Skip to Main Content
New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

Performing Arts

NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study is creating opportunities for student playwrights through the Gallatin Theater Lab. (Staff Photo by Alexandra Chan)

Gallatin Theater Lab Shines Spotlight on Young Playwrights

Three young playwrights were chosen to participate in a two-week play-development program.
Dani Herrera, Contributing Writer February 4, 2020

Last month, NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study opened its doors to student playwrights through the Gallatin Theater Lab. Run by Michael Dinwiddie, a playwright and...

A playbill for The Wooster Group's current performance at Skirball, a cross-media production that asks what it means for an artist to be forgotten. (Staff Photo by Sasha Cohen)

A Forgotten Spirit Haunted Audiences in ‘A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique)’

Despite minor confusion and a lack of conflict, The Wooster Group effectively paid tribute to deceased director Tadeusz Kantor through innovative storytelling.
Sasha Cohen, Books & Theater Editor February 3, 2020

The Skirball Center transformed into a theatrical time capsule for The Wooster Group’s “A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique).” Running from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2, the performance...

Be on the lookout for rush ticket and take advantage of New York City's art scene. (Illustration by Min Ji Kim)

Three Ways to Take Advantage of NYC’s Lesser-Known Theater and Literary Scenes

Stop paying ridiculous Broadway prices when you can see higher quality productions and readings for less.
Sasha Cohen, Books & Theater Editor January 29, 2020

Between studying for exams, spending time with friends and taking necessary power naps, finding extra time to indulge in any sort of play or book is a luxury. Even if someone can...

Centered in a traditional Italian home, “Angie Aquavitae Is Aggravated and She Is Going to Tell You About It” is a one-woman show that presents a family in crisis. (Image via Wikimedia)

Angie Is Aggravated and I Understand Why

Sasha Cohen, Books & Theater Editor January 27, 2020

From Jan. 16-26, “Angie Aquavitae Is Aggravated and She Is Going to Tell You About It,” written and performed by A. Aquavitae, took the stage in Pless Hall. Produced by Gallatin...

Right to Left: Mei Yamanaka, Jordan Morley in Tiffany Mills Company, “Not then, not yet.” (Photo by Robert Altman)

Tiffany Mills Company presents the Premiere of Not then, not yet at the Flea Theater in Tribeca, NY

Company-
Tiffany Mills, Jordan Morley, Kenneth Olguin, Nik Owens, Emily Pope, Mei Yamanaka

Photographer- Robert Altman
Post-production- Robert Altman

The Architecture of ‘Between’: A Duet With the Surreal

Tiffany Mills Company’s “Not then, not yet” was a cerebrally-charged contemporary dance performance that premiered November 13-16 at the Flea Theater in Tribeca.
Maxine Flasher-Duzgunes, UTA Voices Editor December 3, 2019

In her world premiere of “Not then, not yet” at the Flea Theater in Tribeca, Tiffany Mills of Tiffany Mills Company transports her signature style of contact improvisation...

Tisch Film and TV and Drama students express their struggle to collaborate on projects. (Photo by Katie Peurrung)

Tisch Fails to Connect Acting and Film Students

While it seems intuitive that actors and filmmakers from the same school would collaborate, the Tisch departments often leave students out to dry.
Julie Goldberg, Books and Theater Editor December 2, 2019

At the beginning of each semester, Tisch School of the Arts hosts a mixer for students in the undergraduate drama and Film & Television mixer to try and facilitate collaboration...

Harry Bainbridge as Chapman and Tom Martin as Salinger in A Life In the Rye. (Photo by Dallas Phelps)

Inside J.D. Salinger’s ‘Life in the Rye’

A timely production in anticipation of the centennial of J.D. Salinger’s birth, Claude Solnik’s newest play gives audiences a closer look at the writer’s life.
Dani Herrera, Staff Writer November 21, 2019

When J.D. Salinger first published “The Catcher in the Rye,” many readers saw themselves in the young and dissatisfied narrator, Holden Caulfield. Some of these readers were...

The American Airlines Theatre. Roundabout Theatre Company is one of the places where students can submit their own place. (Photo by Andrew McGibbon. Via Facebook)

Aspiring Playwrights, Submit Your Work Here

Have a potential Pulitzer winner tucked away in a drawer somewhere? These New York City theater companies accept play submissions, sans entry fee, from unpublished writers.
Destine Manson, Staff Writer November 17, 2019

Playwrights Horizons This acclaimed “writer’s theater” is looking for “idiosyncratic, accomplished, original theatrical voices.” They accept unsolicited full-length...

Playwright William Electric Black, also known as Ian Ellis James, is a professor at NYU Tisch and seven-time Emmy winner for his work on “Sesame Street.” The writer reviews his recent work, “The Whites,” which switches the races of black and white people. (via NYU)

‘It’s Okay to Feel Angry About This Play’

Tisch professor William Electric Black’s new play, “The Whites,” is controversial and loaded. But what should audiences take away from it?
Julie Goldberg, Books & Theater Editor November 15, 2019

“The Whites” is a play that rests on a controversial premise: what if black people had enslaved white people? What if black cops were shooting white people at an alarming rate?...

In Tisch New Theatre’s remake of “Legally Blonde,” Elle Woods has none of the ditziness she is known for. (Photo Courtesy of Christabelle Tan)

Somehow, Tisch New Theatre Reinvents Elle Woods in ‘Legally Blonde’

Tisch New Theatre decides to “Rethink Pink” in their recent production of “Legally Blonde,” showcasing a strong and never wavering Elle Woods by omitting the dumb blonde stereotype from the minute the curtain opens.
Liv Rocklin, Contributing Writer November 4, 2019

When people wondered how Tisch New Theatre could possibly “Rethink Pink” and rebrand “Legally Blonde,” TNT responded, in the words of Elle Woods: “What? Like it’s hard?”...

Madama Butterfly, a classic Italian opera, is remade into a contemporary production presented at the Met Opera from October to April 2020. (Via Wikimedia)

‘Madama Butterfly’: New Staging Injects Life Into Age-Old Opera

Producer Anthony Minghella tackles this century-old opera in a visually stunning revival that merges theatre magic from old and new, east and west.
Megan Chew, Staff Writer October 22, 2019

“Madama Butterfly” is not timeless. Unlike Mozart’s “Magic Flute” or Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” the cultural context of Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 opera...

The Yondr phone case locks your phone inside until you can tap it on an unlocking base. (Via Yondr)

Please Silence your Cellphones: Tisch Students Weigh in on Self-Silencing Phone Case

WSN talked to a number of Tisch students about a new phone case that helps to keep theater-goers engaged. While some praise the device’s merits, others see it as a pardoning of personal responsibility.
Julie Goldberg, Books & Theater Editor October 21, 2019

Asking politely, it seems, is no longer enough. At least not when it comes to silencing cell phones during performances.  This is where the Yondr phone case comes in. In 2014,...