Time and the Conways NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (388)
See it if You enjoy character driven period piece dramas. This one moves rather slowly but has an exquisite payoff in my opinion.
Don't see it if You need a lot of action. You barely realize what the real point of the play is until almost the end of the first act.
See it if a fan of British family dramas; invested in themes of time, nostalgia, and clairvoyance; a fan of J. B. Priestley; you like to think deeply.
Don't see it if you need great action, dislike the unsettling feeling of wondering whether you're watching reality or a dream unfold; want something modern. Read more
See it if Moving portrait of the lives, ambitions, & giddy promise of a British family just after WWI, & 19 yrs. later how their lives have ended up.
Don't see it if You mind a slow-paced drama. It is lyrical, sad & beautifully acted, w/superb staging. Gets a bit metaphysical about life thru time & space.
See it if You love great acting; you are able understand how history speaks to the present; you can handle nonlinear theory of time.
Don't see it if You have a shot attention span.
See it if A fascinating look at aBritish upper-class family bet 1919 and 1939.Excellent ensemble acting. At 2:40 hrs a rewarding theatrical experience
Don't see it if Do not go if you only enjoy musicals or not a fan of meaningful dramas.
See it if Incredible performance by Charlotte Parry, great direction by Rebecca Taichman, and a killer set change.
Don't see it if Maybe it's a little dated, but I still connected to it very much.
See it if You like well crafted drama. The pace is not fast, and it takes a while to learn who every is, but it all comes together in the end.
Don't see it if You are impatient about learning who everyone is early in the show. Some of the important stuff is only revealed later.
See it if you like interesting topics that are timely many, many years after it was written.
Don't see it if haven't done some research on the playwright or if you're not attending the Tuesday evening, pre-show lecture in the 5th floor lounge. Read more
Critic Reviews (54)
"Many elements of director Rebecca Taichman’s production help to establish the playwright’s reassuring conviction...Most of the cast, especially as Taichman directs them in act one, pushes hard to sound as cheerfully British as possible. Later, they prove their mettle. Parry, Boyer, Bloom, and Baryshnikov are special standouts...Time has had its way with 'Time and the Conways'. Yet if this is what time has wrought, then this much we can confirm: Priestley’s heartfelt play is timeless."
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"Be patient with 'Time and the Conways,' because it takes a little while to get going. You will be happy you stuck around, though...Priestley’s carefully constructed play muses on the nature of time while painting a subtle, affecting portrait of the crushed aspirations of a certain English upper middle class. And the Roundabout stepped up to the plate with a sterling, subtly acted production...No matter your definition of time, the one spent at this show is well spent indeed."
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"Parry is wonderful...I was also impressed by Boyer and Ebert, both playing against type and landing solid and mesmerizing performances. McGovern may be the star of this production, but I felt her performance was the weakest, lacking in demonstrative actions that would make us understand just how manipulative this woman is. I did love Taichman’s direction, which I found layered on so many levels...Simplistically beautiful and I appreciated what it was trying to impart."
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"Taichman reshapes the drama enough to give it an emotional resonance that’s not on the page...And that diversion is greatly enhanced by Patel’s set design, which turns time travel into a visually stunning trip...Just as Priestly is unsubtle in establishing each of his characters in act one, he is just as blunt when it comes to dishing up their respective failures. Taichman works magic with Priestley’s white-and-black approach...McGovern leads a marvelous ensemble under her direction."
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"Priestley’s melancholy but hopeful meditation on change glows handsomely in this well-acted and craftily designed revival...The piece may strike some viewers as old-fashioned in its tweedy, melancholy Britishness, but there’s a core of cosmic wonder and plucky humanism to the affair...Taichman doesn’t try to outsmart the material, handling it with the intelligence and clarity it deserves...There must be a special shout special shout-out to Boyer, who nearly steals the show."
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"The play does not make a compelling case for itself...The Roundabout production has been well-staged by Rebecca Taichman...The actors do their best, I suppose, but are in some cases defeated by the material...Thanks in great part to director Taichman and the designers, this revival of 'Time and the Conways' is interesting enough. If it’s an 'interesting enough' time you’re looking for."
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"It’s an unconventional structure that has an emotional payoff even though it leaves some of our questions unanswered...The cast is uniformly strong, although I do wish Ms. Camp smiled less...Director Taichman negotiates the play’s complexities smoothly. I felt that the production was probably better than the play deserved, that when you strip away the play’s gimmicks, there isn’t enough substance there. Nevertheless, I was grateful for the opportunity to see it in this splendid production."
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"Taichman’s direction is tight and measured, though she does allow some of the cast to limn their upper-crust cluelessness a bit too broadly...The bulwark of this production is Charlotte Parry’s conflicted Kay...She intensely charts Kay’s struggle to comprehend the vagaries of life and her final moments of attempting to reconcile youthful optimism with mature reality are heartbreaking...Though the ironic storyline is predictable, this is 'Time' well spent."
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