Staff Picks No. 116
Krapp’s Last Tape : Stephen Rea, Vicky Featherstone
NYU Skirball
October 8th-19th 2025
I like to say that there’s some plays that are the theatrical equivalent of “tough grass”, this ain’t it. This is to touch the cockles of your heart and feel it pump with the dread of time’s passage. Direct from London (after an Irish run), the brilliant Stephen Rea works his magic in a production of KRAPP’S LAST TAPE, a 50-minute gem of a work that is one of the writer’s masterstrokes. Don’t be an idiot, go wonder how to measure a wasted life. All hail Beckett.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
buffalounit for bison bison (dance_hum for dirtbath) : Duane Linklater, Tanya Lukin Linklater, eagleswitheyesclosed
Dia Chelsea
September 13th-October 25th 2025
Over the course of seven Saturdays in September and October, a shrinking ensemble of musicians and dancers (from seven performers to two), activate the Duane Linklater show in the Dia Chelsea galleries, with music, dance, and text. Linklater’s show is quiet and curious and beautiful. And I expect this performance, which explores the physicality, the beinghood, the metaphor of buffalo, to add rich layers to his deeply thoughtful artworks. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
Jawbreaker Part 1 Part 2 : Alexa West
Pageant
September 25th-27th 2025
I kinda fuck with choreographic examinations of movement-as-political form and there's a few of them this season, but both the irresistible title and the fascination with a wide bevy of influence (Shaker dance???) gives me hope that this will be an unexpected, surprising night over at Pageant.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Yazik : Sonya Belaya, Yuchang Xiao, Nandi Rose, Laura Sofía Pérez, Jiangnan Hou, Masha Tsimring, Nola Sporn Smith, Zubin Hensler, Zosha Warpeha, Stephen Boegehold
Roulette
Tuesday September 30th 2025
I think I've experienced quite a few fascinating works about the imposition of language (both as a go-er of theat-er and someone who used to work at Brooklyn Public Library's ESOL department), but Sonya Belaya's YAZIK hybrid work seems to take that imposition in new directions when death takes a Mother and Language finds itself torn apart. Anyway, tickets are $25 and there'll be a free livestream, you've little excuse.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
The Collective Womb : Mirage Auto Depot, Alexandra Neuman, Raychel Ceciro, and Logan Gabrielle Schulman
Earth Matter/The Climate Imaginarium on Governor's Island
October 3rd-5th 2025
Something about outdoor experimental work on lovely Govenor's Island in the crisp newborn days of autumn that embraces nature, ecofeminist theater work, puppetry and dance that is just worth (way more than) a ferry ride and a day away from the city. From the cool beans of Mirage Auto Depot, so you know what you'll get is something unforgettable and wholly unique.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Rock n Roll High School (film) : The Ramones, Allan Arkush, Joe Dante
BAM Rose Cinemas
Friday September 26th and Tuesday September 30th 2025
Well, I don't care about history
Rock, rock, rock 'n roll high school
'Cause that's not where I wanna be
Rock, rock, rock 'n roll high school
Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock 'n roll high school
Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock 'n roll high school
(Come through!)
Staffer: Joshua Dumas