Sea Wall / A Life (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (239)
See it if you like monologues; you enjoy one-person performances; you want an absorbing drama
Don't see it if you don't like one-person shows; you want a full play instead of two one-acts; you want more than one character Read more
See it if You are a Jake Gyllenhaal fan (He is incredible). You enjoy clever storytelling. You enjoy solo acting with great writing.
Don't see it if You aren’t prepared to watch and listen carefully.
See it if want to see masterful dialogue theater. Incredible acting, prescient themes, thoughtful theater. Objectively spectacular all around.
Don't see it if you want lighthearted entertainment; I was melancholy the rest of the day. Otherwise there's no good reason to not see this show.
See it if You like an honest face to face conversation with two adults who speak about a horribly difficult times in their lives. Resonate. Painful
Don't see it if You don’t want honest emotions from two articulate young men. Rends your heart.
See it if 2 separate monologues connected by themes of life, death, love & loss told with compassion, depth & sometimes humor, beautifully acted.
Don't see it if you're not partial to monologues or minimal (though effective staging) & if the subject matter strikes too close to home. Read more
See it if you appreciate one character monologues, men talking about being fathers & sons, and love & loss with some moments of humor - very relatable
Don't see it if You don't appreciate character driven plays, need lots of plot twists or action. These are quiet, emotional one acts that require attention Read more
See it if To see brilliant performances of Jake Gyllenhaal & Tom Sturridge.Beautifully written pieces: emotional, raw & real. Gyllenhaal is phenomenal
Don't see it if Themes of death are a trigger.If you don’t like 1 actor monologues.Other than that, run don’t walk!Also:some seats view obstructed, so check
See it if You want to experience a great piece of work told by two brilliant actors.
Don't see it if You don’t want to use your mind to bring these stories to life. Read more
Critic Reviews (23)
"It would be nice to see these linked monologues by Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge in an intimate setting. In stead, the actors' star power have now brought it for a limited run to the even larger Hudson Theater on Broadway."
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90% "Theater is a collaborative art. Unlike writing or painting, you can't do it alone. The reason why 'Sea Wall/A Life' moved from The Public Theater Off Broadway to The Hudson Theater on Broadway recently is that Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal discovered something.."
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"Paired together with radiant pleasure and pain as directed with empathy and clarity by Carrie Cracknell, both monologues tease out their tales with precision and expertise. They dive in deep...The pleasure is pure and gratifying, especially once we struggle back to the surface."
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"Both are haunting and unforgettable plays, each performed by a brilliant actor. Under Carrie Cracknell's astute direction, both actors mine the depths of the scripts given them with a consummate authenticity and rhetorical strength. Each actor delivers compelling performances that bring his character to a level of believability and authenticity rarely achieved in solo performances."
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"The strength of these monologues lies in their modesty - ….of the production, which is presented on a virtually bare stage; and in the performances, which are quiet, casual and nuanced; and in the characters, who each are humbled by their personal confrontations with both life and death."
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"One could appreciate these pieces on the page simply for their evocative, heartfelt writing, but audiences are being given the gift of hearing these playlets' being declaimed by the wonderful British actor Tom Sturridge and American film and stage great Jake Gyllenhaal."
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"[They] seem even weaker than I remembered. Whatever emotional and literary values they had in the Public's far more intimate Newman Theater lose much of their impact at the Hudson, dissipating each play's already slim, narrative…The reason to see them remains the excellent work of the stars."
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