Great theater doesn't wait for Broadway—and neither should you 🎭

Memory plays, jazz-age reinventions, and a posthumous rom-com walk into a theater. Here's who came out on top.

“We Had a World, Huntington Theatre; “Chez Joey,” Arena Stage; “Holiday,” Goodman Theatre.

Some of the season's most interesting theater isn't happening on a marquee visible from Times Square. Our critics fanned out to Boston, Washington D.C., and Chicago this month—and came back with three productions that range from quietly devastating to boldly imperfect to unexpectedly charming. What connects them: a reminder that great playwrights, inventive reimaginings, and serious talent exist in every time zone.

‘We Had a World,’ Huntington Theatre, Boston

Will Conard and Eva Kaminsky in The Huntington's production of "We Had a World." Photo by Annielly Camargo.

Joshua Harmon’s most personal play is also his most disarming. In We Had a World, a playwright named Josh is tasked by his dying grandmother with writing something “bitter and vitriolic” about her war with his mother — and instead crafts something sharp, tender, and surprisingly funny. Eva Kaminsky, as the long-suffering mom, is the quiet center of a production that earns every one of its laughs and every ounce of its grief. Runs through March 15. — Jerry Portwood

‘Chez Joey,’ Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.

Myles Frost and the cast of "Chez Joey" at Arena Stage. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Arena Stage's world premiere reimagining of Pal Joey swaps the antihero for a community—centering a Black jazz club navigating a dangerous offer from a white baroness. Myles Frost is magnetic, Awa Sal Secka stops the show with "My Heart Stood Still," and Savion Glover's choreography crackles. But Chez Joey’s best idea—diegetic singing that nods to freeform jazz—becomes its own trap. Big ambition, uneven execution. Still worth your time. Runs through March 15. — Nathan Pugh

‘Holiday,’ Goodman Theatre, Chicago

(l-r) ) Christiana Clark, Bryce Gangel, Luigi Sottile, and Jessie Fisher in Goodman Theatre's "Holiday." Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

What if Succession were a rom-com? Richard Greenberg’s final play adapts Philip Barry’s 1928 drawing-room comedy Holiday with wit and contemporary warmth. Robert Falls directs a stellar ensemble, with Wesley Taylor stealing scenes as the wryly self-aware Ned Seton. The first act is an absolute confection. The third loses steam. Still, as a last word from one of American theater’s great voices, it’s one to catch. Runs through March 8. — Lauren Emily Whalen

And if New York City is on your radar, our critics are canvassing Broadway and Off-Broadway for the latest openings!