While he may be best known for his Hollywood successes such as American Beauty and Six Feet Under, Alan Ball started out as a playwright. His return to the theater after an extended absence is cause for celebration -- particularly when it's with a play as brilliant as All That I Will Ever Be, now at New York Theatre Workshop. This thought-provoking and edgy new work looks at the way people fashion their identities -- for themselves and others -- and how it both enables and prevents intimacy.

The play centers on Omar (Peter Macdissi), a male hustler -- and part-time salesman -- who looks vaguely Middle Eastern, especially when he's identifying himself as Farouk, the Arabian Stallion. Someti[...]