john 35

See it if you like incredible ensemble acting in a totally amazing and insightful glimpse of life in a women's shelter masterfully crafted

Don't see it if you like your theater "90-minute without an intermission" express-style: this one is long and detailed but totally entertaining

See it if you're not afraid of experiments in form, admire talented, invested performers, and interesting story to puzzle out

Don't see it if you're a traditionalist and want your musicals to be about costumes, sets and big choruses

See it if you like adolescent potty humor « performed » by folks who should not be seen on the professional stage

Don't see it if you don’t have an hour to waste, one that you will never get back

See it if you're interested in remote cultures and history told through a creative political and philosophical lens

Don't see it if you find the intrusion of the play of ideas on the unfolding drama to be annoying. the playwright has done the necessary homework, but ...

Also that kind of erudition doesn't need to be on display to make compelling drama ...... Read more Read less

See it if you don't mind seeing plays directed by their authors: here, the direction fails the play, which may be better than what's on stage

Don't see it if blurry, slick or superficial production values infuriate you, especially when potentially serious topics are what's for dinner

See it if you love Fiddler and want to deepen your experience of it. This production provides a rare experience for the adept and the curious ...

Don't see it if you expect perfection. The staging is a little clunky and out of focus ... but the overall impact was, for me, remarkable ...

See it if a peek into the private lives of an underserved theater demographic -- educated young black women -- draws your interest ...

Don't see it if frankness, explicit language, strong personalities, and the heartbreak of the contemporary dating scene turn you off ...

See it if you think the workplace is a battlefield for the sexes

Don't see it if absurdist humor and grotesque characterization, nevertheless well played, are not your thing

See it if you like big splashy entertainment that makes no effort to go below the surface, relying too blithely on the Shakespearean connection

Don't see it if you would actually like a revival that makes references to another time period not gloss over those very details as if they're not important

See it if a big brash barrel of silly musical comedy mixed with a sweet message of our common humanity is your thing

Don't see it if you're looking for Sondheim-level braininess or sophistication. it's the Drowsy Chaperone peeps, after all!

See it if You’re interested in history and a great performance

Don't see it if If you don’t under the patrician Brahmin Boston accent!

See it if you like great acting and an edgy storyline ... the characters are rich, believable, pathetic ... the playwright has some great insights ...

Don't see it if you won't see it if you're seated in certain parts of the theater because the staging does not take what the audience can see into account

See it if you're a fan of JoMama Jones. here she appoints herself priestess of own style wisdom (i liked her better when she stayed closer to earth)

Don't see it if quirky one-woman shows with lots of back-up people she keeps thanking for their support are your thang ...

See it if you like clever, torchy cabaret-style songs served up with lots of feeling and wit

Don't see it if you don't like unsubtle framing devices that try to promote a thematic agenda that is much less interesting than the musical material

See it if you're medicated. you might understand the premise, the narrative, the title character's perf and the audience's response better than i did

Don't see it if you're interested in memorable tunes, interesting subject matter, a believable storyline, an insightful point of view

See it if you like an emotional journey of survival brought to life by talented, dedicated actors

Don't see it if the black experience, HIV and depression are not your thing

See it if you’re a fan of Ann Tyler and don’t mind young people taking her apart

Don't see it if time is precious to you

See it if if you love Judy Garland you’ll love her childhood backstory

Don't see it if if you’re allergic to cliché — every one in the book is on display here

See it if you like great acting by interesting actors: Susan Sarandon, Marin Ireland, Nico Santos and Daniel Oreskes are all extraordinary

Don't see it if an unhappy ending is not your thing. this is a sour comedy that in the end prioritizes painful over funny

See it if you like seeing the craft of putting together a world with paper, pens, cameras, dolls and software ...

Don't see it if you want your shows to have a satisfying narrative that carries you through from beginning to end

See it if you like to see the soft undersides of classics exposed ... who would ever have thunk Grandma's Oklahoma could be so real and subversive?

Don't see it if you want to cling to the old-fashioned conventions that Rodgers & Hammerstein gave birth to. I wonder what they'd think of this take on it

See it if you like engaging political theater that makes you think

Don't see it if you like fluffy entertainment, because, while this is entertaining, it ain't fluff!

See it if you love Ivo van Hove so much that you'd accept van Hove-lite!

Don't see it if your interest in Jacobean verse, of a quality way below Shakespeare's, can't be overcome by buckets of blood

See it if you're curious about bondage, domination and sado-masochism

Don't see it if if vanilla is your favorite flavor

See it if you like thoughtful, complex dramas, that have as much to teach about social issues as it does about the human heart

Don't see it if if you have a short attention span: the big pay-offs come late in the drama, though there are some great surprises throughout the play ...

See it if you'd like to see are rarely produced Lillian Hellman, who was a very good, if not great, dramatist ... acting on the whole superb

Don't see it if you expect perfection. the direction does not lift the play out of the heaviness of its subject matter - missing an opp'y to say something

See it if you like original musical biographies of poets who would have so loved to be the subject of a musical in her lifetime!

Don't see it if interesting music, well-sung is enough to justify an outing ... Millay comes off as pretty unlikeable and she wrote the words herself!

See it if you've never seen My Fair Lady on stage; it is such an entertaining show, and in this staging, exquisite ...

Don't see it if you don't like musicals, because this is one of the best

See it if you have never seen a piece by Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théátre du Soleil

Don't see it if you've seen Mnouchkine's previous work. This production is a compendium of retreads of world theater techniques she has borrowed before

See it if you like contemporary English domestic/social drama

Don't see it if you want excitement or fireworks on stage

See it if if you want to see a good old-fashioned soap opera - Dallas or Dynasty before its time!

Don't see it if you expect perfection. The performances have been highly lauded but the Tony Award winner is B+ at best.