What a disappointing evening in the theater. Too clever by half; contrived; confusing. I was in F41, which was basically obstructed and I didn't care at all. There wasn't much I wanted to see. Just about half the audience left at the intermission. What a mess - and I am a big fan of John Guare's. Was...
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A hoot! This hysterical play made me laugh a lot and feel really good. It's a terrific antidote for the real world and can be thoroughly enjoyed without the need for interpretation or analysis. John Larroquette is wonderful and so are the rest of the cast. A real comedic treat! Enjoy!
Not a masterpiece, but not the bomb Mr. Green describes (along with some spoilers, unfortunately). A noted American playwright should be allowed a bit of self-indulgence.
It should be said that there were two quite interesting actors in the cast: I wanted to know more, and see more featuring, German Jaramillo as Jorge Luis Borges and Stacey Sergeant, as the secretary and the police officer. Ms. Sergeant, in particular, seemed very comfortable with shape-shifting farce. I enjoyed her performance.
Loved it! It was a wonderful ride into the imagination. Suspend belief, the major requirement of enjoying fiction, and allow the play and actors to lead you on the journey. Perhaps the negative reviews are a reflection of our times--the strange truths we live with today make us less able to accept the writer's fancy.
This was the height of self indulgence. The story of a one hit playwright that happens through the most bizarre but not at all interesting circumstances to write another play.
Why do we care ?
This feels like one of the values of the non-profit world, especially when a theater like LCT chooses a lot of new work as part of its mandate. I guess the consensus is the show at the Clare Tow Theatre really works (our tickets aren't until next week, but it seems like LCT has a find there) while the Newhouse seems to have a misfire by an all-time top playwright. Maybe it is a situation of you can't have the audience and donors for the ones that work without the same audience and same donors willing to take a chance that some won't work.
"Six Degrees" sounded wild in description as members bought our tickets - since the play had apparently intelligent characters thinking they were going to be in a film of "Cats" though in the real-life story it was the much more logical "Dreamgirls," that the "six degrees" speech was brilliant but could have been plopped into any play in NYC right then, even some fear in the air of homophobic implications when word of the naked hustler scene trickled out because then 1990 pre-internet for some reason we were obsessed with nude scenes in classy shows - and then once we saw it, wow! But sometimes you never really know, maybe not until it actually opens. Non-profits can afford the roll of the dice, and batting .500 or even .300 on new works has to be seen as a success.
Am I the only person who thought this was a great show? The play is alright, but the performances make it a great night of theater. We need to get over ourselves and give in to fun.
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@Sarah yes. you are literally the only one...
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@A It's really sad but I think you are right. Then again, the audience was howling, so somewhere out there people exist who don't have to spend every moment analyzing. All I know is this is the first play I haven't slept through in years.
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The performances were not alright. They were shrill and overacting.
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David Gallo: Sets and Projections
Emily Rebholz: Costumes
Howell Binkley : Lighting
Mark Bennett: Original Music and Sound
Janet Takami: Stage Manager
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I choose to remember Mr. Guare for his many great plays. I hope to forget that he had anything to do with Nantucket Hayride.
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Or even Nantucket "Sleigh Ride" although a hayride might have been better. Alas, I only sat through the second act out of reverence for the author. Jesse Green was far too kind.
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