Time and the Conways NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (388)
See it if When the future brings decline of a family, is the passage of time just cruel or is there any solace? Intricate character dynamics.
Don't see it if You are not interested in slowly developed characters set in Britain 1919-37. You don’t want to reflect on time, hopes and disappointments. Read more
See it if you like British upper class plays and a glimpse of the unanticipated future of a family 20 years later.
Don't see it if you don't like British plays and non-linear timelines.
See it if you want great acting, compelling plot of (dis)functional family dynamics, and a wonderfully staged play.
Don't see it if you are uncomfortable watching a family destroy themselves, or don't like good theatre.
See it if you have an appreciation for fantastic older plays. Direction, design, and the performances lift this play and make it urgently resonant.
Don't see it if if slow burn dramas are not your deal. The play takes it's time and requires to you listen.
See it if You love period pieces. The riches to rags story in 2 acts shows what happens to a shallow family of means when crisis visits
Don't see it if you want a upbeat story. This aint it.
See it if You want to see period-piece with portrayals of caricatures of poor decision-making play out over 20 yrs time with good acting and directing
Don't see it if You want a fast paced play that conveys the story without any subtlety or needing to think on your part. You crave diversity in the cast
See it if you like nuanced, Virginia Woolf-esque portraits of women, families, and relationships. The set design was smart and effective.
Don't see it if you want tighter plots with more action. This is a thoughtful, slower piece. Also, the accent work was a bit distracting.
See it if you like a 'straight' play that makes you think.
Don't see it if you're looking for sheer entertainment. Read more
Critic Reviews (54)
"Under recent Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman’s nuanced yet unfussy direction, the play’s many other themes all come to in sharp focus through the work’s three lengthy scenes...Taichman proves herself to an expert in putting together an ensemble...Indeed, you may feel for some of the first act that you’ve been asked to evaluate a glittering cubic zirconium, but rest assured, this long-neglected play is a multi-faceted diamond."
Read more
"A stirring, spiffily cast revival...Priestley draws his fracturing family portrait in delicate, compassionate and occasionally funny strokes, and the excellent cast, led by the director, Rebecca Taichman, draws us into their lives with a natural warmth and ease...For the most part 'Time and the Conways,' presented here with impressive polish, has weathered the years with impressive grace. Time can be cruel to people, but on occasion it can at least be kind to works of art."
Read more
"While 'Time and the Conways' has a lot going for it...Despite a slow to gain altitude first act, the current production is a good fit for the Roundabout and its audiences' love affair with elegantly staged British dramas...Patel's brilliant visual coup literally takes us to two virtually alike yet oh so different scenes...That bit of theatrical magic makes the play shed its dated feeling and come alive. It also brings out the best in most of the actors."
Read more
“Thanks to Taichman's overseeing of the production, ‘Time and the Conways’ is most successful as both an old-fashioned play and as a philosophical investigation of life and time, as the title suggests. It's about living in the present, which is where we should all aspire to be but rarely are, thinking of or living in the past and the future instead. Priestley's genius was for putting his story in all time frames simultaneously, as it were.”
Read more
"In a beautiful staging sleight of hand we slide forward 19 years to 1937...The direction of Taichman was surprising here. After her masterful turn with 'Indecent,' I expected her to have more of a firm hand. More than once the cast seems confined to the stage because they have lines to give, not because their character has an agenda...The blocking is unexceptional, the accents differ wildly, and there is no inner drum that drives them...All in all this is a bland production."
Read more
“A retelling of the important 1937 play that transforms Priestley’s important discussions…from an intellectual exercise to a deeply spiritual quest that raises several deep, rich, and enduring questions…Neil Patel’s set supports Rebecca Taichman’s inventive staging…This adds a welcomed magical realism to J. B. Priestley’s already metaphysical themes…A sensitive and courageous exploration of how time the possibility of alternate universes.”
Read more
"After the 35 minutes of the first scene, I wondered why anybody would bring J.B. Priestley’s play back from the dead...Through the characters’ energetic bickering, 'Time and the Conways' briefly comes to life...All ten members of the cast are individually quite fine and talented performers, and I wonder whether I would have appreciated more what they bring to 'Time and the Conways' had that tedious trifle of a first scene not made time stand still."
Read more
“Although they can't avoid the taint of staginess…, the actors generally achieve the privileged British air suitable for the drawing room environment…It's wonderful to see the elegantly slim Elizabeth McGovern as the disagreeable Mrs. Conway, a role superficially similar to her Cora Crawley on ‘Downton Abbey,’ but far richer in dramatic colors…’Time and the Conways’ is as beautiful to look at as it's pleasing to hear. Priestley's gem…has its flaws but is still worth the time spent gazing at it.”
Read more