4.5 out of 5 stars

In "Rheology," the playwright/director's physicist mother co-stars with him, brilliantly playing herself -- and that's not even the most remarkable thing happening onstage. Starting from a lecture on how individual fragments of "fragile matter" (such as sand) can rearrange themselves to flow together -- the science of rheology -- the play goes on to do much the same. Mother and son, Bulbul Chakraborty and Shayok Misha Chowdhury, combine seemingly scattered narrative elements into a surprisingly fluid whole. Their unique experiment yields a magically theatrical rumination on science, art, familial ties, fear of death -- and how fragility can rearrange itself into resilience. — Adam Z. Horvath

At Playwrights Horizons, through May 16, 2026; playwrightshorizons.org. Review by Adam Z. Horvath. (Review date: April 26, 2026)