On July 2, four acclaimed, very different plays will end their limited Broadway runs, including a massive historical drama by England’s best-known living playwright, a one-woman legal thriller, a contemporary American reinvention of “Hamlet,” and a starry revival of a rarely seen work by Lorraine Hansberry.
Leopoldstadt (Four Tony Awards, including Best Play): Tom Stoppard’s semi-autobiographical, elegiac family drama, which explores Jewish identity, cultural assimilation, and anti-Semitism in 20th century Europe, premiered in London and marks the 85-year-old English playwright’s nineteenth play on Broadway since 1967 – and possibly his final play. It truly is epic in size, with a 38-member cast (including many children), a two-hour and 20-minute running time without an intermission, and discussions and debates on advanced topics such as number theory, Zionism, and Freud. But at the same time, it is a relatively accessible and emotional work – at least when compared to other cerebral works by Stoppard.
Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St., leopoldstadtplay.com.
Prima Facie (Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for Jodie Comer): Suzie Miller’s one-woman drama is a tightly constructed courtroom thriller with a #MeToo social conscience. In an all-out, genuinely exhilarating performance, Jodie Comer (best known for the BBC spy series “Killing Eve”) plays a successful criminal defense attorney in her thirties whose world is sent into a tailspin after she is raped by a colleague. An insert to the Playbill contains a “trigger warning” that the play may cause emotional distress, in addition to disturbing statistics on sexual assault in the U.S., and links to various support groups and a space where survivors can anonymously share their stories, A film adaptation starring Cynthia Erivo is reportedly in the works.
Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St., primafacieplay.com.
Fat Ham (2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama): James Ijames’ boisterous and tenderhearted retake on “Hamlet,” which transferred to Broadway following an earlier Off-Broadway run at the Public Theater last year, turns Hamlet into a queer Black youth who is is first seen uncomfortably celebrating his mother’s marriage to his uncle at a backyard barbeque in the South. Karaoke and charades segue into lines from the original text (with “there’s the rub” referring to meat seasoning), one death (far less than in “Hamlet”), intimate revelations, and a feel-good fantasy drag finale.
American Airlines Theatre through Aug. 6. 227 W. 42nd St., fathambroadway.com.
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Miriam Silverman): Lorraine Hansberry’s rarely-seen 1964 follow-up to “A Raisin in the Sun,” which was written right before her death at the age of 34, follows a progressive-minded but immature Jewish intellectual who lives in Greenwich Village with his wife, a struggling actress. Anne Kauffman’s revival, which played BAM in the winter and stars Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, transferred to Broadway at the very last minute, with barely enough time to be eligible for the Tony Awards.
James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 W. 48th St., thesignonbroadway.com.
Other Upcoming Closings: Peter Pan Goes Wrong (July 23), Good Night, Oscar (Aug. 27), Funny Girl (Sept. 3).
