David 57

See it if thoughtful, well-acted and directed theater with a twist interests you.

Don't see it if you are looking for simple narrative or melodrama.

See it if The performances are outstanding. Labute's ear for contemporary speech and psychology is breathtaking.

Don't see it if you are looking for light fare or melodrama or easy comedy.

See it if Reza has a great ear for contemporary mores and foibles. You see yourself onstage and you laugh.

Don't see it if you are looking for depth. It's not clear what is uncovered by starting the play three times. In the end Reza has little to say.

Also The actors are terrific. The script is witty, but empty.

See it if With great sophistication explores the interplay of world politics, intimate life and the cyber revolution..

Don't see it if you prefer your entertainment without intelligence. But really, ignore my sarcasm: this is a must see.

See it if you like a sly send-up of murder mysteries with a feminist tilt

Don't see it if stage violence bothers you.

See it if Great acting illuminates a dark moment in American history with considerable theatrical flair.

Don't see it if you watch a lot of sit-coms and don't care much about history.

See it if you love Chekhov, Shakespeare and Bedlam and great acting and you are not afraid of innovation. If you love these classics, this is a must

Don't see it if you are looking for tradition or a lazy evening in the theater

Also Eric Tucker is a daring genius and his troop is amazing. This deserves to be seen and appreciated.... Read more Read less

See it if you are dying to see Lea DeLaria in a play, though her acting was truly mediocre.

Don't see it if you are looking for character development or focus.The device of using Midsummer Night's Dream's play within a play had unexplored potential

Also In the very last speech there is some hint of what this play might have been, and very well acted. But all the disconnected antics that preceded it leave you exhausted and sorry you came.... Read more Read less

See it if you love Shakespeare well-done, gripping.

Don't see it if you don't love Shakespeare

Also The adaptation is excellent, the performances excellent. The very first quarter seems a bit stuffy and formal, but things really take off after the first intermission. Do see both halves in the same day, you won't regret it.... Read more Read less

See it if highlights the very important issue of our culture's troubled relationship with disability. Acting and the small dance number are excellent

Don't see it if The development is more sophomoric than sophisticated. If you can ignore that it is playing with something very important ...

See it if the worst of the psychology of racism interests you and you want to see great acting

Don't see it if you don't want your laughter spiked with bile. Great but not amusing.

See it if you want a cleverly staged addressing of the evils of the ivory trade.

Don't see it if you expect a dramatically compelling performance, real characters. Clever stagecraft doesn't make up for lack of plotting.Too declamatory.

See it if you might like a clever idea satirizing the alt-right

Don't see it if If you expect minimally acceptable acting, such as remembering lines.

Also I hesitated to write such a negative review in consideration of the efforts of those involved, but they had to know that they were not ready to present. Whether the material was worth presenting at all was impossible to tell, but seemed doubtful: very cliched black and white politics with barely a hint of a character or of any serious thought. Just angry mockery very poorly presented.... Read more Read less

See it if Only someone painfully young who never has heard these glorious songs might not like this.

Don't see it if Hard to imagine who wouldn't like this.

See it if you like August Wilson's work

Don't see it if you are looking for something new about Black experience in the bad old days.

See it if wit with very little substance, but clever as hell

Don't see it if very little depth here

See it if you want to see a genius actor doing his thing perfectly.

Don't see it if you have a problem with a one-man show.

Also Billy Crudup is so, so, so good.

See it if you are interested in the real impact of xenophobia and racism on people's lives and are willing to feel it.

Don't see it if you think it's ok to send people back to Mexico who have families and lives that are here.

See it if your brain and heart are working. VAISHNAVI SHARMA as Eliza is magic. Edmund Lewis as Henry's mother among others, is superb.

Don't see it if you like Lion King.

See it if you like old rock' n' roll and a good true story

Don't see it if if you are looking for depth and meaning

See it if you political, historical, yet highly entertaining theater

Don't see it if only the very narrow-minded would not like this

See it if political themes involving gay, Jewish or oppression of any sort interests you, presented with good music, good staging and great performers

Don't see it if everyone should see it

See it if you are at all interested in Malcolm X. Excellent acting and directing.

Don't see it if you are expecting a polished consistent script.

Also The first act suffered from a cartoonish rendering of Malcolm's enemies. This got much better in the second half, so I'd say this is worth seeing. Some re-working of the first act script would make it a must see.... Read more Read less

See it if you would want to see a great performance of a very minor play.

