Rafta, Rafta-To paraphrase the famous commercial about Levy's rye bread, you definitely do not have to be Indian to have a rip-roaring time with the Dutts and the Patels of Ayub Khan Din's family comedy . . .

The Fever Chart:Three Visions of the Middle East- Like everything in the LAB series, this has a very limited run and is still a work in progress. . . .

Glory Days- To an early grave on May 6th after just one official performance. . . .

Substitution-According to the the press materials, Anton Dudley wrote this play especially for Jan Maxwell who has repaid this questionable favor with a wonderful performance . . .

One of a Kind -told through the eyes of AndArgay, a charming and creative child, this family play incorporates music, dance and video. But what is most fascinating is the way it melds Jewish and African traditions of family, song, dance and storytelling . . .

All Eyes and Ears-this new play commissioned by INTAR Theater takes a look at the fate of a Cuban family that was on the right side of the revolution . . .

Eccentricities of a Nightingale- Tennessee Williams’s extensive and aggressive re-write of Summer and Smoke is something of a revelation. It is also a rare treat for Williams’s fans to see this lovely but under-loved play given a fine and respectful production . . .

Steve and Idi-In David Grimm’s new play, Idi Amin pulls playwright Steve out of a potentially career-ending slump. His obvious character flaws aside, he actually makes a great motivational force. . .

Les Liaisons Dangereuses-Laura Linney's tightly reigned performance is fascinating to watch and highlights the feminist aspects of this sexy villainess. . . .

Endgame-Although there are several reasons to see this production, anyone even vaguely interested in Beckett ought to see Epstein while they can; it's a master class of the highest order. . . .

The Country Girl- The interracial marriage actually adds an extra dimension to the marital difficulties at the play's center. However, it's the flavorful dialogue, not the interracial aspect of the troubled marriage of Georgie and Frank Elgin or Morgan Freeman's return to the stage, that accounts for The Country Girl's rising above being a boring dated potboiler. . .

The Set Up-In real life, romantic ;set ups don’t generally seem to work very well.—which is also the case with this new play about dating and relationships . . .

Thurgood- what Laurence Fishburne aims for is not a look-alike portrait. What he's after, and achieves, is to capture Thurgood Marshall's humor and charm as a raconteur, as well as his fierce passion for the law as the most effective weapon for fighting injustice . . .

The Sound and the Fury-The cast as a whole is clearly committed to this undertaking, and one gets the feeling that directing it demanded that John Collins summon skills as a referee as much as those of a conventional director. In a cast of twelve, where the actors portray 27 characters in 56 formulations . . .

The Importance of Being Earnest- the production does an admirable job in letting Wilde speak for himself. And the result is a nuanced play which manages to poke fun at society without being mean-spirited. . .

Cry-Baby-Will the snazzy staging and dancing will keep the Marquis filled now that the show has officially opened and the promotional pricing ($54 for orchestra seats, in keeping with the 1954 time frame)? As H.L. Mencken, another famous Baltimorian, once said, "Noone ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." . . .

The Adding Machine—The season's surprise off-Broadway musical hit has extended to August 31. . .

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Fram -Tony Harrison’s new play can hardly be called unambitious: encompassing ancient tragedy, polar exploration and humanitarian aid. . . .

King Lear- If you can sit on the hard seats at the Globe for over three hours and not feel numb you know that you have been watching a really good play. So it is with Dominic Dromgoole’s straightforward and non-gimmicky production. . .

Gone With the Wind, the Musical - yes, you may well give a damn! . . .

Harper Regan - Simon Stephens’ new play is about the impact on family life when a wife has to become the main wage earner because her husband has lost his job through confessing to a crime. . .

Small Change-Peter Gill's play is full of regret and nostalgia brought to life by some very fine performances . . .

The Histories Cycle from the RSC at The Roundhouse- a Shakespeare lover's delight . . .

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The Sweetest Swing in Baseball- Rebecca Gilman’s haunting comedy is ann exploration of success, identity, and the nature of insanity. . .

The Lost Plays of Tennesse Williams-In these recently discovered early one-acts, Williams mines the themes he would later develop in his full-length masterpieces. . . .

Compleat Female Stage Beauty-exquisite 17th-century madrigals that set the tone for the intuitive taste and high standards of this new group in its debut production. . . .

I’d Rather Be Right-Hull, Perkins, and Morgenthau were members of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Cabinet back in the 1930s. They were also featured characters in a little-known, feel-good musical written in 1937 by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, with songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and starring George M. Cohan as FDR. Not too shabby a team . . .

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The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey . . .

Kiss Me Kate—Papermill Playhouse-The original play–within–a–play book by Bella and Sam Spewack that they ingeniously fused with Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew may have a slightly creaky resonance these days, but director James Brennan and choreographer Patti Colombo have done a bang-up job focusing on what is never out of date: Cole Porter’s great score . . .

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Dear World- this remains thin fare in a too large package, a musical in search of a raison d’etre.. . .

Bug- Once again Theatre Exile has chosen a work that’s right for them. Making astute production decisions, they engage in remarkable theater, while grabbing the audience by the throat. . . .