The Present NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (265)
See it if Cate Blanchett is incredible. The play itself is great.
Don't see it if You're not particularly fond of Chekhov
See it if you want to see a very great actress, Cate Blanchett and a good actor Richard Roxburgh.
Don't see it if If you want a play where everything is believable.
See it if you enjoy complicated, ensemble dramas, with intertwined relationships. Blanchett & Roxburgh both give excellent performances.
Don't see it if you can't get into complicated stories. The play started slow, but sped up toward the end of the first act & culminated in a dramatic end.
See it if You enjoy thought-provoking writing and acting. Blanchett is a star! This is truly an ensemble show and all live up to the headlining actors
Don't see it if A tad slow in the beginning, but the pace does pick up!
See it if You want to see an extremely strong group of actors give it their all onstage. It's a quirky but still serious plot. Entertaining.
Don't see it if You don't like usual Chekov work. It's slightly different and modernized, but still many elements. Also there is loud gunfire.
See it if you want to see great acting in a slightly unconventional play
Don't see it if you don't like Australian accents
See it if you enjoy sprawling Chekhovian drama adapted to the modern period. Strong performances from Roxburgh & Blanchett. Surprisingly funny.
Don't see it if the characters' relationships can be confusing, as are some of the motivations. It's a tough play somewhat unevenly adapted and executed. Read more
See it if You like Russian drama. You like complicated plots.
Don't see it if You don't like large complicated casts. There are a lot random characters with random Russian names.
Critic Reviews (60)
"What we have is a big star vehicle which happens to be made more starry courtesy of a stellar ensemble. Blanchett and Roxburgh are electrifying...To add to the pleasures of 'The Present,' Upton and Director Crowley have brought out Chekhov's intention to have his plays viewed as farces by playing up the humorous aspects of these characters' behavior...A well-paced three hours to be savored for the fine performances and interesting hints of themes to come."
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"There are fireworks aplenty – both literal and emotional – generated by Upton’s wife and leading lady, the magnificent Cate Blanchett, along with the splendid Sydney Theatre Company, in a version that captures the youthful exuberance and farcical energy of the young Chekhov…As for Cate Blanchett – a stunning actress of great charisma and daring – you simply can’t take your eyes off her…Richard Roxburgh is a splendid Platonov."
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"A fairly unsatisfactory evening. I say this with caution because, in the case of Blanchett and Roxburgh, you want these scenes to simply never end. Watching them is a transfixing experience. The rest of the cast does not demonstrate the same skills of handling a text. This young Chekhov goes deep with his words and digs specifications out of the very souls of his characters...Had the other actors been up to the task, this would have been an altogether different event."
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"Quite the wild ride at certain points. But like any Chekhovian play, it’s also about boredom and frustration in that boredom...This overly long 3-hour play has a tremendous amount of endless chatter...interspersed by a number of startling bangs to wake us up...Usually it comes with a deeper and greater pay-off: the bang here is big but not deep...The two leads are like the host and hostess who hold it all together. Without them, this birthday would be a bore and a mess."
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"There is no denying Cate Blanchett’s magnetism. As the fading trophy wife Anna in Andrew Upton’s ‘The Present,’ Blanchett exudes power that often doesn’t translate onstage from movie stars attempting to tackle live theater…It is with deep commitment and understanding of the art form that Blanchett and co-star Richard Roxburgh lead an ensemble of exceptional actors through a ringer of unrequited love, political corruption, and unraveling friendships."
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"A rather sprawling and sometimes unfocused three-hour piece that teeters between melodrama and farce, 'The Present' ends up as neither first-rate Chekhov, nor I suspect even first-rate Upton. But it contains plenty of touching and hilarious moments, numerous deep-seated truths about human relationships, and some award-worthy acting...John Crowley’s assured direction allows even those actors with brief stage time to make a strong impression."
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"It is difficult to be in thrall of the 13 actors...The characters are of unequal weight and interest, yet we are forced to sort them all out, which takes at least the first half of the play...There are those who are fans of the Oscar winner who will find her performance entertaining enough to obliterate any other concerns, or who have the patience and curiosity to appreciate the production’s complex texture and thought-provoking themes...Then there are the rest of us, who wish it were shorter."
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"Blanchett's virtuosic performance is truth and dare at once. The play itself is a more fitfully successful affair...The chemistry between Anna and Mikhail...is combustible enough to blow up the play...When they’re not onstage together, the play has a tendency to slump, a condition that neither Crowley’s sensitive direction nor the excellence of the rest of the cast can ever entirely correct...When this production works best, it feels entirely of the moment and urgently, ripely alive."
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