Don't see it if You don't love Shakespeare.

Also The mostly very young cast (except Falstaff) is sensational and wrings all that is possible from this very silly play.... Read more Read less

See it if you are interested in race handled with sophistication

Don't see it if you prefer theater to be,light and apolitical

Also the play is underwritten -- so much more needed to be said and shown, but for what it does, it is memorable and a valuable contribution to political theater.... Read more Read less

See it if great performances outweigh substance. If all things Vanya interest you. If mocking Russian angst amuses you.

Don't see it if You've had enough Vanya lately or you find Russian angst more tedious than funny or touching

See it if If you are interested in problems of race, sex and politics and are aware of therapeutic lingo enough to find it funny when satirized.

Don't see it if you are looking for light entertainment and/or have never been in therapy

See it if you like serious political theater that is raw and unflinching.

Don't see it if You are ambivalent about homosexuality or homophobic.

See it if Great acting and theater of the absurd grab you.

Don't see it if You are looking for linear narrative. It is the opposite.

See it if The wonderful performances of Dylan's songs are reason enough to see this, but the subtle deployment of a historical narrative to comment on

Don't see it if (cont') American life make this a wonderful evening in the theater. There are flaws, but the whole is so good they needn't be mentioned.

See it if you like Vanya or Russian theater and appreciate great acting.

Don't see it if you are looking to be entertained.

Also Richard Nelson works his everyday magic. Immensely rewarding.

See it if you want serious drama about difference

Don't see it if you are not up for painful developments. Some editing for continuity needed, but generally worked very well.

See it if you know what a great and literate voice Gurney was and you appreciate great acting.

Don't see it if you are expecting all three to be up to Gurney's highest standards.

Also The last of the three was for me the strongest, but was so good that it makes you re-consider the first two which were a bit weaker and less engaging. That doesn't mean they were bad -- just not great.... Read more Read less

See it if you want serious drama about a contemporary issue.

Don't see it if you want something light.

Also I don't agree with those who found the ending problematic. It was disturbing, but entirely possible and the logical outcome of what came before. The violence of some who call themselves "Christians" can be shocking, but history tells us it is real.... Read more Read less

See it if sex, gender and laughing is what you are looking for.

Don't see it if you have a narrow view of married life.

See it if you like satire exquisitely executed. They take aim at some current cultural tropes that are ripe for ridicule and they do it with skill.

Don't see it if you are a bit of a sourpuss.

See it if you want a play that deals with a big issue:morality in war, with great acting.

Don't see it if a bit soporific in the first half, but picks up steam in the second.

See it if you appreciate the insidious building of intensity through pitch-perfect colloquial dialogue impeccably acted.

Don't see it if A Welsh accent is a problem for you or you require spectacle to be engaged. The set is minimal, which adds to its brilliance.

See it if you enjoy painful, funny, not terribly linear, bittersweet, well-done

Don't see it if you want conventional story-telling

See it if you like politically themed well-acted theater

Don't see it if you are bothered if the politics are not clearly delineated, the representations a bit over-broad. J. Castano great, but a bit caricatured

See it if you like a historical drama about an important subject and can tolerate some (not all) sub-par acting and somewhat sluggish directing.

Don't see it if you want things polished and perfect.

See it if you are interested in the interplay between psychology and history

Don't see it if you are looking for light entertainment

See it if you like Albee and appreciate great acting. The first half is brilliant

Don't see it if you don't like Albee or you are expecting "Zoo Story" to be as good as the first time you saw it.

See it if you like a quirky play about young people today

Don't see it if you are looking for polished drama

See it if if you are interested in a serious, though imperfect play about contemporary politics

Don't see it if you want a cleanly edited piece of traditional theater

See it if you are interested in the history of modern(ist) culture and the problem of the narcissistic artist

Don't see it if you like melodrama and need a clear narrative

Also First act was slow and unengaging, but second act pulled it together and I walked out satisfied. There may be an autobiographical element for McNally here.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see issues of gender and culture made into a witty, piece of excellent theater with a slight sci-fi twist.

Don't see it if You think gender is unimportant or you can't tolerate seeing religion mercilessly and justifiably mocked.

Also Robert O'Hara has done it again: funny and brilliant and scathing. More intelligent that "Booty Candy" and just as funny.... Read more Read less

See it if you want an innovative take on Pericles, Prince of Tyre, well acted

Don't see it if you don't like Shakespeare. Wear warm clothes: the theater was virtually unheated.