C

Reading through reviews for The Mound Builders, one gets the sense there’s a good reason so few theater companies choose to dig up this archaeologically themed 1975 memory drama. Characterizing the play as Lanford Wilson’s most complex, least accessible work even under the best circumstances, critics generally find the Signature’s current production to be a shallow effort that fails to engage. Among negative comparisons to Wilson’s other play now on the boards (Talley’s Folly) are a few complimentary mentions of individual performances and kind words for the set, lighting, and sound design. Reviewers may see intrinsic value in exploring the estimable Wilson’s difficult and layered mystery, but this particular incarnation misses the mark.

B

Though Chekhov is a perennial favorite of theatre revivals, Neva, focusing on the meaning of his legacy after his death and on the eve of the 1905 Russian Revolution, fares less well. The cast is uniformly applauded despite such hesitations: The Times' Charles Isherwood finds the ensemble to be “terrifically good” even as he damns the play for being “turgid and repetitive.” Most agree with the latter part of his statement, with the Post's Frank Scheck calling the play “too much work for too little payoff.” Other voices, though, find more meaning in playwright Calderón’s work, as an examination of art in the time of revolution, with TheaterMania's Zachary Stewart calling the play “brilliant and provocative” and Anthony Pennino of nytheatre.com raving, “I cannot say enough about this excellent, exciting, and necessary play.”

B-

Critics are split on Hands on a Hardbody. There is the daring-and-original-new-musical camp on one side and the missed opportunity camp on the other. But even those who feel let down by the story, calling the characters all too thinly drawn, find something to admire. The cast gets near-universal praise and Trey Anastasio's music has more than a few fans, though Amanda Green's lyrics have fewer. A few critics point out the irony of a musical about poor people charging Broadway prices, and a few more think this show will, if nothing else, have a life in regional theater.

A

Most of the critics who loved the show at Lincoln Center say it's even better on Broadway. They say that Sigourney Weaver turns in a more nuanced performance as Masha, and both David Hyde Pierce (Vanya) and Kristine Nielsen (Sonia) are singled out for their Tony-worthy soliloquys. Again, as with the earlier production, the critics say that while it's not necessary to know Chekhov to get the jokes, it sure makes them funnier. And Spike (Billy Magnussen), with his high cheekbones and lowbrow pop-culture references, makes it even more fun to despair about the future of America.

A

With ecstatic raves like these, Then She Fell is in no risk of splattering against the ground, even if booking concerns or natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy have forced this site-specific work to relocate (many of the reviews below are of last fall's production at the abandoned Greenpoint Hospital, which ran Oct. 3, 2012-Jan. 6, 2013). The titular falling, then, speaks more to a weightless, giddy experience, provoked by the sort of rich, intimate, and at times provocative performances that would easily sell out even shows that allowed in more than 15 guests at a time. If you're wondering how it stacks up to other experiential plays, the Times' Ben Brantley notes that it's "less spectacular and more intimate than 'Sleep No More,' and far more illuminating about its source material."

D+

"Holly Goheavy" is the running joke in this batch of reviews. Critics find director Sean Mathias' production brooding and leaden, with a problematic design by Derek McLane and plenty of too-studied performances: They feel that Emilia Clarke's effortful Holly looks the part--with many (male) critics noting just how well she fills out Oscar-winner Colleen Atwood's stunning costumes--but that she lacks Holly's necessary effervescence, while, as Fred, Cory Michael Smith is generally deemed competent even if his accent isn't. Playwright Richard Greenberg earns some respect for sticking closer to the style and structure of Truman Capote's WWII-era novella than the 1961 film did, but admiration is severely diminished by his expository adaptation's lack of drama and a strange new focus on Fred (and his homosexuality) rather than on Holly.

C+

There's not much to learn from Craig Lucas’ The Lying Lesson, which generally disappointed critics consider a mildly amusing diversion at best. Opinions are divided on the strength of Carol Kane’s accent and impersonation of the iconic Bette Davis, though the majority of reviewers have good things to say about Mickey Sumner’s off-Broadway debut as a blue-collar Down East local. Overall, it seems they expected more from the stylistically mercurial Lucas, whose script fails to deliver the kind of drama we’d expect given its leading lady’s legacy.

B+

With one or two exceptions, even those who find Annie Baker's latest character study tediously long—it clocks in at just over three hours—can't deny her gift for sensitively detailing the beauty and pain of the ordinary and mundane. The Flick's love of Pinteresque pauses may test patience, but those who stick with Baker's hyper-real world and quietly aching trio of characters are well-rewarded with a top-notch production, with frequent Baker collaborator Sam Gold gently guiding a highly praised cast to affecting, revelatory, and very funny performances. David Zinn's meticulously rendered rundown movie theater is also keenly admired for its wonderful drabness. The Flick divides Baker's fans into the ardent and the casual: those who are transfixed by its considerable silence and those who just really wish it was an hour shorter.

B

Critics are divided on this revival of A.R. Gurney's 1991 play. While some critics believe that Jonathan Silverstein's direction makes the work engaging, others feel that he misses the mark completely, pointing to "stiff performances” (NY Post) and the inability to “engage emotionally” (nytheatre.com). But all the critics agree that the play, though revised since its premiere, feels outdated in its discussion of homosexuality. What this means though, again causes a split: Some critics see the antiquated views on LGBT rights and AIDS awareness as a way to measure progress in the country and critically analyze today’s debate, while others find the material stale and unmoving. TheaterMania's David Gordon sums up the latter view, suggesting that recent revivals of The Normal Heart and Angels in America make The Old Boy seem “practically quaint.”

A-

Send in the clowns, say critics—especially if the clowns in question are the “astonishing” Bill Irwin and David Shiner, who Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly compares to other perfectly matched duos such as “Laurel and Hardy, bourbon and soda, bacon and eggs.” Consensus is overwhelmingly positive for Old Hats, which mixes vaudevillian traditions with modern technology, supplemented by the song stylings of Nellie McKay. The Post's Elisabeth Vincentelli considers it “one of the funniest shows of the past few years,” and there’s virtually no disagreement from her peers. There’s equal appreciation for Ms. McKay (apart from Matthew Murray of Talkin’ Broadway). Speaking for many, Adam Feldman of Time Out warns, “If you let yourself miss this marvelous diversion, the more fool you.”