Off-Off-Broadway Review

'Save Me' Is a Rewarding Experience

Stefanie Zadravec takes a clear-eyed look at stark elemental matters in “Save Me,” a straightforward examination of a splintered family facing a sudden crisis, at the Barrow Group.

'Seagull (Thinking of you)' Flooded With Theatrical Imagination

Writer-director Tina Satter’s impressive “Seagull (Thinking of you),” in P.S. 122’s Coil Festival, is a distilled contemporary homage to the emotional chaos that informs Chekhov.

'Le Cid' Lacks a Unity of Style

Varying skill levels among the actors create an erratic quality that mars this rare production of Corneille’s “Le Cid,” from Storm Theatre and Blackfriars Repertory Theatre.

'Ruff' Is a Freewheeling Cabaret of Confessions

Peggy Shaw’s “Ruff,” about her 2011 stroke, part of P.S. 122’s Coil Festival, is playful and moving, a surprising, multidimensional exploration of a uniquely human burden, the mind.

'A Crucible' Fails to Turn Miller Into Mayhem

Brian Bauman’s “A Crucible,” from Perfect Disgrace Theater, about what happens when a Catholic high school stages the Arthur Miller classic, wants to be edgy but is just dull.

Witty 'Grimly Handsome' Devolves Into Silliness

“Grimly Handsome,” writer-director Julia Jarcho’s elegant jumble of a play, from Incubator Arts Project, is not without its charms but fails to cohere, despite an exceptional cast.

Surreal 'Nightmares: a demonstration of the Sublime' Has Tremendous Scope

Buran Theatre’s splendid and trippy “Nightmares: a demonstration of the Sublime,” at the Brick, is an intriguing sensory echo chamber for freeform ideas about art and authorship.

'There There' Talks of Loneliness, Awkwardness, and Unrequited Love

“There There,” Kristen Kosmas’ slow burn of a two-woman monologue, from the Chocolate Factory and Performance Space 122, finds new paths into Chekhov’s “Three Sisters.”

'Soldier' Offers No New Insights on the Horrors of War

A dead Nazi soldier implicitly seeks the audience’s approval in “Soldier,” Jonathan Draxton’s well-acted, poorly staged exercise begun as a class assignment and now at Here.

'P.S. Jones and the Frozen City' Riffs on Pop-Culture Epics

Robert Askins’ “P.S. Jones and the Frozen City,” from terraNOVA Collective, is delightful to look at but dizzying to follow, burdened by an ambitious but overstuffed plot.