Seat Filler: NYC Theater Guide for March

The Flick
Reuniting with in-demand director Sam Gold, celebrated young playwright Annie Baker gives voice to three underpaid misfit employees of a run-down Massachusetts movie theater in this long, slow-burning, but ultimately rewarding dark comedy. Louisa Krause is a standout as Rose, a troubled green-haired projectionist thought to be a lesbian until she makes a clumsy pass at Avery (Aaron Clifton Moten), an awkward cinephile who may not like girls either.
Playwrights Horizons, through April 7.

The Madrid
Nurse Jackie’s Edie Falco could make a Chinese takeout menu sound riveting, but she’s been given a much better premise with Liz Flahive’s quirky yet subdued drama. Falco stars as a kindergarten teacher who abandons her job and family so that she can chill in a crappy apartment and dance to Ke$ha songs. Out director Leigh Silverman embraces the subtleties of this frustrating but absorbing story about living your own life, societal pressures be damned.
Manhattan Theatre Club, through May 5.

See last month's theater review column here.