Critics' Table

Critically-acclaimed playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare's masterpiece with his new drama, FAT HAM. Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. It feels like a familiar story to Juicy, well-versed in Hamlet's woes. What's different is Juicy himself, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation. From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy. FAT HAM is a delectable comic tragedy directed by The Public's Associate Artistic Director Saheem Ali. The cast of FAT HAM includes Nikki Crawford (Tedra), Chris Herbie Holland (Tio), Billy Eugene Jones (Rev/Papp), Adrianna Mitchell (Opal), Calvin Leon Smith (Larry), Marcel Spears (Juicy), and Benja Kay Thomas (Rabby). Hear from critics Juan Michael Porter II, Ekemini Ekpo, and Christian Lewis as they review FAT HAM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 75th celebration recognized all of the award categories and honored the incredible artistry of the 2021-2022 season. The Tony Awards, which honor theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing and have been broadcast on CBS since 1978.  And what happens when you let critics review the biggest award show in theater? Chaos or constructive debates. Find out when Juan Michael Porter II and Christian Lewis of The Critics' Table evaluate the 75th Annual TONY Awards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recipient of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Thornton Wilder's visionary masterpiece THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH illuminates the endurance of the human spirit as it follows the Antrobus family of Excelsior, New Jersey as they persevere through an Ice Age, a biblical flood, and war. The Antrobus Family will be played by James Vincent Meredith as Mr. Antrobus, Roslyn Ruff as Mrs. Antrobus, and Paige Gilbert and Julian Robertson as their children Gladys and Henry. Gabby Beans will play their maid, Sabina. Tony Award-winner Priscilla Lopez will be featured as the Fortune Teller. Hear from critics Juan Michael Porter II, Christian Lewis, and Ran Xia as they review THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The highly-anticipated production of MACBETH on Broadway, starring DANIEL CRAIG in his return to Broadway as Macbeth and RUTH NEGGA's Broadway debut as Lady Macbeth, opened on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre.  A tale of malice, matrimony and murder, MACBETH tells the story of one couple's obsession with power—and their guilt after doing the unthinkable. For 15 weeks only, this thrilling new production will capture the passion and ferocity of Shakespeare's most haunting text like never before. The famous play is directed by Tony Award winner SAM GOLD. Hear from critics Juan Michael Porter II, Bedatri D. Choudhury, and Ran Xia as they review MACBETH. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AMERICAN BUFFALO premiered on Broadway in 1977, received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play and officially established David Mamet as one of the major new playwrights of the second half the 20th century. It went on to be nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for the 1983 production. The play was subsequently revived off-Broadway in 1981, on Broadway in 1983 and off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company in 2000. Hear from critics Juan Michael Porter II, Christian Lewis, and Ran Xia as they review AMERICAN BUFFALO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Debra Messing (WILL & GRACE) returns to the stage in BIRTHDAY CANDLES as Ernestine Ashworth, who spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough, it's her 18th birthday. Even sooner, her 41st. Her 70th. Her 101st. Five generations, dozens of goldfish, an infinity of dreams, one cake baked over a century. What makes a lifetime… into a life? A writer of "freewheeling ambition" (Charles Isherwood, The New York Times), Noah Haidle makes his Broadway debut with a poignant new play as fearless in scope as it is tremendous in heart. Hear from critics Juan Michael Porter II, Bedatri D. Choudhury, and Christian Lewis as they review BIRTHDAY CANDLES. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York City. 1863. The Civil War raged on. An extraordinary thing occurred amid the dangerous streets and crumbling tenement houses of the Five Points, the notorious 19th-century Lower Manhattan slum. For many years, Irish immigrants escaping the devastation of the Great Famine settled alongside free-born Black Americans and those who escaped slavery, arriving by means of the Underground Railroad. The Irish, relegated at that time to the lowest rung of America's social status, received a sympathetic welcome from their Black neighbors (who enjoyed only slightly better treatment in the burgeoning industrial-era city). The two communities co-existed, intermarried, raised families, and shared their cultures in this unlikeliest of neighborhoods. Hear from critics Rishi Mutalik, Juan Michael Porter II, and Christian Lewis as they review this unique new musical, PARADISE SQUARE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS unfolds the complex layers of what it means to be alive and our relationship to time. The experience surrounds and uplifts, celebrating our curiosity, our wonder, and what we're capable of becoming when in communion with each other. The resulting music-theater event heralds Heather Christian as an undeniable artistic force. Hear from critics Christian Lewis, Juan Michael Porter II, and Ayanna Prescod as they review this spellbinding theatrical experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A diverse roundtable of theater critics that review current Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Every episode features three luminary theater critics ready to give you their opinions on some of your favorite shows. The table looks forward to you pulling up a chair and joining them! Intention - To create room for more diverse theater criticism and thought. To offer jobs to rising theater journalists in the community and offer different perspectives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices