The Nap (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (439)
See it if you like farce, silliness, good staging, predictable endings, a play that isn't deep but is fun
Don't see it if if you expect it to be as good as One Man, Two Governors; if you have trouble with rather thick British accents
See it if You all can - it's closing. Fun writing about snooker
Don't see it if You want something with depth. This is so fluffy you can wear it in the winter as a coat
See it if Quirky, fun play with clever word play. And you get to learn Snooker!
Don't see it if If you have a challenge understanding a British accent
See it if you like a good mystery. Lots of fun. Good acting. Entertaining.
Don't see it if you can't understand British accents.
See it if you like fast paced shows (esp about sports), great acting, and dark comedies
Don't see it if you can't understand English accents that aren't RP or London, you want something more serious, or don't like British humour Read more
See it if you like British humor and have a competitive spirit
Don't see it if you want to see something that will really make you think and you don't like surprises on stage
See it if you want to be taken on a fun trip to a snooker tournament. My only quibble is that I missed some of the lines due to the accents.
Don't see it if you're turned off by very British humor. Outrageous (but believable) characters and a convoluted plot combine for a laugh-filled outing.
See it if Enjoy a smart comedy with some twists.
Don't see it if Have trouble with heavy British accents
Critic Reviews (47)
"'The Nap' has enough earthily funny dialogue, vibrant comic characters, and twisty plotting to keep a steady grip on our attention...The play draws its appeal primarily from Bean’s tart comic dialogue and the garish charms of the characters as embodied by the superb cast. The director Daniel Sullivan...draws out the play’s more muted strengths with a deft hand."
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"Bean has developed a story about the world of professional snooker into a darkly entertaining crime caper...Manhattan Theatre Club has gone all out to support the wild and wooly goings with a pitch perfect acting and crafts team and one of its top drawer directors, Daniel Sullivan...'The Nap' isn't likely to have you napping even though it probably won't make it to the top of your list of really great, long remembered comedies."
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"Harold Pinter meets David Mamet meets Neil Simon meets Alfred Hitchcock in the richly suspenseful comedy, 'The Nap,' which originally played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, where the play is set. While its title might suggest a snooze of a play, as written by Richard Bean (of 'One Man, Two Guvnors' fame) it ricochets with more trigger turns than an ess curve."
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"Bean, arguably one of the funniest writers alive, introduces us to the colorful snooker sub-culture of Sheffield...It’s great live theatre, but the true delight of this caper lies in the colorful coterie of characters – fortified by Bean’s hilarious one-liners...The cast is uniformly excellent, and veteran director Daniel Sullivan pulls it all off with panache – both the comedy and the suspenseful match...It all unfolds as smoothly as the snooker tabletop that Dylan strokes at the top of the play."
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"It’s sophisticated, adult humor that doesn’t rely on pratfalls or banana peel physicality to get laughs...There are clever plot twists that I have to admit I didn’t see coming – and I’m an avid mystery reader who can usually spot the plot. And, some innovative staging and casting. Tony award-winning director Daniel Sullivan keeps the pace up and the focus sharp, which can be challenging when you have a wonderful comedic cast of characters, and a script that loves to veer off into little side bits."
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"The title of this better-than-expected play starts to reveal its tightly defined and funny con-job of a play, pulling us sneakily into the high stakes intrigue and the surprisingly twisted world...The humor is not as smart as the plot twists and turns. Most of the jokes are simplistic, repetitive, and cheap, but they certainly are funny, at least for the first half...This is not a show to have high stakes investment in, but one to enter with low expectations and just roll with the shots fired."
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“Deliciously energetic and mostly very funny...And here’s where we find the evening’s major snag. The part of the roller coaster where you go, well, this is uncomfortable and I’d maybe like to get off, please...A series of uncomfortable one-liners about trans bodies pre- and post-op that are clearly meant to highlight the ignorance of the characters. After a certain number of jokes, we get it...The jokes begin to feel tasteless...Performances are across the board stellar...But those jokes, man.”
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"Think 'The Hustler' staged as a farce with poorly developed characters whose conflicts are not believable and drive a less than satisfying plot...It is enough to say that most of the story is predictable. The mistaken identities, the subterfuge, and the attempt at farce do not rescue the weak script. Nor does Sullivan’s direction...Without Ben Schnetzer’s commitment to his character and John Ellison Conlee’s supportive performance, the play would proceed without energy or nuance."
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