Accomplice: New York

Down with the fourth wall! Accomplice: New York makes Manhattan the stage, and all those people you used to think were just weirdos on the street into its players. It's a comic caper, and you're a key part of the action, so put on your puzzling caps and your walking shoes, and get ready to make some new friends.

Reviewed by Aaron Riccio

Good theater can move you to tears of joy, sobs of sorrow or peals of laughter, but it can also move you, too. For instance, it can take you from an undisclosed location in Chinatown to an equally mysterious place in SoHo. Accomplice: New York might even make you cry . . . in delight, if you're suddenly asked to ride a bicycle to retrieve the next clue, caught in some secret combination of The Amazing Race (sans the pressure), an old-school happening, and a walking tour. Above all else, it's a great way to learn more about Manhattan, and to meet people in it; with a crime adventure happening every thirty minutes, if you can indoctrinate yourself into the Accomplice elite, you'll decipher codes in bars bedecked in bras, connect the photographs from location to location, and more.

It's more than clever, however: it's also hilarious. Professional actors await your every move, helping not only to clue you in on the next checkpoint, but also to use their improvisational skills to keep you in good spirits as you trek from neighborhood to neighborhood. You'll meet Italians, Russians, and Jersey girls, delightful stereotypes all, and the only limit to how much fun you'll have is how much you're willing to interact with them (or with each other: unless you bring seven other people with you, you're bound to meet some interesting strangers).

Whether you live in New York or are just visiting, it would be criminal not to take part in Accomplice: New York. Food, drink, and perhaps some new friends await you on this highly intimate experience that makes Manhattan just as much of a character as the actors, and you an integral part of the show.

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Location: Unidentified
Tickets (212-209-3370 or here): $50.00
Performances: Saturday & Sunday (1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:30, 4:00, 4:30, 5:00)