"Under Ms. Lee’s direction at the Public, the play was shaggier and, paradoxically, more coherent; something about this knotty material, with its complex point of view and shifting tonalities, benefits from a crude attack. In the current production, I missed the brutality of the final confrontations, which now seem to pass in a haze of tough love. That said, 'Straight White Men' is still an exceedingly odd — and thus welcome — presence on Broadway. It remains undeniably powerful."
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"Anna D. Shapiro’s Broadway production feels broader than the one that Lee directed at the Public in 2014, and the performances are somewhat uneven: The cocky Charles and the cryptically recessive Schneider are excellent, whereas Payne still seems to be finding his footing. Hammer, in his stage debut, leans on sincerity a bit heavily but radiates charm, which goes a long way...She may poke fun at these guys as they poke at each other, but Lee is not dismissive."
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"It’s nuanced, curious, and compassionate. That’s not to say it’s comfortable—Lee’s sense of mischief and her expert control of tension are still at play—but it is, in its bones, gentle...For all its clear-eyed examination of certain kinds of meanness—the most insidious of which look a lot like caring—'Straight White Men' isn’t a mean play, and that feels like one of the most important things about it right now."
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"'Straight White Men' is such a great title for a show that it momentarily blinds you to the fact that there’s no real script to support it...Rigged to make audience members feel hep, because they get to give a thumbs-down to some straight white men in a political climate that is increasingly critical of all three of those designations...Not only does it not exhibit any of the humor, recklessness, and passion of Lee’s previous work; it refutes those things...Shallow, soporific, and all about itself."
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"The play isn’t any good, though that won’t matter, since it fulfills the first condition of success on Broadway: It tells the members of the audience what they want to hear, and nothing else...Lee affects to sympathize with her pitiful straight white men but in fact gives the impression of regarding them with smug contempt, an impression reinforced by the inch-deep shallowness of her satirical strokes...Trails off into vagueness without ever landing any decisive hits on its putative target."
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"Young Jean Lee’s delicate balance of a play, directed by Anna D. Shapiro with a more sensitive understanding of character than pace, brings together three adult brothers and their widowed dad...Too clever by half? Too clever by three? If you think so, then you, too, might have trouble figuring out exactly when and how these 40-ish brothers spent their decades-ago childhoods pondering social inequities that seem taken from today’s headlines...Other details and stage decisions nag as well."
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"In 'Straight White Men,' Young Jean Lee’s cutting but deeply humane satire about straight white male privilege and pain, Armie Hammer, Josh Charles and, in an especially heart-wrenching performance, Paul Schneider play three brothers with mid-life issues. In director Anna D. Shapiro’s super-smart production...The re-written version of the play seems to have extended and pumped up the fun and games from the original version."
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"'Straight White Men' is great fun for much of its time, but the play falters when it attempts to explore more serious terrain. The playwright doesn't manage to convey successfully what she's trying to say about the expectations that inevitably accompany privilege...Nonetheless, the evening succeeds to a large degree thanks to the sharply funny comic writing, the impeccable direction by Shapiro and the superb performances of an ensemble who display tremendous chemistry together."
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