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June 25, 2025 
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Dear Theater Fans,
High-tech storytelling is having a moment on Broadway, with screens playing their own roles in shows like “Maybe Happy Ending,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “Sunset Boulevard.” The trend, Michael Paulson reported, not only “reflects the ubiquity of digital devices in contemporary life” but is also made possible by the growing availability, affordability and stability of the equipment. How do the actors feel about it? “We talk to screens all day,” Darren Criss of “Maybe Happy Ending” told Michael. “What’s another one onstage?”
Down at the Shed, “Viola’s Room” is another tech heavy show. This actorless immersive piece from Punchdrunk — a transporting gothic mystery narrated by Helena Bonham Carter — caters to just a handful of audience members at any one time. “It’s so important that no detail is superfluous,” Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk’s artistic director, told Alexis Soloski about creating a sort of wonderland that is somewhere between sleep and waking.
Michael also reported on a couple more Broadway closings: “Boop,” which just announced that it will close on July 13, and “Dead Outlaw,” which will end its run this Sunday. And he broke the news this morning that the producer David Binder is creating a new international performing arts festival, which is scheduled to debut this fall at a former power station in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn.
In an essay, Maya Phillips reflects on a rewarding stage adaptation of James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room,” and Sopan Deb has written about “Mahabharata,” a retelling of the Sanskrit epic being staged at Lincoln Center this week.
The first few days of summer have been long and hot. So grab some ice tea, sit back and let Fabiola Caraballo Quijada and Chris Hayes, among the winners at this year’s Jimmy Awards (the celebration of excellence in high school musical theater), knock your socks off.
Please reach out to me at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com with suggestions for stories or to offer your thoughts about our coverage. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter.
Have a wonderful week,
Nicole Herrington
Theater Editor
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