See it if You are interested in the universality of women's experiences, deep friendships, honest conversations, exploring difficult decisions
Don't see it if You need big things to happen at the theater, frank talk among women embarrasses you, you want politics in plays that take place in Iran
See it if You love to see two people sing and act a world, you like beautiful singing, you are enchanted by expert storytelling
Don't see it if You don't like minimalist staging, stories told partly through song, magical realism
See it if You want to be challenged to think and feel at the same time, love something edgy and different
Don't see it if You need a straightforward narrative, don't like text that is more like poetry than dialogue, need to be made happy at the theater
See it if You'd like low-tech, small-scale Cirque de Soleil; this was your favorite book as a kid
Don't see it if You were thinking it would tell the story of The Little Prince; you prefer traditional theater forms (play or musical)
See it if You like the issues of feminism, immigration, identity, violence discussed in a way that doesn't beat you over the head
Don't see it if You are easily scared or spooked, you like light fare with no political content
See it if you're interested in issues of identity, immigration from a personal perspective, and don't want to be beaten up with political polemics
Don't see it if you prefer your plays to be overtly political or offer easy answers
See it if You want to be challenged by ideas about race, think about it in different ways, understand that there are no easy answers
Don't see it if You hate rap music, prefer dogma when it comes to questions about race, need easy answers, can't bear to hear the N-word
See it if You dislike men, or are ambivalent about men or are ambivalent about having sex with men, or want to think more about how you feel about men
Don't see it if You are offended by very explicit discussions about sex, you need a play with a clear plot
See it if You like a weird, mostly funny play that touches on relevant social themes but not in a dogmatic way
Don't see it if You don't like it when all the loose ends are not tied up and some things are left unexplained when the play ends
See it if You are interested in any story about how humans cope, each in their own way, with fear, repression, and a scarcity of hope.
Don't see it if You want something very light. Or, conversely, if you were hoping for a play that is very political. This one is deeply personal.
See it if Interesting staging and good singing are enough. Or if you want to see how an amazingly good idea can be turned into an amazingly bad show
Don't see it if You want to see a good show. This one starts with a bad book, and then there's just no saving it.
See it if You're up for a night of funny, smart theater that pokes your mind
Don't see it if You need to see plays about issues of the day
See it if You are into theater of the absurd, you like to think at the theater, you love how words can be used so deliciously
Don't see it if You prefer naturalistic plays with a straightforward story line, you don't want to be challenged to ponder as you are walking out
See it if You like your musicals slightly off-kilter and are okay with a mix of funny and dark
Don't see it if You hate plays with music, or prefer your musicals all fluffy and happy
See it if You loved Talking Heads, love David Byrne, are an old (or young rocker), want to hear how fresh truly original rock music can sound
Don't see it if You hate Talking Heads/David Byrne, want a show with a storyline, prefer shows with lots of sets and costumes
See it if You know Jane Austen and would like to see an interesting and imaginative, pared-down take on her rich novel
Don't see it if You need a lot of action, or are unfamiliar with the story
See it if You are interesting in tour de force acting, absorbing writing, and you're okay with no discernable plot
Don't see it if You prefer traditional plot-driven theater
See it if You are ok with exploring the extremes of where a pandemic might take our world, you like immersive theater
Don't see it if No live actors is a deal-breaker, you are easily scared–especially by total darkness
See it if You like to explore a dozen different ideas and don't need a throughplot
Don't see it if You can't stand up for 80 minutes, you need a coherent plot, you're not okay with some episodes being very poetic/conceptual
See it if You want to see very earnest actors do their very best with muddled material
Don't see it if You need clarity; this picked one thread out of the book (which is OK) but then badly frayed its edges
See it if You love a good noir detective story; you love a well-written, nuanced drama with a fresh take on family secrets
Don't see it if you like big staging, big casts, music; need a happy ending
See it if you love the poetry of words. A very sad, very beautiful, very loving elegy for the poet's wife, brought to life in a harrowing way
Don't see it if you hate poetry, prefer conventional theater with a clear plot line, don't like sad pieces
See it if You want to see a truthful play about old people that is not about death or dementia, you enjoy seeing two old pros rise above the material
Don't see it if You were really expecting snappy dialogue, or a bold exploration of thoughtful themes
See it if Thoughtful, intelligent, brilliant staging/direction/acting is enough to make up for the fact that this is not a great play
