SEE MORE THEATER: Developmental Theater

Because Phase Three of Cherry Lane Theater's ambitious Mentor Project is still, in part, a workshop in which revisions are still encouraged and supported, I don't feel it's fair to post an official review here. (You can read my personal thoughts on my personal blog.) Also, I can only really speak to the first production, Colin McKenna's The Secret Agenda of Trees, which was mentored by Lynn Nottage and directed by Sam Gold. What I can say is this: if Mr. McKenna's play is any indication of the quality of work being produced by new development programs, you should run to Cherry Lane Theater for its next two productions, Topsy Turvy Mouse (4/10-4/21) and Training Wisteria (5/1-5/12). There are countless other theaters putting out some great new material from their workshops, and I don't want to exclude any, but if you're looking for theater fresh off the presses, written in the ink of passionate, driven writers, and printed on the paper of blazingly talented actors, look into what's come out of Soho Rep and Ensemble Studio. It's raw stuff, but processed with the dedication of a four-star restaurant serving steak tartare. See more theater!