Judith 6282

See it if You don't mind a familiar story in a different time and place--post apartheid So. Africa. You know the violence is coming but it's riveting.

Don't see it if You don't want to see brutal sexuality and ultimate violence openly depicted. You prefer Strindberg with the original class conflict alone.

See it if You appreciate the gradual revelations of the complexities of a marriage against the bombs and killings of Blacks in 1963 in the South.

Don't see it if You don't want to hear about the 1960's civil rights movement again and you prefer more conventional marriages and like happy endings.

See it if You love Emily Dickinson and Amy Beach. But don't expect the lovely music to enhance the poems. They each go their own way as do the videos.

Don't see it if You want either a recital or a poetry reading. Leaves you wanting more Dickinson poetry. You get beautiful music but the two do not mesh.

See it if You enjoy good takes on familiar works and have never seen this. Good singing and dancing; set is spare but clunky. Excellent cast.

Don't see it if You prefer the original Carmen and dislike modern versions of beloved operas. Would rather see a fully staged production.

See it if You want a lovely production with good singing, acting, dancing, costumes. A thoroughly entertaining production of a still wonderful score.

Don't see it if You'd rather see Shaw without music. The 1936 Wendy Hiller-Leslie Howard movie version holds up. Or look for a stage production somewhere.

See it if You enjoy a fast-paced play made of up of multi stories that more or less get resolved. Good writing and acting so you don't lose track.

Don't see it if You don't like fragmented stories but want a unified narrative. Won't like the raunchy humor and talk that bounces from person to person.

See it if you appreciate good acting and a good production of a lesser Tennessee Williams play that telegraphs its point and ending from the start.

Don't see it if you don't have patience for the stereotyped sensitive Southern woman torn between body and soul. Also it's slow.

See it if You appreciate immigrants' stories -- here mothers and daughters over 16 years living together in a basement in Queens. Heart-rending.

Don't see it if You go to theater for amusement. These immigrants' burdens seem unrelenting. The comings and goings can be confusing.

See it if You can sit through a long, not very clever satire on free market capitalism. Redeemed by a versatile cast but ultimately boring.

Don't see it if You expect that a take-off of Adam Smith would offer more than the same old critique. Multiple venues but predictable dialogue.

See it if You see all productions of Albee, can sit through monologues for action and don't mind predictability of theme -- humans are animals.

Don't see it if You want action instead of talk and dislike two-character plays. Want more substance from two plus hours.

See it if You appreciate complex narratives combining memories with on-going confrontations, good acting and excellent use of a tiny stage.

Don't see it if You like straightforward narratives, a larger physical stage, and a resolution that's not a fantasy. You don't like mixtures of cultures.

See it if You'd like to see a girls' HS soccer team reveal their lives and hopes and tragedies while doing warmups for games. Fast and absorbing.

Don't see it if You like straight narratives and varied settings. Expect upbeat endings. Don't know or like soccer or plays about sports.

See it if You'd like to spend a relaxing and ultimately emotional 90 minutes with a sweet couple singing about their marriage and its vulnerableness.

Don't see it if You like theater with more bite and a larger scope. Are turned off by emotional appeals for empathy for possible immanent death that isn't.

See it if You can take long monologues on religion, guilt, and non-redemption. It's a downer -- everyone fails in some way. But it's well-acted.

Don't see it if You dislike prison plays that don't resolve. There is a lot of talk but it seems to come to nothing.

See it if You want to learn a lot about the maneuverings in the financial markets. Moves surprisingly fast for a dense subject. Well-written, staged.

Don't see it if You'd never find two-plus hours on junk bonds, inside trading, poison-pills, and other shenanigans that go on on Wall Street entertaining.

See it if You'd like a charming, relaxed, slightly off-beat production. Carefully diversified -- each of the 4 couples is racially mixed. Lovely songs

Don't see it if You like Shakespeare done conventionally with British accents and are jarred by women in men's roles and racial diversity in many parts.

See it if You can take brutality, anger, and lots of blood. Acting is terrific -- Christine Lahti and a very versatile cast. You won't forget it.

Don't see it if You go to theater to be entertained and amused. Susan-Lori Parks hits hard with no holds barred.

