This week, WGBH Arts Editor Jared Bowen reviews four new plays from Boston to Broadway, starting with The Huntington Theatre Company’s “Quixote Nuevo.”
“Quixote Nuevo,” presented by the Huntington Theatre Company through Dec. 8
Don Quixote gets a modern makeover in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of “Quixote Nuevo.” In this play by Octavio Solis, a retired professor struggling with dementia (played by Sesame Street alum Emilio Delgado) conflates his life with the story of Don Quixote, and embarks on an epic quest to find his lost love. In this reimagining of Miguel de Cervantes’s famous novel, “Quixote Nuevo” swaps 17th century Spain for a Texas border town.
“I grew up in a border town,” Delgado told WGBH News. “I'm very, very attuned to this mentality of the different cultures and how one navigates through them and around them because I lived it.”
“Quixote Nuevo is vibrant, heartfelt and absorbing,” says Jared. “Quixote’s end of life quest is deeply resonant.”
“Betrayal,” presented on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre through Dec. 8
After a successful extended run in London’s West End, Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” moves to Broadway. Starring Tom Hiddleston ("The Avengers," "Thor"), Zawe Ashton ("Velvet Buzzsaw," "Fresh Meat") and Charlie Cox ("Daredevil"), “Betrayal” is the story of a disastrous love triangle told in reverse. Directed by Jamie Lloyd, this iteration of the play features minimal set design and no costume changes, allowing audiences to focus entirely on the interactions between these three characters who barely leave the stage.
Jared says, “Betrayal is so exquisitely masterful, there were moments I forgot I was even in a theater.”
“Slave Play,” presented on Broadway at Golden Theatre through Jan. 19
Playwright Jeremy O. Harris has Broadway buzzing this season with “Slave Play.” Directed by Robert O’Hara, this provocative new play finds three interracial couples at a plantation home in the South. Sexual and racial dynamics are ripped apart in this raw production that reflects the audience’s reactions to the subject matter.
“This play blows past the typical conversations around race and barrels right into our psyches,” says Jared. “And that is a very fraught place.”
“Little Shop of Horrors,” presented off-Broadway at Westside Theatre through Jan. 19, 2020
If you’re looking for something fun to do off-Broadway, look no further than Michael Mayer’s revival of “Little Shop of Horrors.” In this iconic musical horror-comedy, Jonathan Groff ("Hamilton," "Mindhunter") stars as the unfortunate flower shop clerk Seymour, who nurtures and raises a carnivorous plant with an insatiable appetite. Staged in a relatively small 270-seat theater, this intimate production captures all the cheek and carnage of the classic musical with an A-list cast rounded out by Emmy Award-winner Tammy Blanchard ("Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows") and Tony Award-winner Christian Borle ("Something Rotten!").
Jared describes Little Shop of Horrors as “a well-fertilized musical with endless tendrils of talent. It’s clever, seductive, and the cast seems to be having the time of their lives.”
What are your must-see Broadway shows this season? Tell Jared about it on Facebook or Twitter!
