4 out of 5 stars

Something unexpected emerges in director Anna D. Shapiro's taut, chilling revival of Eric Bentley's "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been," a play drawn from transcripts of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings hunting communists in Hollywood. Beyond the frightening parallel with today's government targeting its perceived enemies, there's the sheer variety of agonizing, nuanced, choices that Bentley highlighted in the witnesses' testimony; they defy oversimplification. An impressive cast will rotate; current standouts include David Krumholtz (playing Abe Burrows), Jay O. Sanders (Lionel Stander) and Billy Eugene Jones (Paul Robeson), alongside permanent fixture Michael McKean as the committee's chairman. — Adam Z. Horvath

At New York City Center, through Sept. 11, 2026; nycitycenter.org. (Review date: June 15, 2026)