RedBird

See it if you want a show that delves deeper and deeper into the nature of life in its cycles and death as part of life and how we live with death

Don't see it if you are uncomfortable w/a skilled depiction of insulated middle class white life in suburban America and its unconscious disregard

See it if you want to revel in the glorious work of Ntozake Shange who is fierce and honest in this grand and gorgeous work of art

Don't see it if you want bells and whistles beyond the heart and soul of Black women on stage being their full selves, this is where it gets real

See it if you''re a fan of the actor - she's fantastic. You like to be told a story with some mystery/intrigue. You like bare stages beautifully lit.

Don't see it if You don't love one-person shows. You don't want to see great acting. You want risk or a sense of danger - this is barely that.

See it if you love Audra McDonald or Adrienne Kennedy and want to see them in a beautiful, riveting production of a one-woman show with a cast

Don't see it if you want more than Audra McDonald telling us a story, the surface of the show is thin in terms of what's at stake in the moment

See it if you love gay camp and smart new work that takes chances with scope and structure and you want a fun comic musical about tough internal stuff

Don't see it if you find it painful to watch self-hatred exposed and some pretty awful sex on stage complete with n words and bible-thumping homophobia

See it if you like a lot of history with your dramas, you want a remarkably moving experience. The scope and the specificity are stunning.

Don't see it if you want easy entertainment about something less relevant. This hits with a gut punch in the end, but only if you are paying attention.

See it if you love a great story! This is an epic tale of friendship, colonization, a family in the midst of great historic change. Beautifully told!

Don't see it if you want a musical or boilerplate entertainment - this is deep and thrilling while also being an adaptation of a genius novel. Moving!

See it if you want a fun comedy about family dealing with family that will keep you laughing and guessing all the way through even if it's a funeral

Don't see it if you want deep, intense drama or morals or dancing/singing - this is funny and sweet and loving with a happy ending that heals all your pain!

See it if you want the most beautifully written, stunningly acted, brilliantly made show about 3 generations of women struggling to survive today

Don't see it if you want comedy, light-hearted fare - this intense play is what theatre imho should be : relevant, necessary, speaking truth to power, great

See it if you want to see how Childress spoke truth to power in 1955, finally gets her Bway production, brilliant work long deserving of attention. GO

Don't see it if you won't like a brilliantly acted, social realism moving play with star turns that will blow your mind, prepare to be schooled, brilliant!

See it if you want a gorgeously directed/acted production that is precisely composed (as a composition) and enjoyed documentary downtown type work.

Don't see it if you want to make discoveries or need narrative to connect the dots, you need to like politics to appreciate it. Intense but not emotional.

See it if you want an edgy drama to highlight female experience over three generations in a world that insists on how female bodies exist! INTENSE

Don't see it if you want to focus on 1 story 1 time - this is frustrating - you can't take it all in, could go crazy w/sense of loss /inadequacy as strategy

Also This is a magnificent aria of a play, and a beautiful brilliantly directed show. Think more watchable than Sarah Kane. Just as deep. I wish I could see it three times. I think the experience of not being able to take it all in is part of the idea of the experience the audience has, and I applaud everyone involved for committing to such a gorgeous idea.... Read more Read less

See it if you want a show that speaks directly to you in the audience with the house lights coming up at times to remind you that you exist in this &

Don't see it if you are a part of the show! Your life is implicated as is your dying and your death. This is inclusive/immersive and a joyful celebration

Also of our humanity! This is structured like the 5 Reflections which are Buddhist constructs to help us deal with life, and Young Jean Lee offers us comfort on a wonderfully large and simultaneously small scale. It is brilliantly directed and a wonderful examination of suffering and the offer of healing. Kudos!... Read more Read less

See it if you want to be transported with metaphor and artful stagecraft to a moving and transcendant production about love, grief and hope. Brilliant

Don't see it if family narrative, love/life stories, struggling Palestinians who are three dimensional people living through occupation don't inspire you

See it if choreopoetry, other cultures, feminist ritual and gorgeous language in strong accents & other languages are your thing. It's a healing fire!

