Fool For Love

"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." Full Review

"Spare and evocative new production...MTC should be applauded for producing this challenging work in such a primo venue, but one suspects that the eerie experiential effect would be even greater in a more intimate space. Here's hoping for an immersive 'Fool for Love' in our future." Full Review

" 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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"Until its brilliant final 15 minutes, Aukin’s production doesn’t have that magnetic force. Arianda is vital and absorbing, Rockwell is easy in his body and forceful in his affect...But they often seem to be marking time...It isn’t until that final fight and kiss and conflagration that the play faces up to the fervour at its core." Full Review

"Under Daniel Aukin's pinpoint direction, Arianda and Rockwell so fully inhabit their characters that we can easily believe that we are spying on a pair of lovers whose long-running and highly destructive affair is in its endgame...It's surprising that it has taken more than 30 years for 'Fool for Love' to get a first-class New York revival, but this excellent company was well worth the wait. In their hands, this looks to be Shepard's masterpiece, his work most likely to stand the test of time." Full Review

"'Fool for Love' struck me as little more than an impressive acting exercise and the theatrical equivalent of a low-budget action flick. It’s an eye-catching trailer trash tango. Yes, there is skill in Shepard’s writing, and solid talent in the four-member cast. But did it add up to depth and brilliance? Not for me." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"The play seems somewhat diminished in a Broadway theatre...Rockwell’s diverse film roles have long demonstrated his chameleon-like versatility; he captures Eddie’s Marlboro Man machismo with conviction...Arianda’s May is wound up ready to burst open at any minute. With her abundant blonde mane and her lanky frame and skyscraper legs set off by a skintight red minidress she makes an indelible impression." Full Review

"Director Daniel Aukin has molded the cast into an excellent ensemble: his two leads are marvelous. The tech elements were also strong...But the play? Today it fails to shock. And once that twist was made clear, the play became less and less compelling." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"By the end you may have forgotten what genuine, all-encompassing heat actually feels like on the skin and in the blood. For a play whose entire raison d'être is exploring the vital but vicious codependence that can form between two people when they're thrust together under less-than-ideal circumstances, this is something of an impediment...At its heart, this production is irredeemably nice, perhaps the most devastating quality for any 'Fool for Love.' Full Review

"Nothing that ensued changed my ho-hum attitude towards the script...For patrons the effort put into making sense of events may not be worth it. What does go a fair stretch towards rendering the expended efforts rewarding are the performances. It may be that the lure for actors explains the frequent 'Fool for Love' sightings. Indeed, it may be that Shepard's demanding work-out is more entertaining for the performers who get to take on Eddie and May than it is for anyone who gets to watch them." Full Review

"The thin 70-minute drama is essentially an unsettling character study with a sense of mystery behind it. Daniel Aukin's focused, highly physical revival is built around the intense interplay between Arianda, who evokes both a hurt young girl and a torrent of violent emotion, and Rockwell, who coolly struts around and cockily plays with his lasso as if he were the Marlboro Man." Full Review

"Aukin and his actors hit all the right beats, punctuating the sexually charged action with the loud slamming of doors and bodies. But the heat only occasionally rises above a simmer, and despite all the tequila being gulped onstage, the whole thing feels a tad too correct." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"This production is a nonstop punch at how souls become dysfunctional through no fault of their own. Drawn like moths to a flame, Eddie and May are stuck in a circular hell that as long as they live, will play out the same scenario until one dies...Daniel Aukin’s direction could not be more perfect...Could this play be up for Best Play?" Full Review

"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." Full Review

"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." Full Review

"There's no question that it's got a Broadway worthy cast and production. Shepard's view of the American family for maximum humor, physicality, and sadness holds up remarkably well...The 75-minutes bristle with symbolism, physicality and suspense." Full Review

"Under Daniel Aukin’s slightly revisionist but extraordinarily meticulous direction, Sam Rockwell and Nina Arianda capture the angst and desperation of their characters and bring their struggle to separate and individuate to a cathartic frenzy that make a deep and lasting impression on the audience...'Fool for Love' is a must see." Full Review

"There isn't the down-and-dirty chemistry that makes the fate of the lovers' long and conflicted relationship feel inevitable and dangerous. They seem more like beautiful roughhousing puppies than people caught in the push/pull torrents of a forbidden relationship...The violence feels phony and it's hard to get overheated about the fate of the characters." Full Review

"Under Daniel Aukin’s very lopsided direction, you’ll be looking at Nina Arianda...Imagine the cartoon character Olive Oyl as a baritone in a red tube dress and you’ve got Arianda’s May... With Arianda offstage, it’s possible to notice Rockwell and Pelphrey, and to see that they’re embodying their respective characters with understated grace... Aukin changes the color of the lighting and amplifies Arianda’s voice through an echo chamber. It’s not only actors who can upstage actors." Full Review

"Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell have each demonstrated during their careers that they are fine actors but in this weak revival they both lack the innate charisma to fully succeed at their roles...This is the fault of the director...'Fool for Love’s tantalizing passion is captured in this alluring image and that quality is woefully absent in this adequate and lackluster revival." Full Review

"Arianda and Weiss are fine. Although Rockwell certainly aced his lasso lessons, I wish he displayed more of the charisma that would explain his hold over May. The big secret seemed more like a plot contrivance than an organic development...The initial scenes seemed a bit slack, but director Daniel Aukin picks up the pace as the play progresses. I wish I had found it more involving. Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission. It seemed longer." Full Review