off-Broadway's

What is so important about Mr. Braff's new play, now running at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre in New York City, is that wrapped inside a 90-minute intermission-less piece -- that is so side-splittingly funny line after line that one almost thinks his brain should be donated to science -- is that it questions the very essence of what it is to be human.

Tristine Skyler: Why Zach Braff's All New People Is the Defining Play of a Generation Tristine Skyler 2011

What is so important about Mr. Braff's new play, now running at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre in New York City, is that wrapped inside a 90-minute intermission-less piece -- that is so side-splittingly funny line after line that one almost thinks his brain should be donated to science -- is that it questions the very essence of what it is to be human.

Tristine Skyler: Why Zach Braff's All New People Is the Defining Play of a Generation Tristine Skyler 2011

The New York production, at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons -- produced concurrently with Woolly's -- received stellar notices, and a London version this fall at the highly regarded Royal Court Theatre proved so successful that plans have been announced to move it for a commercial run in the city's West End. Few Washington stage productions get anything like a long life because of the time constraints attending the presentation of a full roster of plays.

Woolly Mammoth's hit play 'Clybourne Park' to return in summer 2011 Peter Marks 2010

The power of art, particularly actors, is on display at the Classic Stage Company, one of off-Broadway's gems.

Fern Siegel: Stage Door: Everyday Rapture, The Forest, The Subject Was Roses Fern Siegel 2010

Early in her career, Bundy originated the role of Tina Denmark in off-Broadway's Ruthless!

Cowgirl Power: 10 Reasons to Root, Root, Root for Laura Bell Bundy 2010

The power of art, particularly actors, is on display at the Classic Stage Company, one of off-Broadway's gems.

Fern Siegel: Stage Door: Everyday Rapture, The Forest 2010

(The best new musical in town at the moment may be off-Broadway's "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," a cheeky swipe at presidential hagiography, at the Joseph Papp Public Theater.)

What's in the running for this year's Tony Awards 2010

He's currently delivering a tour de force as a desperate producer in off-Broadway's Mistakes Were Made.

Getting to Know Boardwalk Empire's Michael Shannon 2010

The power of art, particularly actors, is on display at the Classic Stage Company, one of off-Broadway's gems.

Fern Siegel: Stage Door: Everyday Rapture, The Forest, The Subject Was Roses 2010

Early in her career, Bundy originated the role of Tina Denmark in off-Broadway's Ruthless!

Michael Bialas: Cowgirl Power: 10 Reasons to Root, Root, Root for Laura Bell Bundy 2010