Don't see it if you want a single simple narrative, don't like ritualistic singing, movement, monologues gorgeously performed! This is intense!

Also Female anger is rarely depicted in such a raw and open way, and I truly appreciated the stories and the multiple points of view, characters that reminded me of Shange's for colored girls... This is a bold, brave telling like an Ancient Greek play. Well done!... Read more Read less

See it if you want theatre that pushes the envelope, new ways to tell stories, immersive inclusive fun surprising unusual and lots of fast changes!

Don't see it if narrative fourth wall Naturalism is your thing - this is not that. Don't go if watching men screw is an issue for you - even artfully done

See it if great acting in the most Naturalistic style is your thing. It is hard to see much of it because of the set design with pillars in the way.

Don't see it if you want anything more than Naturalism for close to 3 HOURS about mental illness, parenting, a mature love, dying small town America...

Also There is a poignant story of the possibility of love across time and a deep racial divide - the Japanese-Americans from internment camps during WWII and their offspring living in rural Idaho - and the history of white Americans working and dying in the mines. But 3 hours is too long.... Read more Read less

See it if you love a ghost story - this is disguised but still at heart a ghost story. You want more questions than answers, intelligent puzzles.

Don't see it if you want to like the protagonist, or you want to sit in the dark - there are meta aspects to this play that not everyone is comfortable with

See it if you loved the movie, you're a Duran Duran fan, or you really want to revisit the days when overbearing priests were your biggest obstacle.

Don't see it if you want to see new ideas presented in an interesting/thought-provoking way - this is not that. The best part is the upstage wall visuals.

See it if you love slice of life dialogue that goes nowhere for a long time, you want a feminist lesbian experience that kinda sorta doesn't budge

Don't see it if a great set is not enough for you; the early 80s and well written characters don't thrill; you want something to happen

Also there is some brilliant writing in this play but dramaturgically it just never managed to come up with much of anything for me. There are some theatrical moments and some great monologues but it meanders and was painstakingly slow until about page 70.... Read more Read less

See it if you love Pinter and you want to see this yet again for the nth time in a very spare production that makes its misogyny clearer than ever

Don't see it if you want comedy or you want to care about people who barely care themselves - it feels more hollow than ever before

See it if you want to be shaken & inspired, to see BRILLIANCE, a call to telling all the truths facing all the traumas, a siren song for honesty.

Don't see it if gay culture gay sex gay men gay history have nothing to say to you - this transcends all that even as its mired in it. You might not want to

Also be stuck in an audience filled with sobbing people - it is so moving and so brilliant. The sex is as adventurously inventive as Bent with its own vocabulary (fully dressed) but there is also lots of male eye candy if you want that. This enormous ensemble play could not have ever been created without Angels in America, but it takes on many voices with enormous choral sections and the emotional stories it tells filled with monologues (we'll be hearing forever in auditions from now on) uses Howard's End beautifully. Many audience members didn't seem to know Howard's End or need to know it to enjoy the play judging by the gasps elicited by plot points that would be familiar to anyone who knows Howard's End. Worth every moment (ok, Michael's mother goes on too long) with gorgeous direction, staging, dancing, designing, acting, all superb, but see it for the writing. It is a very brave play!... Read more Read less

See it if multimedia dance gorgeously designed and beautifully conceived is your thing! A visual feast! A story of male toxicity that transcends color

Don't see it if you want easy narrative - this is a multimedia dance piece! It tells a story but not a simple obvious one and not w/o repetitive gestures

Also I found the storyline of Brando and his intimate family - his mother, father and son and daughter - riveting. Told through an interview and a series of do-overs, the physical movement underscores the script and its story beautifully. The Asian American woman playing Capote is fantastic! I felt the intention in casting was toward color-blindness or all inclusivity and not about making a person of color "violent Brando" although I am not a person of color. It is a collage of a script that takes time to build, but it does build, and I found it quite effective and moving.... Read more Read less

See it if you like intense dramatic stories about war and women, a brilliantly written critique of western culture w/a feminist lens, well lit w/smoke

Don't see it if you want subtext or anything from the actors or moment to moment direction, you want a sense of intensity - it's lacking here

See it if Clear, crisp direction, topical ideas w/brilliant choreography, well cast, inventive! Strong emotional core, extremely moving, breathtaking!

