Wolf in the River NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (38)
See it if You'd enjoy a sophisticated wild disturbing journey which may (or not depending on audience chance) end well. Ambitious & creatively staged.
Don't see it if The ugly, course, sexually threatening isn't something you want to experience-or if you simply prefer your plays to have a clear narrative.
See it if You want to be challenged. This is an adult Lord of The Flies. Very disturbing.
Don't see it if You insist on a straightforward linear narrative. There is a heap of metaphor here. You will have to pay attention.
See it if Wish you could have, it was great I hope they publish the play
Don't see it if You don't like intense or uncomfortable subject material (if that's the case stay away from Adam Rapp) Read more
See it if It's Adam Rapp so you know at the very worst it will be amazing. Great set and staged perfect in the round. you felt like you were in it.
Don't see it if you want to be challenged and asked to think.
See it if You like Adam Rapp's work...even if you haven't liked some of his most recent stuff. This is really good.
Don't see it if You can't handle excess, nudity, violence, etc.
See it if you like being shaken-up by intense scenes acted brilliantly in an intimate setting that offers no barrier between stage and audience
Don't see it if you want a romantic comedy, are on a first date, or are averse to nudity and violence
See it if Rapp's vision of self-destructive white trash in the South is disquieting. Vivid storytelling through violence and outrageous imagery.
Don't see it if Jack Ellis is totally riveting and charismatic. He gives life to Rapp's histrionics. Another shirtless hardbody e.g. Ben Walker, Alex Breaux
See it if You come to Adam Rapp for the strange, unexpected, bizarre (and who doesn't) don't mind the offensive and know the Bats might do anything
Don't see it if You need more than just strange, as the thought provoking, dare I say insightful he sometimes brings to the stage.
Critic Reviews (16)
"[The actors] seem to be having just as good a time as Mr. Rapp apparently had writing and directing this tall and bloated tale of nasty doings on the banks of a cannibalistic river...It is easy to imagine 'Wolf' as a collaboration between Tennessee Williams and Erskine Caldwell, both deep in their cups...The artery-clogging prose is enlivened by the vivacious staging...The cast members will be very much in your midst throughout, sharing their glee at the chance to act up a hillbilly storm."
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"Though 'Wolf' has trouble sustaining its fever-dream intensity, there's no doubt that Rapp can write...Rapp clearly loves horror, but this attempt to import the style onto the stage doesn't quite work. A few of the flaws are in execution: As a director, Rapp creates inventive environmental staging, but he urges his actors into loud performances rather than frightening ones. Even the dialogue, Rapp's strong suit, turns against him at times."
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"Rapp presents a handful of scenes that are among his very best, alongside an assortment of seriously confounding characters and plot contrivances that don't add up to much...The actors bring a fierce intensity to their roles, like sticks of dynamite that have just been lit...'Wolf in the River' ends up feeling more like an overstuffed, undercooked stew of atrocities...That's not to say it's entirely a loss. Amid the gratuitousness is a collection of moments that rank as top-tier Rapp."
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"A wildly overstaged and mostly incoherent tale...Nothing much happens in 'Wolf,' which fades from one scene of depravity to the next....'Wolf in the River' is a would-be shocker undone by its sheer oversupply of grim and grimy details. Even for playwright Adam Rapp, who revels in the details of various bodily fluids, this one is a bit much. Acting as his own director, Rapp seemingly has no one to point out the moment when his taste for the horrible descends into shtick."
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"The play, which has alternate endings, is told out of chronological order so that it makes it difficult to follow...While the audience may be confused, the cast appears to be gleefully enjoying their roles...'Wolf in the River' is more like a 1960’s happening with its non-linear plot line, colorful characters, startling imagery, gratuitous violence, weird goings-on, and use of myth and folk tale. It will not be to all tastes."
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"At times the constancy of the shouting and the breathless vocabulary of the dialogue can be exhausting. The quietude of this single river scene is something to cherish...The fact that there is such a gentle relationship around which all of this menace occurs only raises the tension. There is an immediacy to the impressionistic appeal of 'Wolf in the River,' but its ideas about the way human beings can instantaneously relate to each other grant it a more permanent universality."
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"By constantly shifting storytelling styles the aggregate impact of this yarn gets diluted. However, there are vivid performances and haunting moments that will still grab you...The silliness of the pre-show makes it quite hard to take the show seriously, and some goodwill is lost while you try to re-commit to the actual endeavor at hand. But once the play gets going and we get a grip on our surroundings, Rapp’s kinetic writing and intense poetry flourishes."
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"Under Mr. Rapp’s extraordinary direction, the ensemble cast of 'The Wolf in the River' brings the audience to a level of awareness and responsibility the theatre too often buries under the veneer of entertainment and the umbilical cord of numbness. Adam Rapp’s 'The Wolf in the River' is nothing like you have ever seen before and nothing you are likely ever to see again."
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