Portrait of Dave Harris, author of “Exception to the Rule,” by Zack DeZon.
Spring has sprung, and if you’re not busy taking in all of the Tony nominees, head to one of New York’s smaller theaters for an Off-Broadway treat! See below for a list of five plays to see this spring:
Which Way to the Stage
The year is 2015 and Jeff and Judy are right where they’re supposed to be: waiting outside the stage door of If/Then to get an autograph from the star. But the experience they have while they wait will change the course of their decades-long friendship forever. Warning: Beware of Tourists.
Ana Nogueira’s darkly comic new play is a love letter to theater obsessives, but also delves into challenging questions around misogyny and queer identity. Mike Donahue’s production stars Sas Goldberg, Max Jenkins, Evan Todd and Michelle Veintimilla and runs at MCC Theater through May 22.
A Case for the Existence of God
Inside a cubicle in a small office in southern Idaho, two men struggle to meet the confounding terms on a loan. MacArthur Fellow Samuel D. Hunter launches his Signature Theatre residency with this thoughtful meditation on human resilience, directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer.
Kyle Beltran and Will Brill deliver an astonishing and powerful two-hander in this critically raved new play, now extended at Signature through May 29.
Dreaming Zenzile
At her final concert, South African musical legend and activist Miriam Makeba delivers the performance of her life, raising the conscience and the consciousness of a people. But the ancestors are calling—transporting her through the music and fractured memories of her past on a spiritual journey of reconciliation.
Written and performed by international music sensation Somi Kakoma, this world premiere musical is an electrifying portrait of a revolutionary artist’s singular voice and vision. It begins previews at New York Theatre Workshop on May 17 for a run through June 26.
Exception to the Rule
How do you make it through detention? In the worst high school in the city, six Black students are stuck in Room 111. They flirt. They fight. They tease. Should they follow the rules and stay put, or find an escape? Are the walls keeping them in, or are stronger forces at play?
Roundabout Underground presents a world premiere new play by Dave Harris (Tambo & Bones), directed by Roundabout Theatre’s new Resident Director Miranda Haymon. It runs through June 26.
Oh God, Show About Abortion
Alison Leiby’s summer started with a bang and ended with a visit to Planned Parenthood. In between she had two root canals, a very scary trip to the “Fertility” section of a Missouri CVS and a dozen meltdowns about what you wear to your abortion, naturally. In her acclaimed new show at the Cherry Lane Theatre, Leiby walks through the stupid minutiae, the backwards practices, and the surprising perspective that come with exercising your reproductive rights.
Oh God, A Show About Abortion is presented by Broad City’s Ilana Glazer and is an, unfortunately, an unexpectedly timely piece-and a hilarious one.
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