Every once in a while, if we are lucky, we stumble upon a work of art so staggering that it whirls about our memories long after our initial encounter. Something about it, even if we can’t pinpoint what that “something” is (which, of course, only adds to its intrigue), resonates. A most curious kabuki-based play, [...]
Author Archives: Jennifer Dwoskin
Dickens’ “Hard Times”
This week, the Pearl Theatre parts its curtains for Stephen Jeffrey’s page-to-stage adaptation of Hard Times by Charles Dickens. After sitting through the production, I contemplated suggesting an addendum to the Playbill. Perhaps, a WARNING on the cover: “This play is long, and the chairs are Amish in comfort level.” But, I realize that such [...]
Sam Shepard’s Ages of the Moon
In Waiting for Godot, Pozzo the slave-owner offers the grim yet illuminating commentary, “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.” This idea is a reflection of mortality—life as a flicker—and it hovers above Sam Shepard’s Ages of the Moon, opening this week at the Atlantic Theater. Although [...]
The Tracks
You would never expect it to happen. Then when it does, you wonder why it doesn’t happen more often. How have you lived in this city for years, and today is the first day you’ve experienced it. The subway — the F — the same train you ride every morning and every evening. You go [...]