See it if You want to see a poignant Sara Ruhl riff on death, growing up, & family memories. Beautifully written, well-acted, thoughtful. Don't miss!

Don't see it if You like chronological narratives, don't like one-actors that are full of thought-provoking insights, don't like Peter Pan.

See it if You appreciate Sam Gold as director, like modern-dress Shakespeare beautifully acted and imaginatively staged, sounding fresh and new.

Don't see it if You only like traditional Shakespeare, can't bear still another production of Hamlet, would think hypodermic needles as weapons bizarre,

See it if You like on-target modern versions of Shakespeare, including gender-swapping -- Marc Antony is a woman-- and Caesar-Trump in the nude.

Don't see it if You like your Shakespeare "straight" and prefer to make your own connections to today's politics instead of having it spelled out for you.

See it if You like intricate interchanges among women, here a mother who abandoned one daughter who comes to confront her and her half-sister.

Don't see it if You haven't seen Sojourners, its prequel. Portmanteau stands alone but both plays are much enhanced by each other.

See it if You have tolerance for two hours of listening to monologues on the nature of time, stories, and humanity. Don't mind open-ended plays.

Don't see it if You want narrative and beginnings, middles and ends in theater. Prefer character development and/or conflict among people.

See it if You like new looks at familiar stories. Rousing music and good dancing and staging. Jo Lempert's wonderful depiction of a persistent woman.

Don't see it if Dislike loud music, retakes of the same old, Joan of Arc as a fighting feminist, and feel you know all this already.

See it if You are interested in the history of the women's movement and two ground breakers -- pres. of Mt. Holyoke and her companion. Well acted.

Don't see it if You want light entertainment. Also if the frequent use of "fuck" by an educated upperclass woman in the early 20th century bothers you.

See it if You appreciate Will Eno's provocative monologues beautifully conveyed by Lost's Michael Emerson. It's a thought-provoking and moving play.

Don't see it if You only like narrative plays with a plot and a variety of characters and hate boxes as props and add-on video sequences.

See it if One hour of hearing a man and woman recite the landmarks of their developing sexuality from childhood to the present would be entertaining.

Don't see it if You would find the litany of ordinary developing male and female sexuality boring. I learned nothing new.

See it if You want to learn about the US Constitution's evolution against the engaging story of a woman's life. And participate in a debate about it.

Don't see it if You want to get away from US politics, history, violence against women. Don't care whether the US Constitution should be kept or scrapped.

See it if You'd like a complex story of women's lives in New Orleans where skin color is a caste system. A beautiful rendition of a time about to go.

Don't see it if You don't want to follow the intertwined lives of the characters -- and spirits as well. Don't like period dramas, even if relevant today.

See it if Stephen Rea's superb rendition of a man driven to madness and violence make his inter-ethnic verbal and physical brutality memorable.

Don't see it if You can't take the spewing of past (and present) hatreds. The applicability of Irish antagonisms to so many other Cyprus splits hits hard.

See it if For a poignant portrayal of Black jazz musicians, circa 1949, whose Detroit milieu is being wiped out by urban renewal and personal demons,

Don't see it if You prefer listening to jazz to hearing about the lives of Black jazz musicians whose home club is going to be destroyed as "urban blight."

See it if You are a Caryl Churchill fan but be prepared for a tedious Act I. Act II picks up, is well-acted, relevant, skewers economic inequality.

Don't see it if You have no patience for once-relevant but now confusing debates and are bored with past-is-today depictions of why the poor never win.

See it if You want to experience a devastating yet beautiful depiction of the death of an elephant and the corrupt passage of tusks. Nottage is superb

Don't see it if You would find the subject too painful to hear about. You would find 3 actors in multiple roles confusing. You like more entertaining shows.

See it if You'd like a pseudo-medieval play plus the actors' lives then a too-long monologue by the writer with a commentary on a modern plague -- HIV

Don't see it if You don't have tolerance for mixtures -- a comic play and tragic actors plus an indulgent monologue on a not very original comparison w. HIV

See it if You appreciate McDonagh's mordant wit and bitter humor and love his take on ordinary Britons, who can't give up on their violent profession.

