Orchard’s Jason
Liebman as the
ninja and Aaron
Baker as Fiers.
lthough there’s no shortage of Broadway bonanzas to attend this spring season,
those of us in Brooklyn know that high-quality theater actually lies right in our
dynamic borough—a convenient subway ride away from hectic Times Square.
In fact, three companies in the young vibrant areas of DUMBO (Down Under
the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Fort Greene and Williamsburg will make
you wonder why you ever queued up at the TKTS booth in the first place.
So mark your calendars and turn off your mobiles ’cause the shows are about to begin.
From April 20 to 29, St. Ann’s Warehouse at 38 Water St. presents a limited engagement of
Festen (The Celebration), adapted by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg from his infamous 1998
film of the same name. As a family gathers to celebrate their patriarch’s 60th birthday, disturbing
secrets are slowly revealed and all hell breaks loose. Directed and translated by Grzegorz Jarzyna
and performed by his company TR Warszawa, the play is sure to be more than just table talk—
especially because Jarzyna has been known to take his renowned productions to underground
clubs in his native Poland and once sold out a multimedia version of Macbeth at St. Ann’s (or more
precisely, on a stage right under the Brooklyn Bridge).
After March 1, Kevin Spacey will no longer be limping about the stage in the Sam Mendes–
helmed Richard III, the final production of the 3-year-old Bridge Project, a cross-cultural collaboration between the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Britain’s Neal Street and Old Vic. Right
on its heels, however, BAM in Fort Greene (651 Fulton St.) offers another international spectacle,
this one from the Maly Drama Theatre of St. Petersburg. From April 18 to 28, critically acclaimed
director Lev Dodin heads up Chekhov’s Three Sisters (in Russian with English subtitles, so don’t
forget to bring your reading glasses). The nearly 70-year-old company was most recently at BAM
with Uncle Vanya, which sold out fast, so don’t expect to nab last-minute seats.
Finally, for a night of sheer joy, don’t miss the opportunity to stop by The Brick Theater, hipster Williamsburg’s most fertile breeding ground for theatrical innovation. Although DMTheatrics’ Bitch Macbeth and co-founder Michael Gardner’s The Ninja Cherry Orchard are both past
due for a revival (and The Brick’s spring calendar is still up in the air as of press time), April
promises to bring co–artistic director Robert Honeywell’s long-awaited van Gogh musical. After
all, it’s easy to say goodbye to Kevin Spacey when you’ve got singing sunflowers. —Lauren Wissot
