Burn This NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (409)
See it if You enjoy theater that surprises you from start to finish. The acting is superb and the characters engage your interest.
Don't see it if You don't care about personal relationship's ups and down.
See it if An engrossing play that successfully combines comedy & drama. A beautiful production lead by Adam Driver, who's absolutely riveting.
Don't see it if You don't like plays, especially one's that make you listen and think.
See it if Big Hollywood stars try to act out this Lanford Wilson emotional play. Driver overacts and Russell is interchangeble with any thin actress
Don't see it if if you are tired of emotionally charged storied about grief and the response to death of friends or family. Tourist audience can be rude
See it if You want to see a lovely production of a beautiful Lanford Wilson script with an A-game cast, including a riveting Adam Driver.
Don't see it if You can’t handle monologue-heavy plays and intense character studies
See it if if you want to see very strong performers in very hot - albeit totally implausible - scenario. Some long fiery monologues.
Don't see it if if you expect plays to unfold rationally with characters responding at least somewhat logically. If you can't sit for almost 3 hours.
See it if You like a truly intense performance. And comedy and drama in the same play.
Don't see it if You don’t like revivals with an intense love story
See it if you want to see a great play of the 1980's written by the excellent playwright Lanford Wilson. It still is very relevant for today.
Don't see it if you don't like a one set play with only 4 characters or if you don't like to see homosexual characters portrayed on stage
See it if You like a play that takes you trough a wave of emotions. If you enjoy dark comedy
Don't see it if If you dislike plays, dirty humor
Critic Reviews (50)
"Driver and Russell, who are supposed to be wildly attracted, appear to barely acknowledge each other. The essential fiery chemistry allied to in the title is missing...Driver has the right imposing physique and physicality for the role, but he comes across as a comically clumsy oaf...To compound the production’s problems, Russell barely registers as the vacillating Anna...Fortunately...director Michael Mayer wisely emphasizes Wilson’s wit."
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“Driver is a super dynamic actor who piles on his peculiar charm with the force of fierce winds of a hurricane...Russell does a very effective job portraying the various frustrations and emotions of Anna in relation to Pale and her work...’Burn This’ holds up as an important work in Lanford Wilson’s writing, and it is delightful to get such an excellent all-around production with this formidable cast.”
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“Russell swipes a match that won’t catch. Driver strikes one up, but of course it’s out before long. Rarely does a single moment so literally, and unfortunately, stand in for the whole...The revival is flame-retardant nonetheless. An affair between their two characters never lets off sparks...If Wilson’s drama was meant as an oblique comment on its times, or this revival means to speak to ours...Mayer’s production makes neither case...The production’s nostalgic sheen glosses over a hollow center.”
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“Mayer’s production with the illimitable Driver, measured, blossoming Russell, with assists from Uranowitz and Furr is revelatory for us today. The themes of love, acceptance, the possibility of redemption and growth...are vital...Mayer and the actors and artistic creatives take this startling, understated, emotionally sonorous and uplifting play and make it a resounding success that you do not want to miss, especially for the laughter, the hope, and the performances."
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"Lanford Wilson’s 1988 headscratcher of a play, has seemingly no reason to exist other than to give Adam Driver, its marquee star, an opportunity to flash his considerable talent on a Broadway stage. Unfortunately, nearly every note of this dated, slow burn rings false...Whatever appeal this play must have once had has long since extinguished, no doubt existing only in flickers of nostalgia. Skip this one."
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“Sure, the relationship of Pale and Anna is the focus, and we are supposed to think that opposites will attract. But he is such a nightmare and so unhinged, you would want him out of your apartment and bed, not in them...Even if one were not watching 'Burn This' with a 2019 cultural filter, the relationship between Anna and Pale feels unconvincing to the point of preposterous...The actors here make as best sense out of it as they can."
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"While the lead performers sizzle, the play fizzles...Russell and Driver, connect like sparkplugs while the play stumbles unevenly between the past and the conflicts of the present...The stage snaps alive when Driver pounds on the door...Russell, plays Anna with subtle grace and intimacy...It is Uranowitz...who has the laughs and often the best observations...The real fire in 'Burn This' lies in the search to find the burning passion in life."
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“Wilson’s 1987 improbable, meandering love story, is given an expertly calibrated revival...An unquestionable showcase for two actors who can generate romantic heat burning through personality clash, and...Driver and Russell, do that...wonderfully...The play is most alive when Driver is on stage...It’s a gratifying experience to see Driver and Russell bringing validity as well as marquee glamour to this sensitively, sometimes flashily written but not always convincing work."
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