CORRUPTION, JORDANS & More Lead Top Off-Broadway Shows for April
Each month we're rounding up 10 off-Broadway recommendations for audiences not to miss!
By: Sidney Paterra Apr. 01, 2024
What's happening off-Broadway? BroadwayWorld is here to guide you through the top picks for theatre this month. April brings a diverse array of productions to the Off-Broadway scene, including star-studded new plays, a New York premiere, an historical parody and much more. From comedies, to dramas, to burlesque, there is something for every theatre fan to enjoy.
BroadwayWorld selects shows to feature based on a variety of factors such as popularity, critical acclaim, unique concepts, star power, and more. BroadwayWorld's senior editorial team closely follows the Off-Broadway scene to stay informed about upcoming and currently running productions. They consider a range of offerings each month, including musicals, plays, and more to provide a well-rounded selection of recommendations to readers. Their goal is to offer theater enthusiasts a comprehensive guide to the most exciting shows happening Off-Broadway each month.
Take a look at BroadwayWorld's recommendations for the best shows to catch off-Broadway in April.
Corruption
Now through April 14, 2024
Based on the book Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and The Corruption of Britain by Tom Watson and Martin Hickman, CORRUPTION tells the story behind the story of the phone hacking scandal that engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2011, stunning the world and upending British politics. When Parliament member Tom Watson is maliciously smeared by the newspapers of Murdoch’s News International, he decides to fight back - taking on its larger-than-life leader Rebekah Brooks. But what he uncovers is far more insidious than he ever imagined. As Watson and a small band of journalists, lawyers, and politicians struggle to expose the endemic criminality at the heart of this media monolith, they risk their careers and, at times, their very lives.
Epic in scope and often startlingly funny, CORRUPTION tells a true-life David and Goliath story of ordinary men and women trying to find a way to save their democracy before it’s too late.
Sally & Tom
Now through April 28
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, the author of last season’s The Harder They Come, returns to her artistic home with an edgy dramedy that celebrates the craft of theater while taking a hard look at history.
The off-off-off-Broadway theater troupe Good Company is putting on a play about Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. Writer Luce is cast as Sally; her romantic partner, and the play’s director, Mike, is cast as Tom—really, people, what could possibly go wrong?
Orlando
Signature Theatre
April 2 - May 12, 2024
Playwright Sarah Ruhl adapts Virginia Woolf’s Orlando—once called “the longest and most charming love letter in literature,” written by Woolf for her lover, Vita Sackville-West. Orlando’s adventures begin as a young man, when he serves as courtier to Queen Elizabeth. Through many centuries of living, he becomes a 20th-century woman, trying to sort out her existence. This theatrical, wild, fantastical trip through space, time, and gender features the one and only Taylor Mac in the title role.
Jordans
April 11 - May 5, 2024
A bitingly funny, wildly imaginative new play by The Public’s Emerging Writers Group alumnus Ife Olujobi, JORDANS is a piercing exploration of assimilation, racial capitalism, success, and survival. At an overwhelmingly white workplace where appearance is everything, a long-suffering receptionist finds herself in personal, professional, and psychic jeopardy when her ruthless boss hires a hip new employee in an effort to improve the company’s image and “culture.” Suddenly, the two young, Black social climbers are forced together and torn apart by their race, ambition, and otherworldly circumstance. JORDANS is a story of identity mistaken, power subverted, and rage unleashed. Don’t miss this bold new play directed by Obie Award winner Whitney White about the true cost of “diversity” in the workplace.
Staff Meal
Playwrights Horizons
April 12 - May 19, 2024
Outside, the world is breaking apart. But in here, a group of lonely city dwellers gather to find comfort and connection. Abe Koogler’s Staff Meal is a kaleidoscopic comedy about a mysterious and beautiful restaurant, where the food is delicious, the service is warm, and some strange power keeps the darkness at bay. You are safe here – at least until closing time.
Oh, Mary!
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Lucille Lortel Theatre
Now through May 12, 2024
Directed by Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy starring Escola as a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Unrequited yearning, alcoholism and suppressed desires abound in this one act play that finally examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mrs. Lincoln through the lens of an idiot (Cole Escola).
Grenfell: in the words of survivors
April 13 - May 12, 2024
Grenfell: in the words of survivors is a powerful new production from London’s National Theatre about the resilient, multicultural North Kensington community who protected and cared for one another before, during, and after a devastating 2017 public housing tower fire. Seventy-two people died in the catastrophe. Compiling haunting testimonies drawn from verbatim interviews with some of the survivors and bereaved, the play—by South African writer and former English PEN President Gillian Slovo—reveals the impact of the multiple failures that led to the national disaster. The production explores the courage of an ill-treated community and their continued campaign for justice and accountability. The North Kensington residents have preserved their community with dignity and commanded a public forum for securing the right to safe housing worldwide.
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, The Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy) and Anthony Simpson-Pike (The P Word), this play leaves the audience awestruck and motivated to join the cause.
The Lonely Few
April 26 - June 2, 2024
Lila and her band, The Lonely Few, have a standing gig at Paul’s Juke Joint in their small Kentucky town. When an established musician, Amy, gives them a chance to join her on tour, they take it. Love blossoms between Lila and Amy on the road, but can it endure? THE LONELY FEW is a New York premiere rock musical about the forces that launch us from home and the gravitational pull that can bring us back.
By award-winning film and stage composer Zoe Sarnak (A CROSSING, GALILEO) and Rachel Bonds (SUNDOWN) and directed by Trip Cullman (MCC Theater’s MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW) and Ellenore Scott (TITANIQUE).
Queen of Hearts
Now through August 24, 2024
Fall down a rabbit hole of sensual wonders and surreal delights at Queen of Hearts, Company XIV’s sumptuous ode to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Peer into a decadent dreamworld laced with a mesmerizing blend of stunning circus, shining chanteuses, brilliant burlesque, classical dance, and lavish design. Follow blossoming Alice on a journey so enrapturing she nearly loses her head.
The Play That Goes Wrong
Now playing
Co-written by Mischief company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The 'Cornley University Drama Society' who are attempting to put on a 1920s' murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong...does, as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.
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