House of Gold
Ensemble Studio Theatre
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Gregory Moss’s play about JonBenét Ramsey feels “self-indulgently cryptic,“ said Backstage. Eschewing realism, he’s offering a conceptual take on children’s suffering. But at least the approach allows adult actor Jacqueline Wright to give us a “superbly” played JonBenét.
Double Indemnity
ACT: A Contemporary Theatre
Seattle
(206) 292-7676
This new adaptation of James M. Cain’s tale of a femme fatale is “riveting, seamy, and eye-popping,” said The Seattle Times. Carrie Paff is “not quite as icy” as Barbara Stanwyck was in Billy Wilder’s classic film, but this play’s “ghoulishly operatic” twist “hews closer to the sinewy 1935 novel.”
Pelleas & Melisande
The Cutting Ball Theater
San Francisco
(800) 838-3006
The titular couple exhibit “an almost comical acceptance” of their tragic fate in this production of an 1893 “symbolist classic,” said the Marin, Calif., Independent Journal. Still, Rob Melrose’s dance-infused staging “offers plenty of aesthetic delights” despite its wan romance.
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If/Thenfeature Tony-winning Idina Menzel “looks and sounds sensational” in a role tailored to her talents.
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Rocky
feature It’s a wonder that this Rocky ever reaches the top of the steps.
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Love and Information
feature Leave it to Caryl Churchill to create a play that “so ingeniously mirrors our age of the splintered attention span.”
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The Bridges of Madison County
feature Jason Robert Brown’s “richly melodic” score is “one of Broadway’s best in the last decade.”
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Outside Mullingar
feature John Patrick Shanley’s “charmer of a play” isn’t for cynics.
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The Night Alive
feature Conor McPherson “has a singular gift for making the ordinary glow with an extra dimension.”
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No Man’s Land
feature The futility of all conversation has been, paradoxically, the subject of “some of the best dialogue ever written.”
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The Commons of Pensacola
feature Stage and screen actress Amanda Peet's playwriting debut is a “witty and affecting” domestic drama.