Enter, Stage Left

The New York Neo-Futurists in The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions…

Leave it to the New York Neo-Futurists — with a just little help from Eugene O'Neill — to turn stage directions into an engaging evening of theater, with a title that's nearly as long as the 80-minute show, The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill, Volume 1: Early Plays/Lost Plays. It's also a nifty primer for those unfamiliar with O'Neill's early works (and let's admit that's most of us), kind of like a Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). See it if you can.

Levels of (Partial) Comfort

Chad Beckim and Molly Pearson of Partial Comfort Productions.

The Off-Off Broadway theater company Partial Comfort Productions scored a slew of accolades last year with A Bright New Boise, a play that was more solid and satisfying than many produced by major Off Broadway companies. Their new show, After., is about an innocent man released from prison thanks to DNA. Somehow its author, Chad Beckim, one of the company's founders, and his colleague, Molly Pearson, have kept the company afloat while for 10 years pursuing that thankless task of developing and producing new plays. I had the chance to talk to them about how they do it.

Teresa's Powers

Aidan Redmond and Rosie Benton in Temporal Powers.

I'm disappointed that I only have one more Teresa Deevy production at the Mint to look forward to, next fall's Katie Roche. The good news is that there's such demand for their current Deevy offering, Temporal Powers, that it's been extended through Oct. 9. She's fantastic with character and plot, and I think her female characters are especially rich.