Greenwich Village events: Concerts, parties, readings and more

Vinny DePonto reunites with the team behind his 2013 show Charlatan, co-writer Josh Koenigsberg and directeor Andrew Neisler, for an ambitious new theatrical magic act that revolves largely around audience participation. DePonto is an engaging crowd worker, and he has devised several clever variations on the standard mentalist repertoire, so the show is a pleasant diversion. But a conceptual throughline about dementia feels underdeveloped, while its corresponding physical set is overdone: a high-concept space that at first evokes a 1970s office and then morphs into walls of metal deposit boxes that represent where memories are stored. What should be impressive reveals sometimes get lost in elaborate set-ups, which is too bad: A mind trick is a terrible thing to waste.—Adam Feldman

Theater review by Adam Feldman Some of the best ensemble acting in town is currently at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, which is remarkable not because of the material—Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya has always been a great piece for ensembles—but because it’s a one-man show. That’s perhaps slightly less surprising if you know that the man in question is the extraordinary Andrew Scott, who has played roles as varied as the wicked Moriarty on Sherlock, the titular sociopath on Ripley, the sensitive gay writer in All of Us Strangers and, of course, Fleabag's Hot Priest. But none of these performances, by themselves, can prepare you for the gorgeous finesse with which he shuffles the roles in Vanya. The dexterity of his hand is equaled by the gentleness of his touch.  In adapting Chekhov’s 1897 tragicomedy for solo performance, playwright Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) has also moved its time and place, Anglicizing the characters’ names and transporting them, if not quite to the present, then to some point in the '80s (to judge by the tech they use). Many modern versions of Uncle Vanya—including last year’s revival at Lincoln Center and Richard Nelson’s in 2018—are set in recent times, but Stephens reimagines the world of the play more thoroughly than most, while retaining its essential qualities. For example: Aleksandr, the pompous and gouty professor of the original, is now Alexander, a pompous and gouty film director; the bitter title character,...

A jittery young man named Milo labors to give a eulogy for his late friend, with help from audience volunteers, in an unusual solo-with-assistance show written by Brendan George and conceived by Peter Charney. After a 2023 debut at 59E59, the piece now returns for a more site-specific rotating run at churches and meeting places: Park Slope's Old First Reformed Church on Fridays, the Lower East Side's Studio Exhibit on Saturday and the West Village's Westbeth Community Center on Sundays. Downtown theater and nightlife publicist Ron Lasko directs this incarnation of the show; Blaize Adler-Ivanbrook, Ryan Boloix and Richard Diamond alternate as Milo. 

Ruby Karp is 24 now, but she's has been performing comedy since she was 11, when she hosted her first night at the Upright Citizens Brigade. In this new coming-of-angst show, directed by Britt Berke, she looks back on her experience as a "failed child star" and, well, carps about six adults who contributed to her disenchantment with the world. 

Playwright-performers Emma Horwitz (Mary Gets Hers) and Bailey Williams (Buffalo Bailey’s Ranch for Gay Horses, Troubled Teen Girls and Other)—who are also partners in real life—perform a surreal comic lesbian fantasia that involves file boxes, alien abduction and a mysterious visitor to a pet store. Tara Elliott directs the premiere, which is coproduced by Rattlestick Theater and New Georges.

If you've ever wondered what it’s like to grow up in the real Lala Land (spoiler: it’s not Los Angeles), Tahaa Kahn is here to give you the unfiltered, hysterical lowdown. With his show Halalarious, the only Pakistani comedian who’s actually lived the full-spectrum, global Desi experience is dishing out laughs hotter than your auntie’s biryani. Born and raised in Pakistan, Tahaa isn’t just another comic with a few immigrant jokes up his sleeve—he’s a walking, talking cultural intersection. He’s lived and worked across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and now the U.S., which basically makes him the comedic equivalent of a diplomatic passport. His comedy is personal, punchy and peppered with enough insight to make you laugh and learn (even if it's against your will). Expect riffs on butter chicken and samosas that are somehow both relatable and revelatory. And while food is on the menu, it’s really just the appetizer—Tahaa's main course is a spicy blend of lived experience, sharp wit and just enough existential reflection to make you text your parents afterward. His jokes are the kind that sneak up on you, make you cackle and then quietly challenge your worldview while you're still wiping tears from your eyes. But here’s the twist: Tahaa doesn’t stop at laughter. He’s also the brain behind Comedy for Good, producing charity shows for UNICEF. Because apparently, he’s not content with just slaying on stage—he’s also out here saving the world one punchline at a time....