Jack D. Coen conducting the choir in Mona Pinot's I Became We, directed by Sarah Benson at Atlantic Theater. Photo: Ahron R. Foster I mean no disrespect to the playwright Mona Pirnot when I say that the 70-minute, first-person monologue at the heart of her play I Became We would be utterly devoid of theatrical interest if delivered in plain speech by a solo actress. Thankfully, this monologue about a young woman’s anxieties over whether to have a child isn’t delivered that wa

Allison Janney and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities, directed by John Benjamin Hickey, Hudson Theatre. Photo: Emilio Madrid The revival of Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities—just opened on Broadway in a nimble production directed by John Benjamin Hickey—raises two pressing questions that I will answer right away. (1) Yes, the TV superstar Julia Louis-Dreyfus—appearing onstage for the first time since college, whose casting has driven ticket pric

Andrew Garman (Michael) and Crystal Finn (Jeanie) in Anne Washburn's Anon, directed by Anne Kauffman at MCC Theater. Photo: Monique Carboni Setting a play entirely around a kitchen table is not in itself remarkable. When the author is Anne Washburn, however, it is. In fact, the decision is juicily provocative because no one would ever expect that of her. Far from being spartan, domestic, or kitchen-sink realistic (theater’s usual contexts for kitchen tables), Washburn’s plays