Don't see it if You don't like Shakespeare; you want the classic, poetic, soul-shaking Shakespeare plays
See it if You like to be challenged and want to leave the theater thinking
Don't see it if You prefer all mysteries to be resolved before the play's end
See it if You like a show that seems deceptively simple, and presents complex and resonant ideas without beating you over the head with them
Don't see it if You prefer ideas to be presented in a more in-your-face matter
See it if You want something different from the same old thing, love fresh takes on old tales, wonderful music, intimate theater in small spaces
Don't see it if You don't like small-scale intimate theater, folk music, non-linear plots, unconventional storytelling
See it if Impenetrable 20th century experimental period pieces interest you; you're interested in how a large audience can be moved around seamlessly
Don't see it if You need to understand what you are seeing, you want the play to make sense or that you can make sense of the play
See it if you love burlesque, artful acrobatics, and are in the mood for some over-21 fun
Don't see it if the idea of a Sugarplum Fairy striptease offends you
See it if You are interested in understanding all sides of the current political and social divide
Don't see it if You don't want to hear people discussing issues from a conservative perspective
See it if The words are the thing when you see a play; there's not much here besides those amazing words
Don't see it if you like a play with a conventional plot and staging; 2 hours of characters just facing the audience and talking seems boring to you
See it if You ask existential and social questions about theater, perspective, control, truth
Don't see it if You prefer a linear plot--this is a kind of staged essay about theater; a lot of ideas in one piece seems confusing to you
See it if You are interested in new ways of exploring and deconstructing how women have been presented/stereotyped in the media
Don't see it if You only like theater with a linear plot, feminist issues/perspectives don't interest you
See it if you are interested in the Talmud, kung-fu, and a completely believable idea of how they might converge; you want to be surprised by theater
Don't see it if You prefer a conventional play with a linear plot, you don't like mash-ups of different traditions
See it if You like Shakespeare, laughing, eating, wine, theater that happens all around you
Don't see it if You prefer your Shakespeare conventionally staged, you don't like food
See it if You are a fan of how Tom Stoppard plays with language in the most delicious and thought-provoking ways, or slab, plank, cube
Don't see it if You don't like unconventional theater or nontraditional narratives or Shakespeare, or almost Leamington Spa
See it if You love Fiddler and want to experience it with fresh ears; you never saw it and just love great musicals
Don't see it if you hate musicals; you must have a show with a happy ending
See it if You're interested in an uber literate play that explores the roles of women in among the 19th century "enlightened" classes
Don't see it if You don't know who Mary Wollstonecraft was, you don't get 19th century literary references, you expect a show about Frankenstein
See it if You love quiet musicals, are interested in exploring the personal fallout of the civil rights violence of the 1960s
Don't see it if You prefer big, glitzy, happy musicals
See it if you are impressed by the bravery of one man revealing his darkest truths in an unusual way
Don't see it if you prefer light theater, ensemble cast, difficult familial subject matter makes you uncomfortable
See it if You like a musical that's the anti-Broadway musical, you like to think about questions of race and homosexuality in a broadminded way
Don't see it if You want a more traditional musical, prefer political polemics, R rated material offends you
See it if You are willing to hang in there and let the plot reveal itself and come together over the course of 3 acts.
Don't see it if You need traditional linear storytelling or great acting.
Also This is a really clever, intriguing script that, unfortunately, was pr... Read more Read less
See it if You love a good drama that examines essential human issues is a way that's not heavy-handed
Don't see it if Nudity/sex onstage offends you; you prefer light plays/comedies
See it if You like burlesque reviews, you have a wicked sense of humor, you appreciate acrobatics and other physical delights
Don't see it if Scantily clad men and women disturb you, you prefer a cohesive plot, you don't like acrobatics, you don't like a seedy nightclub atmosphere
See it if You love great performers having a game go at very challenging material
Don't see it if you dislike abstract theater with no discernable plot
See it if You like fresh takes on The Bard that are still respectful of the material and use their alternate view to delve deeper into universal theme
Don't see it if You like only period performance of Shakespeare, you don't like Shakespeare
See it if You know that nothing works without a great script, you love the way good theater forces you to feel things and think about relationships
Don't see it if You want a fun night of light fare, you don't want to schlep to Long Island City
See it if you are tickled by science, like to think, like unusual stand-up comedy
Don't see it if you prefer a play with a plot, you were really expecting a rap show, you don't want to be intellectually challenged at the theater