Helen Shaw
Helen Shaw joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2022. Previously, she was the theatre critic at New York magazine and also its culture vertical, Vulture. She has also written about theatre and performance for 4Columns and Time Out New York and contributed to the New York Sun, American Theatre magazine, the Times Book Review, the Village Voice, Art in America, and Artforum. She was co-awarded the 2017-18 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Lands on Its Feet
The directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch cross Andrew Lloyd Webber’s juggernaut musical with queer ballroom culture to electrifying effect.
Sandra Oh and a Cast of Downtown All-Stars Illuminate a Period Thriller
The British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s “The Welkin” exorcises the jury-room drama.
Annie Baker Shifts Her Focus to the Big Screen
In the playwright’s début film, “Janet Planet,” Julianne Nicholson stars as an object of obsession for her daughter—and everyone else—over the course of a long, hot summer in western Massachusetts.
Three London Shows Put a New Spin on Old Classics
Superb stagecraft illuminates Robert Icke’s “Player Kings,” Benedict Andrews’s “The Cherry Orchard,” and Ian Rickson’s “London Tide.”
Three Broadway Shows Put Motherhood in the Spotlight
Paula Vogel’s “Mother Play,” Shaina Taub’s “Suffs,” and Amy Herzog’s “Mary Jane” strike back at the mother-as-monster dramatic trope.
“Stereophonic” and “Cabaret” Turn Up the Volume on Broadway
David Adjmi’s cult-hit play features seventies-inspired rock songs by Will Butler, while Eddie Redmayne presides over a demonic version of the Kit Kat Club.
Ralph Fiennes Sidles His Way Into Power as Macbeth
A hit British production of Shakespeare’s ever-timely tragedy arrives in D.C.
The Avant-Garde Is Back on the Launchpad
The Wooster Group gives the Richard Foreman play “Symphony of Rats” its signature spins.
“The Who’s Tommy” Plays the Old Pinball
The 1993 musical’s already bizarre story, derived from Pete Townshend’s beautiful 1969 album, is even less clear in Des McAnuff’s reanimation for Broadway.
Lila Neugebauer Interrogates the Ghosts of “Uncle Vanya”
A director of the modern uncanny steers the first Broadway production of Chekhov’s masterpiece in twenty years.
A Reflective “Sunset Baby” Dawns Off Broadway
Dominique Morisseau revives her 2012 drama about a daughter, part revolutionary, part survivor, whose father devoted his life to the struggle for Black liberation.
Two Comic Playwrights Find Dark Humor in Russian Aggression
Sarah Gancher’s “Russian Troll Farm” and Sasha Denisova’s “My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion” look for truth in a world of lies.
Remembrances of Queer Auteurs Past
With “Bark of Millions,” “Oh, Mary!,” and “Aristotle Thinks Again,” the fabulousness on New York’s stages seems to have reached a critical mass.
The One-Woman Show That Stars Two Women
At the first rehearsal for Suzanne Bocanegra’s “Bodycast,” Ruth Negga practices playing Bocanegra, who practices sitting onstage and muttering lines to Negga.
“Public Obscenities” Triumphs Off Broadway
Shayok Misha Chowdhury turns to fine-grained realism in his extraordinary bilingual drama.
An Uneven “Prayer for the French Republic” Comes to Broadway
The playwright Joshua Harmon broaches profound questions of Jewish identity in his drama, but a bigger stage and a changed moment reveal its flaws.
The Many Lives of Vinie Burrows
Remembering the activism and artistry of a New York theatre hero.
This Year’s Best Theatre
On Broadway and off, a return to deep introspection—and Stephen Sondheim.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, on Broadway at Last
Starring a Peak TV supercast, the playwright’s “Appropriate” investigates a dysfunctional Southern family’s buried secrets.
Two Dramas Take On the Dispossession Plot
Property and its discontents vex “Manahatta” and “Life & Times of Michael K.”
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Lands on Its Feet
The directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch cross Andrew Lloyd Webber’s juggernaut musical with queer ballroom culture to electrifying effect.
Sandra Oh and a Cast of Downtown All-Stars Illuminate a Period Thriller
The British playwright Lucy Kirkwood’s “The Welkin” exorcises the jury-room drama.
Annie Baker Shifts Her Focus to the Big Screen
In the playwright’s début film, “Janet Planet,” Julianne Nicholson stars as an object of obsession for her daughter—and everyone else—over the course of a long, hot summer in western Massachusetts.
Three London Shows Put a New Spin on Old Classics
Superb stagecraft illuminates Robert Icke’s “Player Kings,” Benedict Andrews’s “The Cherry Orchard,” and Ian Rickson’s “London Tide.”
Three Broadway Shows Put Motherhood in the Spotlight
Paula Vogel’s “Mother Play,” Shaina Taub’s “Suffs,” and Amy Herzog’s “Mary Jane” strike back at the mother-as-monster dramatic trope.
“Stereophonic” and “Cabaret” Turn Up the Volume on Broadway
David Adjmi’s cult-hit play features seventies-inspired rock songs by Will Butler, while Eddie Redmayne presides over a demonic version of the Kit Kat Club.
Ralph Fiennes Sidles His Way Into Power as Macbeth
A hit British production of Shakespeare’s ever-timely tragedy arrives in D.C.
The Avant-Garde Is Back on the Launchpad
The Wooster Group gives the Richard Foreman play “Symphony of Rats” its signature spins.
“The Who’s Tommy” Plays the Old Pinball
The 1993 musical’s already bizarre story, derived from Pete Townshend’s beautiful 1969 album, is even less clear in Des McAnuff’s reanimation for Broadway.
Lila Neugebauer Interrogates the Ghosts of “Uncle Vanya”
A director of the modern uncanny steers the first Broadway production of Chekhov’s masterpiece in twenty years.
A Reflective “Sunset Baby” Dawns Off Broadway
Dominique Morisseau revives her 2012 drama about a daughter, part revolutionary, part survivor, whose father devoted his life to the struggle for Black liberation.
Two Comic Playwrights Find Dark Humor in Russian Aggression
Sarah Gancher’s “Russian Troll Farm” and Sasha Denisova’s “My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion” look for truth in a world of lies.
Remembrances of Queer Auteurs Past
With “Bark of Millions,” “Oh, Mary!,” and “Aristotle Thinks Again,” the fabulousness on New York’s stages seems to have reached a critical mass.
The One-Woman Show That Stars Two Women
At the first rehearsal for Suzanne Bocanegra’s “Bodycast,” Ruth Negga practices playing Bocanegra, who practices sitting onstage and muttering lines to Negga.
“Public Obscenities” Triumphs Off Broadway
Shayok Misha Chowdhury turns to fine-grained realism in his extraordinary bilingual drama.
An Uneven “Prayer for the French Republic” Comes to Broadway
The playwright Joshua Harmon broaches profound questions of Jewish identity in his drama, but a bigger stage and a changed moment reveal its flaws.
The Many Lives of Vinie Burrows
Remembering the activism and artistry of a New York theatre hero.
This Year’s Best Theatre
On Broadway and off, a return to deep introspection—and Stephen Sondheim.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, on Broadway at Last
Starring a Peak TV supercast, the playwright’s “Appropriate” investigates a dysfunctional Southern family’s buried secrets.
Two Dramas Take On the Dispossession Plot
Property and its discontents vex “Manahatta” and “Life & Times of Michael K.”