The Sound Inside (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets

83%

(462 Reviews)

Positive

92%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Great writing, Intelligent, Thought-provoking

About the Show

Tony, Emmy & Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker returns to Broadway in Adam Rapp's new play about a tenured professor, a talented student, and a troubling favor.

Bella Baird (Parker) is an accomplished professor at an Ivy League university who prizes her solitude. But when she faces a challenge she cannot tackle alone, she allies herself with a brilliant and mysterious student, Christopher (Will Hochman). Intensely intimate, this haunting play probes the question of what one person can do for another.

Member Reviews (462)

Clever, Absorbing, Intelligent, Great acting

See it if If you want to see an interesting story with good acting. This keeps the attention of audience. A deep at times play.

Don't see it if Can be depressing for some who want something litehearted and less intense.

Exquisite, Dark, Thought-provoking, Resonant, Profound

See it if Professor and student have a brief, deep, scary & fateful relationship. Exquisite writing. Is the "sound inside" the will to live or die?

Don't see it if You won't enjoy an introspective play with unclear meaning. Dark stage & depressing themes. Narration mixed with dialog. Read more

Edgy, Thought-provoking, Great acting, Clever, Absorbing

See it if fan of Parker or Rapp, enjoy easy to follow but intriguing stories, plays about creative minds & troubled people, subtle unexpected twists

Don't see it if don't like to listen in a quiet, dark setting, don't like brief 2-actor plays with reticent characters, or want to think right at the end

Quirky, Intense, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if Parker & Hochman are riveting in this spooky two-hander about creative lost souls Cromer's nuanced staging aided by Gilbert's eerie lighting

Don't see it if Rapp's best writing in a while despite some questionable developments near the end It's Parker's story yet Hochman grows more interesting

Intense, Disappointing, Confusing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you like Mary-Louise Parker and enjoy listening to a professor spout off her opinions and then take advantage of an unstable student.

Don't see it if you enjoy a drama that has a point. I had English professors but thankfully none like this one. Read more

Gripping, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Exquisite

See it if Psycho-thriller.A writing prof's health status urges her to draw in creatively(if not fictitiously) to her writing charge.Gorgeously written

Don't see it if Rapp has matured here, outgrowing his past gimmicky stunts. Monologues. Tiny, gripping drama with tiny ideas in a very big space.

Profound, Intelligent, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you enjoy stripped-down productions that let the characters and words shine. This is a beautifully written & acted piece w/o ornamentation.

Don't see it if you’re turned off by stories featuring depressed characters and self-harm.

One of rapp's best, Brilliant lighting, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you like plays that make you pay attention, that challenge you, that twist & turn.Literate,well paced, beautifully acted.Amazing lighting

Don't see it if you want a Neil Simon comedy.This play makes you think, demands your attention, and will stay with you.Characters are flawed & very real.

Critic Reviews (26)

CRITIC’S PICK "Mary-Louise Parker in the Subliminal, Sublime ‘Sound Inside’: Adam Rapp’s play transfers to Broadway in a rivetingly dark and detailed production by David Cromer."
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4/5 Stars "'The Sound Inside' is engrossing the way a good novel can be: It invites imaginative engagement, and it keeps you off balance with a steady stream of surprises as Bella’s and Christopher’s narratives—fictional and real—find an elegant equipoise."
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"David Cromer directs Mary-Louise Parker as an Ivy League writing professor, with newcomer Will Hochman as the gifted student who assumes an unexpected role in her life in Adam Rapp's new drama."
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"Mary-Louise Parker and Will Hochman's Pas De Deux on the Edge in 'The Sound Inside': A fantastic new play marks the Broadway debut of playwright Adam Rapp."
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"Unreliable Narrators: Adam Rapp’s play about a creative writing professor and one of her students—his first work to reach Broadway—it too reliant on his characters’ own compositions."
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