Hughie NYC Reviews and Tickets

“Whitaker is now playing Eugene O'Neill's stemwinding character Erie Smith, a character he hasn't been able to crack…‘Hughie’ is not quite workable as a stage piece. A character study, and a rich one; but not a satisfying play…The same sense of the wrong play at the wrong time applies to director Michael Grandage…Whitaker and Grandage can certainly combine for high octane theatre; but not this time, starting as they did with a not-quite play."
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"It’s a potentially powerful short play, but Whitaker is so shaky and insubstantial that Erie’s desperate situation seems no more important than a toothache. The marvelous character actor Frank Wood manfully tries to bring life to the clerk but even his one flash of emotion expressing a desire to burn down the city, is weirdly muted...Barely more than an hour, 'Hughie' makes for less than a full evening of theater, particularly with this limp staging and especially not at Broadway prices."
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“British director Michael Grandage emphasizes the play's bleak intimacy here…Whitaker makes his character worthy of compassion…But brings an awkward sweetness that makes his desperation not only pitiable but accessible…Erie's struggles, like his flaws, are above all human, and will resonate with anyone who catches this gently moving production."
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“What a quietly satisfying, touching pleasure this production turns out to be…Whitaker brings a buoyant, sweet, almost delicate sensibility…It is hard to imagine a more compelling, almost silent, witness than Frank Wood as the new clerk. With little more than a disbelieving blink and a dry stare, Wood dares us not to acknowledge this as a two-character drama.”
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“Whitaker is out of his depth and has a very hesitant stage range. He’s incapable of drawing the audience into a production that while very handsomely dressed up has nowhere to go. This is the Michael Grandage Company’s first project direct on Broadway and he invests it with lots of atmosphere, but it feels like very hard work for all concerned, including the audience.”
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"It's a slight piece...Whitaker is pretty good, high praise indeed for a role that can prove a swamp. We are never lost in his telling, though the potential magic of the tale and Erie's sad despair never quite comes out, not really. Some film actors need the close-up of the camera. Not Whitaker. 'Hughie' is no triumph but it's the start of what could be a promising stage career."
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"Whitaker gives it a game effort, but you’re always aware that he’s acting, working at persuading us he’s a small-time hustler named Erie Smith rather than simply being him. The two-character play is one of O’Neill’s distinctly minor efforts...Whitaker, under the direction of Michael Grandage, gives us the character’s surface. His Erie is a pleasant-enough guy with a genial laugh, but there isn’t a vital arc to his story. The actor is a warm presence, but not much more."
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"Forest Whitaker, on stage here for the first time in decades, does offer a convincing portrayal of Erie...But there is a deep seam of charismatic pathos within this role that Whitaker never fully mines...It can be easy to drift off at times...Director Michael Grandage might have pushed his star a little harder...We are desperate to believe in what is happening on stage even when it disappoints. Grandage’s 'Hughie' does just enough to sustain that bleak vision."
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