Brits a-Plenty

Matthew Cottle and Frances Grey in Neighbourhood Watch.

The end of the year also ushers in the end of the annual Brits Off Broadway series, which had me making repeated trips to 59E59 for Neighbourhood Watch (above), an enjoyable new comedy by Alan Ayckbourn, and Farm Boy (below), a gratifying two-character follow-up to War Horse from the same author.

Richard Pryal and John Walters in Farm Boy.

Broadway's Bounty

Hugh Jackman in Back on Broadway.

Cititour.com is a nifty little website that's kept me off the streets the last few years by giving me the opportunity to review some of Broadway's seasonal offerings. This fall's harvest has been rather bountiful so far, with the mesmerizing revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies and Hugh Jackman's rousing song-and-dance fest, Back on Broadway (above), as well as new plays from a talented up-and-comer (Katori Hall's The Mountaintop) and an established veteran (Theresa Rebeck's Seminar) that are providing great roles for actors of note Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Alan Rickman, Jerry O'Connell, Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe.

Sugar and Spice

Ali Ahn and Christopher Larkin in The Sugar House at the Edge of the Wilderness.

Carla Ching sets Hansel and Gretel adrift in NYC in her evocatively titled The Sugar House at the Edge of the Wilderness, a darkly enchanting fairy tale, from Ma-Yi Theater, that unfortunately fractures before its finale.