A Delicate Balance NYC Reviews and Tickets

85%

(134 Reviews)

Positive

90%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great singing, Great acting, Must see, Entertaining, Absorbing

About the Show

John Lithgow and Glenn Close star in Edward Albee's masterwork about a married couple struggling with their divorced daughter, alcoholic sister, and best friends all visiting on the same weekend.

In 'A Delicate Balance', Agnes (Glenn Close) and Tobias (John Lithgow), a long-married couple, must maintain their equilibrium as over the course of a weekend they welcome home their 36-year-old daughter after the collapse of her fourth marriage, and give shelter to their best friends, all the while tolerating Agnes’ alcoholic sister Claire. Tony-nominee Pam MacKinoon directs the Broadway revival.

Member Reviews (134)

Disappointing, Dull, Slow, Unengaging, Nice set

See it if I was so disappointed in DB. GClose was dull! No one could lift the show above her dead weight. I wanted one of the many drinks poured!

Don't see it if Albee creates fascinating situations and characters, but this production had no life. Not enjoyable.

Great acting, Great staging, Great writing, Entertaining, Slow

See it if you are a fan of Albee and his themes. Great performances.

Don't see it if you prefer faster paced shows.

Critic Reviews (14)

"Great Edward Albee, tepid production...although the play still dazzles with wit, gorgeous writing and the lurking terror of mortality, Director Pam MacKinnon spells things out here instead of letting Albee toy with us through suggestion and suspense. Nothing, alas, is delicate."
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For a previous production

"As you would expect of these highly accomplished, multi-award-winning cast members, none of them are bad. But they’re giving us the play, instead of living it."
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For a previous production

"Pam MacKinnon directs this solid revival with a keen ear for the curling, teasing rhythms of Albee’s ornate lines, and the performances are top-notch...this Pulitzer winner still stings and sings."
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For a previous production

"Whether audiences are encountering A Delicate Balance for the first time or for reappraisal, watching the six supremely accomplished actors in this cast bite into their roles is thrilling."
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For a previous production

"MacKinnon’s feisty if occasionally restless revival makes intriguing work of Albee. The production can feel like it’s oscillating speeds, but the constant is shimmering character work, and why wouldn’t you expect that from such a cast of heavy-hitters?"
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For a previous production

"A Delicate Balance is no play for sissies...a brilliantly constructed if ultimately unfathomable play that only Edward Albee can get away with writing."
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For a previous production

Things finally become interesting, even zany, in the second scene of the second act. Until then, though, “A Delicate Balance” comes across like a dramatically static rewrite of “Virginia Woolf” with rather less drinking and much less cursing."
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For a previous production

"Albee's gift to humanity, you might say: a pleasurable three acts of watching others teeter on the brink, which always helps you last another day on terra firma yourself."
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For a previous production

"A Christmas fruitcake left out too long - boozy and loaded with goodies - but its also on the dry side. Albee’s writing brims with black humor and red-hot loathing. The show, by contrast, is a benign beige."
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For a previous production

"Whip-smart and wickedly funny, the 1966 play is showcased in a very good production that’s cool, well-composed and captivating."
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For a previous production

"Despite the witty lines and a handful of exciting moments, the production is a three-hour, very static bore."
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For a previous production

"Perhaps to those watching an Albee play for the first time, the delicate balance will be realized. For those who've seen it--and much of his canon--before, this revival could feel a bit off-balance."
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For a previous production

"In this bracing new revival, fine actors find the warmth in Albee’s stinging message. It's a pleasure to see them in roles that accommodate both their intensity and their flair for nuance."
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