Theater Review
Birbiglia Rides Again
Mike Birbiglia’s My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend
Barrow Street Theatre
Through Sunday, May 15, 2011
Mike Birbiglia has returned to the Off-Broadway stage, once again not only shedding the mantle of stand-up comedy in exchange for the theatrical, but accomplishing the rare feat of creating a one-man show truly worth seeing. Following the basic format he initiated with Sleepwalk with Me, Mike Birbiglia’s My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend is a different chapter from Birbiglia’s unlikely life told with the same distinctive voice that somehow makes awkward seem cool.
Waiting for This Life to be Over
A Life in the Theatre
Written by David Mamet
Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, NYC
Through January 2, 2011
Someone out there must be determined to have a new Mamet revival on Broadway every season. With this current revival of A Life in the Theatre, it appears that they are scratching the bottom of Mamet's literary barrel. In the end, neither Patrick Stewart’s ample skills as an actor nor Neil Pepe's able direction can put any real meat on this half-baked sketch of a play.