Cheating Hearts by Ben Brantley

A slew of London revivals, from "Othello" to "Private Lives" to "Passion Play," focus on the idea of married people misbehaving.    

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Theater Review: 'The Castle,' From the Potomac Theater Project by Ben Brantley

"The Castle," Howard Barker's 1985 play, is making its New York debut in a smart and rowdy production from the Potomac Theater Project.    

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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Critic's Notebook: 'The Color Purple' and 'Prudencia Hart' Sing Anew in London by Ben Brantley

In London, John Doyle has made an honest musical out of "The Color Purple," and an academic makes a deal with the Devil in "The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart."    

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Friday, July 12, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Change in the Air by Ben Brantley

Ben Brantley reviews "Children of the Sun" and "Dusa, Fish, Stash and Vi."    

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Monsters and Ghosts by Ben Brantley

Ben Brantley on a revival of "Sweet Bird of Youth" and the new play "Bracken Moor."    

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Monday, July 8, 2013

Critic's Notebook: Something Wicked This Way Runs by Ben Brantley

Kenneth Branagh returns to Shakespeare in a fast-paced "Macbeth" at the Manchester International Festival.    

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Theater Review: 'The Old Woman' Stars Dafoe and Baryshnikov by Ben Brantley

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Willem Dafoe star in "The Old Woman," an adaptation of short stories by Daniil Kharms.    

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Friday, July 5, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Journal: Shakespeare's Liars and Lovers by Ben Brantley

Impressive new productions of "Othello" at the National Theater and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Shakespeare's Globe.    

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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Heaven and Earth by Ben Brantley

Ben Brantley reviews Conor McPherson's "The Night Alive" and James Baldwin's "Amen Corner."    

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Monday, July 1, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Trapped by Ben Brantley

Ben Brantley reviews "Rutherford and Son" and "Hard Feelings."    

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:07AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 28, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: The Empire Crumbles by Ben Brantley

"Mission Drift," an American import at the National Theater, has plenty of show-biz spark as it makes the case that United States isn't a nation of endless and reach and opportunity. &n…

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Daniel Radcliffe as Cripple Billy by Ben Brantley

As the title character in this revival of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy "The Cripple of Inishmaan" Daniel Radcliffe does something unusual for a star: he blends into the scenery and the ense…

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Theater Review: 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' Opens at Drury Lane by Ben Brantley

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which opened on Tuesday night at Theater Royal, Drury Lane, is jammed with games and gadgets.    

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

ArtsBeat: London Theater Journal: Hard-Boiled in 'Chimerica' by Ben Brantley

Lucy Kirkwood's hit play "Chimerica" at the Almeida Theater portrays the culture clash between a rising and a waning superpower (China and America) in a story that moves faster than a speedi…

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Friday, June 21, 2013

Theater Review: Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif in Tennessee Williams Rarity by Ben Brantley

"The Two-Character Play," a late-career work by Tennessee Williams, is revived Off Broadway, with Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif in the title roles.    

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Theater Review: In 'On the Town,' Sailors on Leave Look for Love by Ben Brantley

There is an air of erotic effortlessness in John Rando's production of "On the Town" in Pittsfield, Mass.    

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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Theater Review: 'Roadkill' Bears Witness to Human Trafficking by Ben Brantley

"Roadkill" is an unsettling site-specific theater piece about sex trafficking that is staged on a bus and in a town house in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.    

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Theater Review: 'Venice,' by Eric Rosen and Matt Sax, Teems With Action by Ben Brantley

There's enough plot in Eric Rosen and Matt Sax's "Venice," the action-flooded new musical at the Public Theater, to fill a whole year in a Marvel comics series.    

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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Theater Review: 'Cornelius' Is Revived at 59E59 Theaters by Ben Brantley

Sam Yates's revival of J. B. Priestley's "Cornelius," a play about the Depression in Britain, explores an era that speaks to our times.    

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Theater Review: 'Reasons to Be Happy,' by Neil LaBute by Ben Brantley

In "Reasons to Be Happy," the playwright Neil LaBute returns to the two couples who fought their way through his earlier "reasons to be pretty."    

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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Stage Nudity Becomes Ever Less Revealing by Ben Brantley

A spate of (mostly male) lack of clothing on stage this season is a reminder that being nude is not the same as being naked.    

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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Theater Review: 'Far From Heaven,' at Playwrights Horizons by Ben Brantley

"Far From Heaven," at Playwrights Horizons, is a musical adaptation of Todd Haynes's film about Eisenhower-era repression.    

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Friday, May 31, 2013

Theater Review: 'The Giacomo Variations,' With John Malkovich, at City Center by Ben Brantley

"The Giacomo Variations," starring John Malkovich, pairs scenes from the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova with arias from Mozart's operas.    

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Critic's Notebook: 'Peter and the Starcatcher' and 'Murder Ballad' by Ben Brantley

"Peter and the Starcatcher," a prequel to the classic Peter Pan story, and "Murder Ballad," about a dangerous love triangle, won't make a natural double feature, but they are siblings of sor…

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Critic's Notebook: 'This House,' by James Graham, to Be Broadcast in Theaters by Ben Brantley

The National Theater's production of "This House," a re-creation of British parliamentary politics in the 1970s, will be shown in a live screening at selected theaters on May 16.  …

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All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off