Heisenberg NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (375)
See it if experience MLP & DAs deep dive into characters, to resurface buoyant, reassured that we know how to engage w/others even if not neat&pretty
Don't see it if you need to make complete sense of emotional alchemy; it's so right but inexplicable, at first....
See it if You like one-act dramas with small casts
Don't see it if You don't like dramas
See it if You can enjoy an engrossing story with a minimalist set. If you enjoy complex interpersonal emotions and connections.
Don't see it if have trouble following a plot that is delivered only through conversation or it you don't like plays with only 2 actors.
See it if you enjoy watching interesting, well-written characters. Great acting and staging.
Don't see it if you prefer large casts and/or musicals. Read more
See it if you like literate theater without the "staginess"
Don't see it if you must have spectacle on the stage; this is not an "event"
See it if you want to see Mary Louise Parker act Mary Louise Parker but a charming and poignant MLP. Both Actors terrific.
Don't see it if you don't like whimsy, or older younger relationships
See it if you like character studies, psychology and great acting.
Don't see it if you are looking for a "big play."
See it if You don't need flashy sets and costumes to keep your interest. Great acting on a bare stage, interesting characters. Very intimate.
Don't see it if You get bored easily and want a spectacle. It is very simple and focuses on the acting.
Critic Reviews (79)
"An improbable, if sweet, romantic fantasy. It all goes down very easily, thanks to director Mark Brokaw and, especially, the actors...Mary-Louise Parker and Denis Arndt make the opposites-attract notion involving, even if the bridging of the characters' age gap would require more elaboration to be persuasive...Georgie, an American expatriate who talks nonstop, could be taken for a psychopath in a less accomplished portrayal. But Parker makes her an ultimately fetching kook."
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"Stage veterans Mary-Louise Parker and Denis Arndt are the skilled interpreters for Stephens’s rich two-hander, a spot-on rumination about joy and sadness, and how either can seep into proceedings where neither may have been anticipated...It’s hard to take your eyes off Parker, who allows us to see Georgie as a multidimensional human being...As Alex, Arndt is spare and understated...Like their relationship, 'Heisenberg' is more than the sum of its parts."
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"Mary Louise Parker delivers her familiar quirkiness, painting Georgie's wild, erratic mannerisms with a slice of vulnerability. You may find her captivating but her self-involved chatter is definitely exhausting. As Alex, the bland, suppressed butcher, Denis Arndt's finely drawn performance defines him with warmth and likability as he eventually revitalizes himself during their affair. Mark Brokaw smartly directs this unusual spring/winter romance on a bare-bones stage."
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"The physical production is so simple it allows us to focus all of our attention on the characters themselves, and Parker and Arndt have created for us two personalities that are composed of much more than we first realized...It’s to the great credit of Mr. Brokaw, Ms. Parker, and Mr. Arndt that they so thoroughly fill the needs of the play. Ms. Parker is radiant, in full command, most appealing, and totally convincing."
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"Simon Stephens’ 'Heisenberg', likely named after the uncertain relationship in which these two find themselves, is a gentle and unassuming play, one whose eighty minutes pass without much surprise but without much to dissatisfy, either."
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"Cutesy, quirky and never especially believable, Simon Stephens' comedy-drama 'Heisenberg' is like the theatrical equivalent of a Wes Anderson movie, minus the elaborate set design...Parker acts up a storm, while Arndt takes a more restrained approach — but neither ever fully convinces us that these characters' behavior is rooted in any recognizable reality...Even though "Heisenberg" is directed with efficiency by Mark Brokaw and has its share of smart, charming dialogue, I grew weary."
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"Parker and Arndt don't have sexual chemistry, exactly. The stage isn't burning up. But they do seem to enjoy each other, and the result is a realistic, affectionate bond that deepens as the play emotionally opens up. Stephens is adept at sparking compassion for irritating characters, which Georgie and Alex both are...'Heisenberg' is not rocket science—or particle physics. It's just a sweet story about two people who think they don't deserve love."
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"Simon Stephens' play is as sumptuous an experience as theater gets...Director Mark Brokaw upped the intimacy level by putting bleacher seats on much of the stage, making the venue into a poor man's theater-in-the-round. Then he let Parker and Arndt do what they do best...Stephens does nothing less than alchemy here. He captures new love and old love at the same time, hope and fear, the new world and the old."
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