MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Helen Shaw

@helen_e_shaw

  1. theater review
    Circle Jerk’s Theatrical Erudition Includes a Dose of The O.C.A streaming production that doesn’t feel stripped-down.
  2. movie review
    What the Constitution Means to Me Film Unleashes a Boiler Full of FlamesWhen everything feels too overwhelming to watch at home, Heidi Schreck’s Broadway show (streaming on Prime Video) hits the right chord of anger.
  3. streaming theater
    Transcript Turned Script: A Preview of Why Would I Dare’s Courtroom DramaThe Crystal Mason voting-rights case comes to the stage in a streaming production by the Commissary.
  4. review
    Mortality Plays: Two Live Performances in New York Look Steadily at DeathLive, in-person performances are springing up everywhere.
  5. movies
    Why Wait for Death?In her new film, Kirsten Johnson documents the loss of her father to dementia — while “killing” him over and over again.
  6. theater
    At Soho Rep, a Revolutionary Idea: Put the Creative People on SalaryThe directors feel their job program is more a continuation than a pivot.
  7. streaming theater review
    Almost the Real Miracle: Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, Streaming From the Old VicIt feels a little like … theater!
  8. theater review
    Andrew Scott Is Extraordinary in Three KingsThe performance is a demonstration of the actor’s charismatic power.
  9. theater on tv
    Coastal Elites Is As Distanced As Its SubjectMonologues that play to a crowd don’t work without that audience.
  10. fall preview
    Allow Natalie Palamides to Dominate YouWith her genre- and gender-bending comedy special, Nate.
  11. Theatre for One Wants You to Sit Up Straight and Pay AttentionOne-on-one, face-to-face theater performances in a digital window.
  12. theater review
    How Parents, Children (and Playwrights) Made Oedipus Rex and Antigone at HomeSophocles in Staten Island is a family affair.
  13. stage dives
    ‘Within Fifteen Minutes, It Became Unbearable’The bloody Broadway mess that was Dance of the Vampires.
  14. theater review
    These Two New Theater Works Need You to ListenOne of the surprises of pandemic theater-making has been this embrace of audio work.
  15. streaming theater
    Go Small and Go Home: Tiny Theater Made in QuarantineThe 7th voyage of egon tichy was streamed from an apartment closet.
  16. crisis 2020
    Does Arts-Funding Advocacy Need a Famous Face?Many are working behind the scenes, but no one’s willing to get in the spotlight.
  17. theater review
    This Sceptered Dial: Richard II on the RadioShakespeare in the Park in your headphones.
  18. theater
    Gee, Officer: Why Are There So Few Plays About Cops?They’re all over TV and movies. But there are almost no police dramas onstage.
  19. theater review
    Uses for a Dull Knife: Productive Boredom in Three ZoomertainmentsState vs. Natasha Banina, And So We Come Forth and Zero Cost House
  20. movie review
    The Hamilton Movie Swings Open the Doors of BroadwayThe Disney+ version of the musical is in-your-face at a moment when nothing is allowed to be in your face.
  21. theater
    Gradually and Then All at Once, Racial and Labor Reckoning at the Flea TheaterAfter years at a simmer, the situation suddenly reached a boiling point.
  22. theater review
    Does Interactive Theater Work on Zoom? Two Theaters Switch On the VideoWhat exactly makes something feel “live”?
  23. theater
    Building Trust After Inclusivity Failed: Lessons for the TheaterAfter years of talk, minimal progress. So what now?
  24. theater
    Props? Trombone Zones? Dressing Rooms? A COVID Theater Think Tank Plans AheadProp-handling rules? Dressing-room airflow checks? Trombone-free zones? What will it take to open safely?
  25. the longest lives
    What I’ve Learned So FarLessons from artists and thinkers.
  26. obituary
    On Larry Kramer, The Normal Heart, and Playwriting As Screed“I had internalized that meat-ax political drama was a synonym for ‘clumsy.’ But it dismantled all my craft preconceptions.”
  27. dance
    Where to Stream Great Dance PerformancesA little starter set for the enthusiast who wants to feel like leaping again.
  28. streaming theater review
    Molly Sweeney Returns: A Dark Play Brightens the ScreenBrian Friel’s triple intertwined monologues, in a streamed revival of the 2011 production at the Irish Rep.
  29. the lost season
    What Would Ren Dara Santiago’s The Siblings Play Have Been?The first in a series devoted to the Lost Season.
  30. streaming theater review
    The Online By Jeeves Is Lousy, and Still Reminded Me How Much I Miss TheaterIt made me realize I’ve even missed the eat-your-spinach parts of being a critic.
  31. streaming theater review
    Richard Nelson’s Apple Family Is Muted in Grief and Unmuted on ZoomIn What Do We Need to Talk About?
  32. podcasts
    Broadway Stars in Blanket Forts: Reimagining a Musical As a PodcastAn audio production of a show, written in 2011, that’s about being afraid to go outside.
  33. theater
    Live-Online-Theater Tips From the Stream Team Behind Buyer & CellarHow to light, how to stage, which phone camera to use.
  34. theater review
    A Benefit Buyer & Cellar Is Proof-of-Concept for Streamed TheaterMichael Urie’s short-run online benefit performance that works.
  35. obit
    There Was One Great Role Brian Dennehy Never Got to PlayRobert Falls talked about the great American actor, who died on Wednesday at 81.
  36. theater review
    A Play for Your Ears Only: Heather Christian’s Prime: A Practical BreviaryAn audio-only play (but not exactly a radio drama) for our particular time.
  37. theater review
    WrestleMania Broke MeDispatches from two full nights of WrestleContent.
  38. vulture lists
    Even More Things to Stream While Broadway Is Shut DownDid you know that the SpongeBob musical is on Amazon Prime?
  39. coronavirus news
    In Drama School, the Spring Showcase Is Everything. Now What?Everything that agents and bookers might see has been canceled.
  40. theater
    Livestreaming and Labor: A Clash of Good Intentions at Red Bull TheaterA dispute with Actors’ Equity shuts down a virtual production.
  41. vulture recommends
    What to Stream While Broadway Is Shut DownSuggested substitutes for the shows you’re missing while theaters are dark.
  42. coronavirus news
    Even the $2 Trillion Rescue Isn’t Great for the ArtsA few crumbs for a significant part of the economy.
  43. appreciation
    ‘I Was Always Astounded by the Level of Constant Invention’: On Terrence McNallyThe playwright’s broad palette and essential humanity.
  44. yay!
    The New York Arts Scene Is Getting Some Much-Needed Financial ReliefA multi-foundation effort to save nonprofits has begun.
  45. coronavirus
    How One Theater Company Is Facing a Dark SpringA snapshot from downtown.
  46. the business of theater
    “There Is No ‘Surplus’ in Nonprofit”: How Off Broadway Is Coping With ClosureAt all but the largest downtown institutions, a few weeks’ closure can wipe out years of exhausting work.
  47. theater review
    If You’re Leaving the House, Head West to TumachoPlus, 72 Miles to Go …
  48. theater review
    Every Day a Little Death: Endlings and Unknown SoldierA pair of plays that (very differently) evoke the ultimate.
  49. theater review
    That’s Really Mom Up There: Suicide Forest and SKiNFoLKTwo plays involving very present mothers.
  50. theater review
    Girl From the North Country Has No Direction HomeOpportunity blown; so much told and not shown.
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