How To Make Friends and Then Kill Them

Halley Feiffer is a talented actress and her play How To Make Friends and Then Kill Them, now playing at Rattlestick, proves that she is one to watch as a playwright as well.

Photo credit: Hal Horowitz

How To Make Friends... is sometimes weird, sometimes disturbing, but never boring. It's about two sisters, Ada (Katya Campbell) and Sam (Keira Keeley) who have an alcoholic mother and no friends, until Ada befriends another social outcast, Dorrie (Jen Ponton). The play follows the characters from the age of ten and revisits them at adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. Feiffer uses repetition--a technique that could be annoying or heavy-handed--effectively throughout the play with dialogue and actions, such as a hand-clapping game, being brought back throughout, but changing as power dynamics shift. The play is most successful (and funniest) in the early years as Feiffer effectively captures young female relationships and the cast are believable as children and teens. Campbell is especially fun to watch when she taps into Ada's mean girl side. The cast is strong throughout, but the play becomes increasingly dark and less realistic. Still, Feiffer has tapped into something here, and I'm curious to see her voice as a playwright continue to develop. 

Contest: Win the Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 Cast Recording

Update: The contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner was picked at random. Congratulations Max Schwager!

One of the biggest off-Broadway success stories right now is Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812. David Malloy's immersive musical based on War and Peace started out at Ars Nova in 2012. It then had a special venue in the Meatpacking District built specifically for its second run and it's now playing at the Theater District's supper club Kazino through January 5.

I'm giving away a copy of the new cast recording, which will be released on December 10 and features Malloy, David Abeles, Phillipa Soo, Lucas Steele, and more. In order to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite cast recording. You can also tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (if you enter this way, you must be following on Twitter to win). You can enter once each way for a total of two entries. A winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on Friday, November 22, at noon. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle in the comments so I have a way to contact you if you win. Good luck!

Contest: Win Tickets to Macbeth

Update: The contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner was picked at random. Congratulations @lanewilliamson!

I'll be honest. I have a bit of Macbeth fatigue. It seems like there's a production or two every year. But as soon as the cast for the Lincoln Center Theater production directed by Jack O'Brien was announced, it became a must see. Most exciting for me are Brian d'Arcy James as Banquo and Malcom Gets, John Glover, and Byron Jennings as the witches. Ethan Hawke plays the title role opposite Anne-Marie Duff.

Here's a trailer:

In order to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me who in the cast you're most excited to see. You can also tweet about the contest or retweet one of my tweets about it (if you enter this way, you must be following on Twitter to win). You can enter once each way for a total of two entries. A winner will be chosen at random from all the entries on Wednesday, November 20, at 5 p.m. Please include your e-mail address or Twitter handle in the comments so I have a way to contact you if you win. Good luck!

If you don't win and still want to see the show at a discount, you can use the code MACBLOG89 or use the link here.

5 Reasons to See The Jacksonian

There are five reasons to see the New Group's production of Beth Henley's new play The Jacksonian at Theatre Row and they are: Ed Harris, Glenne Headly, Amy Madigan, Bill Pullman, and Juliet Brett. The Jacksonian is intriguing throughout its 85 minutes (the perfect length for this play), but its made even better by the performances.

Ed Harris and real-life wife Amy Madigan; Photo credit: Monique Carboni

Ed Harris plays dentist Bill Perch (Harris), who is staying at the Jacksonian hotel because his wife Susan (Madigan) kicked him out (it's 1964). He is just the right amount of scary (and may put you off from going to the dentist any time soon), but also gets across the character's more human side. Madigan's Susan is just as unhinged. Newcomer Brett plays their 16-year-old daughter and is completely believable as a teenager who is still innocent, but starting to understand more about the world. I know Headly as Mr. Holland's wife in Mr. Holland's Opus, but she is completely transformed here as a fun-loving maid who appears to have no morals. Pullman is likewise unrecognizable as a creepy bartender, far from the presidents and romantic figures he's played in the past, retaining just enough charm so you can see why the female characters are drawn to him.