When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout
Closed 1h 45m
When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout
67

When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout NYC Reviews and Tickets

67%
(6 Ratings)
Positive
33%
Mixed
67%
Negative
0%
Members say
Funny, Slow, Disappointing, Edgy, Indulgent

About the Show

Fallen Angel Theatre Company presents a comedic memory play that explores the parallel growing pains of a mother and a daughter.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (6)

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180 Reviews | 39 Followers
83
Entertaining, Thought-provoking, Clever, Funny, Disappointing

See it if You want to see 2 smashing performances by UK actresses (& 1 American dud). This 80s play still has relevant meaning & humour-& stands time.

Don't see it if A distractingly boring & 1 note performance by a lead would ruin it for you (it did, me); but for her, would have been terrific Scottish fun

535 Reviews | 155 Followers
56
Edgy, Intense, Raunchy, Slow, Indulgent

See it if You are not put off by a lot of sexual language and are willing to wait until the second act to feel a sense of where the play is going.

Don't see it if You don't like explicit sexual references and can't deal with listening to intense Scottish dialogue.

ka
17 Reviews | 4 Followers
60
Disappointing, Funny, Slow

See it if You can appreciate interesting staging and have interest in intense mother-daughter conflict.

Don't see it if Dated one-note mother - daughter relationship"screaming and shouting" isn't appealing to you.

10 Reviews | 4 Followers
100
Delightful, Funny, Edgy, Great acting

See it if You enjoy the nother daughter relationship in all its complications & low-key unfussy theatre with purpose

Don't see it if You prefer epic staging & bells & whistles

216 Reviews | 223 Followers
During previews
63
Funny, Dated, Slow

See it if A lonely mother, yearning to become a grandmother, her daughter and a long lost friend get together for a beach holiday.

Don't see it if You want a thinking piece. The actors played their roles at various ages which was the only thing that held the story together.

158 Reviews | 201 Followers
During previews
50
Reminiscent of those bad after school specials that were thinly masked life lessons for adolescents

See it if The first act take-away is awkward sex-ed type commentary. Second act is more a cautionary tale format with mom/daughter drama throughout.

Don't see it if It's kind of all over the place and so many plot elements were never fully developed or explained.. Just take a pass on this one

Critic Reviews (14)

The New York Times
April 20th, 2016

"While you’ll feel cleansed by the healing conclusion, getting there requires immersion in a churning sea of teenage sexuality, parental expectations and maternal sacrifice…Reversals and reconciliations punctuate Ms. Macdonald’s nonlinear mélange of flinty wit and Scottish idioms, directed with dexterity by John Keating...Fallen Angels devotes itself to Irish and British plays written by and about women, and this production is a worthy exemplar of its mission."
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Lighting & Sound America
April 20th, 2016

"Acclaimed when first presented in 1984...the play is less impressive now, because the subject matter has lost its novelty value--but there are other problems as well. For one thing, sexuality is the only thing anyone talks, to the point of near monotony...John Keating's direction could have picked up the pace a little bit, but he gets fine work from Moloney...For all their screaming and shouting, Fiona and Morag aren't terribly interesting people and it takes too long to play out their drama."
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Talkin' Broadway
April 18th, 2016

"In 1984, it probably played forcefully as a necessary feminist history play...But that sort of innovation dates quickly...Under John Keating's adequate direction, the performers all do the best they can, and they're able to keep ‘When I Was a Girl’ sufficiently engaging on the surface...If you're still able to appreciate Macdonald's play as a tribute to what was, you remain distracted by its unwillingness to dive down to explore the depths.”
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TheaterScene.net
April 21st, 2016

"While the play is now very much a period piece, expressing views little held by women, it very successfully delineates a caustic mother-daughter relationship and is extremely detailed about the problems between them...The play is a time capsule of attitudes and mores from two generations ago...Director John Keating has obtained sharp portrayals from his quartet of actors, though some of the choices seem problematic."
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Stage Buddy
April 25th, 2016

"Playwright Sharman Macdonald handles delicate coming-of-age issues and prepubescent misconceptions about sex with humor and tact while also baring the hurt, shame, guilt, and self-doubt and loathing that manifests from a sexually repressed upbringing, and under the direction of John Keating, the cast expresses a bold and loyal commitment to these themes...Any audience member--even those without the memories of a teenage girl--will be able to empathize."
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Theatre's Leiter Side
April 20th, 2016

"The frequent jumping around in time is a structural convention that drains the play of dramatic thrust. Also off-putting is the characters’ habit of making set speeches (occasionally pretty funny, I admit) rather than engaging in conversation...The most intrusive examples arrive toward the end when the 15-year-old Fiona repeatedly addresses God. Thanks to Macdonald’s lusty writing, some of this is worth hearing but it fails to move the drama needle very far."
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Upstage-Downstage
April 21st, 2016

"Despite solid acting under John Keating’s careful direction, the play is a bit of a plod, especially through Act I. One longs for some of the pent-up rage to erupt and allow the characters to move forward. Instead, they seem to be caught within a cycle of disappointment and censure as relentless as the waves washing over the shore."
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Times Square Chronicles
April 18th, 2016

"A wonderfully written play about mother-daughter relationships, with some wonderful performances…The problem is that Ms. Kreinik neither gains our sympathy or our caring. We never really know what guides her except by the words of the playwright, which seem to clash with her performance...I do recommend seeing this because there is more good than not and the play is well written though I would have preferred a better ending."
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