The Ferryman (NYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,080)
See it if You want to see an impeccable ensemble perform an absorbing, richly developed clan of Irish folk and outstanding, fluid staging from Mendes.
Don't see it if You like your theatre light, frothy, short, and sweet. This piece can be menacing. Read more
See it if You appreciate an excellent cast delivering on a phenomenal play!
Don't see it if You are afraid of a 3 hour and 15 minute sit with one intermission. Read more
See it if Wow. Brilliant writing in the hands of large extraordinary cast in which everyone had something significant to do (even the baby).
Don't see it if You can’t get your ears around a brogue. Read more
See it if You like an epic story with a darker feel to it.
Don't see it if The idea of a long sit is too hard for you or if you don't care about other countries' political issues.
See it if You like wonderful writing - direction and acting. Not to mention great set - wonderful lighting. GO!
Don't see it if You think MEAN GIRLS is the best theater can be.
See it if You want to see a great production, with a great cast, of a beautifully structured and written play.
Don't see it if Unless you do not wish to see a play set amidst "the troubles" in Ireland, there is no reason not to see this play.
See it if You love great acting, want a tight story that is over 3 hours without a wasted moment, want to emerge “shaken” and moved. Extraordinary.
Don't see it if You have trouble keeping track of large casts, don’t like family dramas, or need constant, big, moments to keep you interested. Read more
See it if You want to see an epic, relevant story told in stage by wonderful actors. This play is one of the best I have seen. Its 3+ hours flew by.
Don't see it if You do not like plays that include children drinking wee bits of alcohol or children and elders swearing.
Critic Reviews (78)
"Admittedly, the prospect of sitting for three hours and 20 minutes (with one intermission and one brief pause) can sound daunting. But odds are you will be so involved in Butterworth's gripping family and political drama, you'll never once check your watch, which is cannily set during the height of the Northern Irish hunger strikes in 1981. Yet as brilliant as what's on the page - and I believe the less you know going in the better - it's what on the stage that really makes the difference."
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"It’s a crowd-pleaser, a potboiler, a soap opera with a razor in its pocket. It also pulls apart at its own seams...Butterworth has the gift for density...In 'The Ferryman,' though, there’s a forced quality to Butterworth’s hallmark overfullness...The play is chockablock with excitement and children underfoot, but sadly it’s also brimming with clichés...The Butterworth aesthetic is still dizzying and heady, but this time, because of the broad stereotypes, you can see the edges on the collage."
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"This cast is exquisite...Jez Butterworth knits characters into characters, then into stories, then into layers of overlapping colors, then into worlds that are larger than the stage that holds them. What you don’t realize, sitting there for 3 hours and 15 minutes that fly by, is that this knitting has trickled into every element of The Ferryman. The story has woven you into its web without your knowing it."
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"An extended family and their community lives and breathes on stage...It’s quite a set-up for a murder thriller, and any playwright and director who can keep an audience’s attention for three hours and 15 minutes over the course of a three-act play is doing something very right. On that score, Butterworth and Sam Mendes succeed handsomely, especially in a harrowing third act that recalls a Jacobean revenger’s tragedy. To get there, however, they do a lot of borrowing."
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“So compelling that its three-plus hours absolutely flew by. The seamless blend of the personal with the political, the comic with the dramatic, the leisurely storytelling with the sudden shocks give it almost Shakespearean proportions...Butterworth makes almost every character a vivid, memorable presence...The playwright never hesitates to pause for a good tale, a dance or a song. The mostly British cast is so universally strong...Mendes never lets our attention lag.”
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"The genius of Jez Butterworth’s riveting play lies in its exuberant portrayal of a family named Carney effectively linked to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...The threads eventually mesh dramatically in a shattering climax after the build-up in the fast-paced three hours and fifteen minutes overall dynamic depiction...An experience of unusual dimension, fascinating characters made so life-like, snappy dialogue, and staging that keeps one’s attention glued to all that’s happening."
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"Amazingly, it surpassed my expectations...That’s a lot of plot and a lot of characters but Butterworth...weaves it altogether in thrillingly satisfying fashion. In fact the play serves as a master class in theatrical storytelling. Butterworth is superb with language...He’s equally adept with plotting. Not a word in this nearly three-and-a-half-hour play is wasted...His brilliant script is brought to life by an equally brilliant cast...I can’t remember the last time I walked out of a theater so exhilarated."
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"Jez Butterworth’s masterpiece 'The Ferryman,' superbly directed by Sam Mendes, has transferred. This smashing production confronts important themes about politics and violence for our times, for all times...Beautifully staged with the clutter of fun and bounty of children’s drawings, the production convincing shows us a convivial, lively family...Mendes has shepherded the actors to terrific performances and created a potent, masterful production that must not be missed. "
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