"David Mamet’s ghastly 'China Doll' is the worst thing I’ve seen on a professional New York stage since the ill-fated 'Moose Murders.' On the disaster meter, it might be even worse...Neither he nor the play makes one lick of sense, including the title...What is it doing on Broadway, and what did we do to deserve it?"
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"It feel like Mamet and Pacino deliberately dreamed up a project that would have to flounder to make its point. They succeeded. It is hard to imagine a more disorienting show. And yet it's hard to imagine another actor going ahead with what Pacino pushes through here. Well, he doesn't exactly push through. He jumps around in the quagmire, unleashing one gurgle, one spluttering demi-sentence, one gesticulated demand, after another."
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"As terrible as the buzz has been — Pacino struggling with his lines, theatergoers demanding refunds, a delayed opening — the reality is even worse. The plot, such as it is, plays out like a bad parody of Mamet at his worst — all tough-guy posturing, secret motives, power plays, violent resolution — and with zero impact…Asking us to feel for a rich dude committing tax evasion: Mamet is setting up a real challenge for himself."
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"If eavesdropping on a switchboard is your idea of drama, then 'China Doll' is the play of your dreams. (I was secretly hoping Mickey would holler for Carson to get Mamet a play doctor.) The playwright toys with a number of dramatic possibilities but never finds conviction...Reports of Pacino having difficulty memorizing his lines have been circulating...But I would defy anyone to try to learn a script so vexingly stylized it seems as though it could only be a Mamet parody."
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"For the most part, 'China Doll' is a rambling, incoherent monologue…With big gestures and expressions, Pacino delivers a highly worked-up, outlandish performance that could be interpreted as a desperate attempt to add entertainment. Despite the play's problems, Pacino's theatrics throw it off further dramatically. The visual opulence of Pam MacKinnon's production is also questionable."
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"'China Doll' is less a fully realized drama than an elongated rant...The script is a rambling mess...It's both overwritten and underwritten. Repetitiously wordy, yet lacking in coherence....If 'China Doll' fails as a play, it does make for a fairly interesting character study. And watching Pacino bluster through it is almost worth the trip."
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"Is 'China Doll' a great play? No. At times it's barely passable…It isn't dramatically compelling…'China Doll' is confusing…It's almost as though the scenes that explained each person were axed from the finished script…Still, nothing beats a sharp Mamet one-liner, and this script is peppered with several…Pacino's work is virtuosic, drawing on his years of experience playing characters with the shortest possible fuse to deliver the quintessential Al Pacino performance. And that's thrilling."
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"Al Pacino seems perfectly secure and in control of everything he's saying on stage...He's detailed, committed and always interesting to watch...The balance actor Denham adds to the play is invaluable and the most effective asset of director MacKinnon's production...It does provide enough of the old Mamet tension and cynicism that makes decent people feel disgust for the world we live in. And sometimes that's enough to send you out of the theatre with a smile on your face."
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