Don't see it if You will be put off by thick accents and don't like McDonagh's subtle satire, bitterness, and violence. Hangmen is not light entertainment.

See it if You want to hear again the story of Diaghilev, Nijinsky and the creation of the Ballets Russes. Focus is on D. and the coterie around him.

Don't see it if You are not interested in ballet and its male prima donnas and their love affairs. Or the 20th c. transformations Diaghilev instituted.

See it if You like Shakespeare in more or less modern dress spoken clearly and fluently. You'll enjoy an entertaining evening of song and good acting.

Don't see it if You like traditional Shakespeare, more poetical and profound with less casual staging and acting. Want more depth of character.

See it if You know the Mahabarata and would appreciate a pastiche of visions about Indian, Japanese and Western theatrical traditions. Love Mnouchkine

Don't see it if You don't have patience for deliberately disconnected scenes and repetitions. Couldn't tolerate four hours without much of a narrative line.

See it if You want to see a beautiful and poignant take on a dystopia underground after earth is rendered inhabitable. Moving and ultimately uplifting

Don't see it if You hate dystopias on stage and human-robot relationships. You are disturbed by questions of the use of life after nuclear winter kills all.

See it if You can take long, revelatory monologues that are ultimately obvious -- fathers who are emotionally abusive leading to self-hatred, anger.

Don't see it if You don't want to see another iteration of the link between lack of self-esteem, anger and violence and would hate the gratuitous gunfire.

See it if You aren't put off by a poignant, heartbreaking depiction of a young mother living with a severely disabled child. Beautiful writing, acting

Don't see it if You want to see upbeat entertainment in the theater. It will be too close to home. You expect closure and answers to the questions raised.

See it if You like Elevator Repair Service -- but read it first! Much is taken at a rapid, incomprehensible pace. Whole idea is varied "measures."

Don't see it if You like your Shakespeare at a measured, understandable pace that does justice to the great scenes in this play.

See it if You empathize with "Mother Courage" -like women who seem to bring their woes on themselves. Appreciate versatile acting by a terrific cast.

Don't see it if You want upbeat endings and characters who evolve rather than repeating disastrous behavior. Expect better from Susan-Lori Parks.

See it if You like long sagas of three-generation British families plus additional character's stories. Rather goes on and on.

Don't see it if You like well-edited plays that move along at a good pace. This is 12 years old and should have been cut after first showing.

See it if You appreciate a thoughtful exploration of the rage of young Black men. Well-acted and well-written but sometimes feeling too familiar.

Don't see it if You are in mood for something more entertaining or imaginative.

See it if You appreciate an evocative, poignant retelling of the exploitation of a naive young woman for a body part that's normal in her own world.

Don't see it if You don't like emotionally resonant history plays even if they are well-acted and beautifully staged. You like upbeat endings.

See it if You plan to see or saw its companion play, Her Portmanteau -- sequel to the events in Sojourners. Sequel enhances this play.

Don't see it if Want an interesting stand-alone play about the experiences of Nigerian sojourners in the US. The character contrast are too obvious.

See it if You love Sondheim. This revival is presented in an elegant, spare staging with a versatile cast of singers. Plus a LIVE orchestra!

Don't see it if You only like elaborately staged and costumed musicals. You hate Sondheim. You don't appreciate sardonic accounts of history.

See it if You like Sarah Ruhl's off-beat view of emotional relationships. Poignant, raunchy, yet lovely in parts. Layered. I keep thinking about it.

Don't see it if You like straightforward narratives that tell an entertaining story. Dislike somewhat implausible plot lines and open sexuality.

See it if You appreciate dystopian visions subtly presented by an excellent cast. Wonderful writing by Wallace Shawn. Disturbing and timely.

Don't see it if Don't like to see downers and don't want to think of what we can sink to while maintaining a civilized facade. Warning -- it's depressing.

See it if You are intrigued by a theater populated by boxes and one actor who presents memories, interchanges, and a marvelously quirky mime of a life

Don't see it if Your are turned off by quirky shows without a narrative and that push you to interact with what's going on. And if you dislike non-stages.