Things to do in New York this Friday

Theater review by Adam Feldman When was the last time you felt scared at the theater? Not disturbed or perturbed or provoked, but scared? The harrowing climactic torture scene of 1984, adapted from George Orwell’s novel by directors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, is intense in a way I’ve never seen on Broadway: It’s gut-churning. Children under 13 have been barred from the production; even adults may shake in their seats, or at least avert their eyes. This gripping show rewards watching, though, and not just in that visit to Room 101 at the grotesquely named Ministry of Love. Orwell’s vision of a surveillance state awash in groupthink and propaganda was published in 1949 and set in 1984, but it remains uncannily suggestive of the present and the future. Winston (the remarkable Tom Sturridge) is a minor functionary in the fake-news department of the government of Oceania, erasing all traces of those who have run afoul of the country’s repressive and possibly apocryphal leader, Big Brother. His qualms—spurred by lust for fellow “thought criminal” Julia (Olivia Wilde, a hard-edged cipher)—lead him to a terrorist movement linked to a high-level official named O’Brien (Reed Birney, masterfully unflappable). When Winston and Julia meet for offstage trysts at an antique shop—supposedly unseen by Big Brother’s ever-watchful eye—we see them on a giant video screen, as though they were being captured by cameras they didn’t know existed. As technology becomes more pervasive and i

New York Classical Theatre begins its summer season of free alfresco theater with Richard Brinsley Sheridan's bawdy 1775 comedy, whose gifts to the world include the word malaprop (named after a deliciously error-prone character). The production, directed by NYCT founder Stephen Burdman, plays for a month in Central Park (enter at 103rd St and Central Park West), then spends a week apiece at two other locations.

Theater review by Adam Feldman “I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places,” promise the lyrics of the 1938 standard from which Seeing You takes its title. It’s a song about holding on to the memory of someone who may never return, and it struck a special chord for listeners during World War II. Immersive-theater impresario Randy Weiner and choreographer Ryan Heffington’s engrossing and evocative dance-theater show honors that sentiment, not merely rehashing traditional WWII iconography but infusing it with a ghostly charge. Like Sleep No More, which Weiner produced, Seeing You has sequences in which audience members choose their own paths and moments of interaction with the 14 performers. In the initial orientation phase, we are free to wander among various intimate scenes of domestic, romantic and professional tension that introduce us to characters we can follow throughout the evening. Later, our attention is guided toward one or two sequences at a time. (Stories that have often been on the margins—racial discrimination, internment, same-sex desire—have pride of place.) Designed by Desi Santiago, the show unfurls in a single, constantly evolving ground-floor space in the Meatpacking District. The skillful, well-drilled performers never stop moving, and Heffington—best known for Sia’s “Chandelier” video—gives them memorable showpieces: a guilt-ridden gay pas de deux for two soldiers (Jesse Kovarsky and Nicholas Ranauro); an unsettling jungle-jazz number for an Af

In this captivating original musical, Ben Platt gives a stunning performance—funny, sweet, beautifully sung and exquisitely worked-out in its physical details—as a high school student thrust into social relevance after a classmate's suicide. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's score combines well-crafted lyrics with an exciting pop sound, and Steven Levenson’s book gives all the characters shaded motives. The production has moved to Broadway after its sold-out run at Second Stage Theatre. Read the full review.

Theater review by Adam Feldman Third Rail Projects’ latest immersive production, a wistful collage on themes of supernatural theater lore, is staged in the Claire Tow Theater, one of the city’s shiniest new venues—as though the very act of putting on a show, no matter where, summoned theater ghosts like gypsy moths to a flame. Divided into small groups, the audience travels through multiple backstage areas, watching a succession of scenes that glance on apparitions, superstitions, the ephemerality of performance. It’s a theater-people version of a Halloween haunted house. There are many captivating sequences in Ghost Light’s mix, especially those we watch from some distance: a voyeuristic look down a stairwell at an actress writhing and retching from poison; a louche party staged in reverse; a bravura hallway farce of preshow preparation and slamming dressing-room doors. But the writing and choreography of the constituent parts lean toward the generic—a mash-up of Shakespeare, an idea of a longing pas de deux—and the language is often too stiff to be delivered conversationally at close range. Enjoyable as it is to scope the bowels of the Tow, one misses the moments of one-on-one connection that made Third Rail’s Then She Fell and The Grand Paradise, at their best, more personal and distinctive. Still, Ghost Light, directed by Zach Morris and Jennine Willett, is a hugely ambitious undertaking and a flat-out wonder of coordination. Even when it creaks a bit, you have to admi

New York Classical Theatre begins its summer season of free alfresco theater with Richard Brinsley Sheridan's bawdy 1775 comedy, whose gifts to the world include the word malaprop (named after a deliciously error-prone character). The production, directed by NYCT founder Stephen Burdman, plays for a month in Central Park (enter at 103rd St and Central Park West), then spends a week apiece at two other locations.

Welcome the weekend in style at this series of free Friday-evening shows in Bryant Park. Two shows are devoted to ballet, curated by Donna Salgado: June 16 (David Fernandez's Some Dance Company, Gabrielle Lamb's Pigeonwing Dance, Da' Von Doane & Artists of the Shift, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance and Bennyroyce Dance) and June 30 (the Ashley Bouder Project, Continuum Contemporary/Ballet, Island Moving Company and Thomas/Ortiz Dance). Three others are devoted to modern dance, curated by Tiffany Rea-Fisher: June 23 (HopeBoykinDance, KineticArchitecture Dance, Bryn Cohn + Artists and LaGuardia Dance Ensemble); July 7 (Limón Dance Company, the Moving Architects, Black Boys Dance Too and Harlem School of the Arts Dance Ensemble and Junior Dance Ensemble); and July 14 (Kate Weare Company, Now Dance, Monteleone Dance and Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts Dance).

Hudson Warehouse reprises its 2013 production of Alexandre Dumas's swashbuckling 1844 novel, adapted by Susane Lee and directed by Nicholas Martin-Smith. The play is the first installment of the Dumas Adventures, a four-year project that is slated to include future productions of The Man in The Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo.

One and One hosts this local talent showcase every Friday, with Phil Stamato, Daniel Raderstrong and Fume Abe wrangling acts from across town to headline the bill. Past guests have included Myq Kaplan, Shane Torres and Aparna Nancherla. After the show, performers get the weekend started by joining the audience for a lively afterparty. This week features Brooklyn fan-favorites Alingon Mitra, Anna Drezen, Sonia Denis and Nick Vatterott. 

Dancer, choreographer and designer Peterson examines the experience of failure through a mixture of dance (performed by her and three others) and sculptural art. Presented in development in 2012, the piece has been expanded to reflect the aftermath of the 2016 election.