Fool For Love NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (173)
See it if you love great acting, utterly messy love, and the occasional lasso toss.
Don't see it if the intense slow burn of Sam Shepard's dramas of wrecked lives make you want to hang yourself with a lasso.
See it if you want to experience echt sam shepard performed by a brilliant cast.
Don't see it if you want something fluffy, unserious or undemanding
See it if You are a fan of Sam Rockwell or Nina Arianda, who are both amazing here, and have fantastic chemistry together!!
Don't see it if You can't handle 75 mins without an intermission, I suppose.
See it if you want to see some gripping performances in an explosive, flawed modern classic.
Don't see it if Shepard writing at the height of his macho style does not thrill you. Read more
See it if This was a really intense show and the actors were all wonderful.
Don't see it if It's a dark story so not one to go to in a bad mood
See it if you can because the writing is very good.
Don't see it if like happily ever after endings.
See it if If you like the 2 Sams (Shepard and Rockwell). Fascinating. Primal. Excellent cast. Excellent writing. Well directed.
Don't see it if You don't like difficult material.
See it if You want to see a gripping portrait of a toxic relationship in all its brutal glory. Stunning performances by Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell.
Don't see it if You can't handle the intense subject matter, or are looking for something other than a one room descent into emotional savagery.
Critic Reviews (58)
"Love as a battlefield on which nobody wins has seldom been mapped as thrillingly as it is in Daniel Aukin’s definitive revival of this bruising drama. Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell exude the sort of chemistry from which nuclear meltdowns are made. Every ingredient that’s gone into this offering has been measured, sifted and distilled to create the most potent combination conceivable. When I saw an earlier version of this production, I figured it couldn’t get much better. I was wrong."
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"Daniel Aukin’s painterly diorama production benefits from key support from a fine Tom Pelphrey as May’s bemused beau and Gordon Joseph Weiss as a spectral old-timer who may have fathered both fractious lovers (there’s a whisper of Greek tragedy amidst the tumbleweeds). But it’s Rockwell and Arianda who most strike the sparks, blow on the embers and get the fire raging."
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"This postmodern absurdist period piece, impeccably staged by director Daniel Aukin, provides the kind of thrill you get from watching a well-executed building demolition. We see each explosive put into place, each timer set, so that when the inevitable implosion finally occurs, you marvel at the controlled devastation."
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"When the withholding and revelation are handled as adroitly as they are in Daniel Aukin’s terrific staging, 'Fool for Love' acquires the force of Greek tragedy...The production, already excellent when presented at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, has only improved. Physically, it is just about perfect."
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"Ms. Arianda has returned to Broadway in 'Fool for Love.' It is fully worthy of her gifts, and the results are—almost literally—explosive. I wish Arianda had worked harder on her accent, but that doesn’t matter too much: Every other part of her performance is scaldingly, unimpeachably real...The explosion occurs offstage shortly before the end of the play, and even if you know 'Fool for Love' going in, I guarantee it’ll take you by surprise. That’s how good this revival is."
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"The two stars are superb in Daniel Aukin’s straightforward production but I still think that they’re acting in different shows. They throw off plenty of heat — but not at each other, and that’s fatal to a play that insists we believe in the intensity of the relationship."
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"Rockwell delivers the goods — and so does costar Nina Arianda — in Broadway’s combustible revival of 'Fool for Love...' Daniel Aukin directs a well-paced production and guides the cast to juicy performances."
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" This may not be the definitive production of this iconic play, but director Daniel Aukin has done a thoroughly professional job...And if laid-back Rockwell and body-conscious Arianda don’t quite have their acts together, Shepard is served well enough to satisfy his fan base."
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