The No. 1 Reason To See: The Bad and the Better

Get transported into a noir-ish New York City in Derek Ahonen’s twisty new crime thriller The Bad and the Better. The Lang Brothers, whose family tree is deeply rooted in the NYPD, both investigate New York’s murky underbelly from different sides. On their respective investigations into anarchist groups and mysterious suburban murders, each uncovers corrupt secrets that will change their lives forever.

The No. 1 Reason To See The Bad and the Better: The shocking plot twists
With a crayon box full of colorful characters at his disposal (there are 26 cast members!), Daniel Aukin (Lincoln Center’s 4000 Miles) resourcefully directs the actors down a dead-man’s-curve road of a play. Ahonen’s clever writing lulls the audience into a false sense of security in Act I with cute humor and pleasantly quirky characters, only to shower you with a second act full of stray bullets. Many a season has gone by since I have witnessed a show in which its secrets and showstoppers weren’t visible a mile off. With the sharp plot curves of The Departed and the quagmire of elaborate corruption of The Dark Knight, Ahonen creates a New York at war, in which no side knows who it’s fighting for. With The Bad and the Better, being blindsided hasn’t felt this gratifying in a long time.

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