Our Friends The Enemy NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (2)
Critic Reviews (15)
"Using a cheery working-class accent for this everyman and playing other characters, the magnetic Alex Gwyther holds forth for nearly an hour during this haunting dramatization...Director Tom O’Brien’s efforts are an exemplary work of stagecraft...All of the production elements are precisely coordinated resulting in striking imagery and mood...it is also a superior work showcasing the wondrous talents of Alex Gwyther adds considerably to its virtues."
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"Brutalities of war, and the power of brotherhood and Christmas spirit to achieve peace, are given vivid life in this moving one-man show... As Gwyther jumps from person to person, he’s guided by the effective lighting and sound that transport the action from the quiet moments to where the sky is lit up from bombs...It’s not a long show, but it packs a thoughtful and emotional punch...Gwyther and O’Brien have crafted a show that, 100 years later, feels very relevant."
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"The play’s mainly lighthearted culmination is gratifying to watch and well earned – Gwyther conveys the intensely palpable relief of the soldiers, come Christmas day, when both sides put down their arms and exchanged cigarettes, stories, and in some cases home addresses...Gwyther slips in and out of the various characters with immense skill, bringing to life each character with clarity and specificity."
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"Alex Gwyther’s masterful recasting of the long-ago tale is haunting and beautiful...The waste and wantonness of war is the headline here. What makes it a Christmas tale to be savored is the evidence of humanity unleashed, however briefly, against all odds."
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"The story is profoundly powerful, but its heartbeat rests in incidental moments, not in a cumulatively engrossing drama; instead, an elegiac mood takes precedence over dramatic development. Sincere as are Mr. Gwyther’s intentions, they never coalesce into an emotional fireball. His soft-voiced delivery, except for a few moments of heightened feeling, has a monotonous sameness that, even for a performance only 55 minutes long, borders on the tedious."
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"Alex Gwyther, is a wonderful actor and writer and makes us know each of these characters. His performance is worth watching and if you do not know this amazing piece of history it will lighten your heart this holiday season."
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"Straightforwardly directed, the narrative unfolds in just 55 minutes. The story rolls along in predictable fashion but Gwyther is charming and the audience at the performance I attended sat rapt."
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"There is a great stage play or film to be made of this; those that I have seen don’t quite have the grandeur that I believe lies in the raw material. 'Our Friends the Enemy' doesn’t try to be a multi-million dollar telling of the story. Gwyther goes a different way — showing the world through the eyes of a single actor...It is a choice I might not have made, but this is a play I wish I had written. It is definitely a performance to be seen."
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