Theater

Highlights

‘Hadestown’ Hits Movie Theaters, and Theater to Stream in July
Streaming picks include the family-friendly sci-fi adventure “Franklin’s Key” in Philadelphia and “Hamlet” at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
By Rachel Sherman
CreditBleecker Street/LD Entertainment
‘The Potluck’ Review: The Greensboro Massacre, and a Heavy Legacy to Bear
César Alvarez’s ambitious new work is a mixed musical meal: It wants to be a call to revolutionary action but is surprisingly lacking in it.
By Helen Shaw
CreditJames Estrin/The New York Times
1. Critic’s Pick
  ‘The Whoopi Monologues’ Review: Expanding a One-Woman Show
  Instead of one Whoopi Goldberg, audiences now experience five actresses: Kerry Washington, Kara Young, Dominique Fishback, Danielle Pinnock and Kecia Lewis.
  By Brittani Samuel
  CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times
2. Can an Arts Lab Created by a Visionary See a Future Without Him?
  “When I’m no longer living, can this place exist?” Robert Wilson wondered in a film about his Long Island art incubator. This month, its annual festival will go on without him.
  By Brian Seibert
  CreditYuvraj Khanna for The New York Times

An Upstate Inn Gets Away With Murder
At her Hudson Valley guesthouse, Audrey Gelman, a co-founder of the Wing, channels her childlike love of play with murder mystery evenings.
By Alexis Soloski
CreditRachel Papo for The New York Times
Tracee Ellis Ross Is Back in New York City, Living a Dream Come True
The actress and entrepreneur got an apartment in the city for the summer while she makes her Broadway debut in “Every Brilliant Thing.”
By Addie Morfoot
CreditSabrina Santiago for The New York Times
‘Giulia’ Review: Jennifer Nettles Delivers Empowerment (and Poison)
A stirring but tonally muddled new musical about the “poison queen of Palermo” gets an elegant Off Broadway production.
By Elisabeth Vincentelli
CreditRichard Termine for The New York Times
Review: Spoken and Sung Stories Duel in ‘Suddenly Last Summer’
Tennessee Williams’s darkly operatic one-act play becomes a proper opera in a new adaptation by the composer Courtney Bryan.
By Joshua Barone
CreditMaria Baranova
She Became a Private Eye for Her Art. Investigators Had Questions.
A new play is its own piece of art: A first-person account of an official inquiry into an artist’s use of private investigation databases to create work.
By Carolina A. Miranda
CreditLauren Lancaster for The New York Times

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Penelope Keith, Effortlessly Posh Star of British Sitcoms, Dies at 86
A veteran stage actress, she starred in two of Britain’s most beloved TV comedies of the 1970s, “The Good Life” and “To the Manor Born.”
By Clay Risen
Dolly Parton to Celebrate Turning 81 With a Musical About Her Life
The show about the country music queen, “Dolly: A True Original Musical,” will begin performances on Broadway in December.
By Michael Paulson
Robert Kimball, Who Helped Uncover a Trove of Broadway History, Dies at 86
He excavated a treasure hoard of manuscripts by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and others that were found in a warehouse in Secaucus, N.J.
By Barry Singer
In ‘Basura,’ Gloria and Emily Estefan Found a New Rhythm
The mother and daughter spent years composing the songs and the score for the show. “In every mother-daughter relationship, it’s complicated,” Gloria Estefan said.
By David Peisner
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Michael Byrne, British Stage Actor, Dies at 86
He had a long career in theater, and several small roles in big movies, including “Force 10 From Navarone” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
By Victor Mather
18 Off and Off Off Broadway Shows to See in July
Kerry Washington and Kara Young pay tribute to Whoopi Goldberg, while Raúl Esparza takes on Shakespeare in the Park.
By Elisabeth Vincentelli
The 10 Most Mind-Altering Theater Moments of 2026 (So Far)
Our critic chose 10 moments from the theatrical year that shifted her thinking.
By Helen Shaw
Critic’s Pick
‘Birthright’ Stages a Thrillingly Complex Conversation on Conversation Itself
Jonathan Spector’s ambitious drama about six Jewish friends and their shifting relationship with Israel stretches over three hours and nearly two decades.
By Helen Shaw
She Couldn’t Shake the Story of a Female Killer. Now It’s a Musical.
The Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles has written and is starring in a so-called “pop-eretta” titled “Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo.”
By Alan Light and Sabrina Santiago
Little Island Significantly Scales Back Its Summer Schedule
The artistic director said Barry Diller, the former Hollywood magnate who provides the bulk of the park’s funding, “wants to take programming in a different direction.”
By Malia Mendez