Don't see it if women's issues, family issues, rape, genderqueer love put you off? Ovations stops the show several times - it's a BIG show with BIG ambition

See it if you want to revel in a cast of women of all ages and the ability to experience how women are treated by white men in suits, all too real.

Don't see it if you want coherent narrative building "normally" - this is flat w/the protagonist boxed in clearly headed for tragic consequence, train wreck

See it if you like non-linear narrative w/ensemble casts playing multiple roles with humor and a dark political philosophical narrative that questions

Don't see it if you want answers to those questions or something easy less repetitive or you expect more quirk or clowning than is on offer here

See it if you like mythic, imagistic, creative experimental beauty with a social justice message that rises above fluff. Beautiful and moving songs!

Don't see it if you want love dynamics - Reeve is miscast, no real sparks - and Eva's' character doesn't really have much agency here, nor does Persephone

See it if you love jazz from the 60s & verisimilitude, a kind of real akin to Anna Deveare Smith's work crossed w/the Wooster Group, composition-wow!

Don't see it if you want straight forward narrative, female agency, plot or entertainment - this is brilliant art about questions of art and life to ponder.

See it if an excellent script, cleanly staged and well-acted based on a true NYC story turned into a tour-de-force with music that sweeps you up!

Don't see it if a nuanced story of 2 brothers torn apart by the system or the choices they make - and the music that might hold them together. Well done!

See it if you want a moving character-based trip to Florida, gorgeous set, well acted funny dramedy about families and loss! With so many women!!!

Don't see it if female stories/magic ain't your thing, you want straight narratives not quirk, you don't like ritual healing in plays, you don't like 2 cry.

See it if you like a theatre of ideas with characters who are based on dialecticals, mostly men onstage, dystopian themes & some violence & absurdity.

Don't see it if you want character-based family drama or Naturalism - this is not that. I expected more Beckett/Absurdity, but this doesn't quite manage it.

See it if you love great acting, lots of odd tension, heady intellectual arguments that are spewed rapid-fire in low light w/very little at stake

Don't see it if painful sound cues and guns that never get used would upset you or you want more than talk, you don't want to see so much self-loathing

See it if you are a huge fan, you want to see some great acting work but not in relationship to anything else, you see everything, you love Meyerhold

Don't see it if you want actors in relationship to other actors - this is mostly monologue split between 3 people who don't relate much to each other

See it if you love language-based beautifully staged magic realism with a trauma story that shows the horrors of war for children in palatable ways

Don't see it if large cathartic moments aren't your thing - this is real drama at its best, gorgeous storytelling and older actors doing great work

See it if you're into Wellman and making your own meaning. This is brilliantly directed. Really gets you thinking about conforming v. speaking out.

Don't see it if you want easily followable narrative. This is hilarious with great acting and great sets but very quirky and strange. Not for just anyone.

See it if you want to see female lives onstage and have the capacity to empathize with them, love drama, will take the ride with a masterful writer!

Don't see it if you don't adjust when it gets wild, can't run with the dance sequence or the magic realism - a stunning play for open-hearted imaginations!

See it if you want a thought-provoking provocative look at sexual domination as it is played out in various couples of various orientations, bold show

Don't see it if you are triggered by the slavery content. You want to fall in love with the characters. There is a great distancing effect, a play of ideas

See it if you love 1 person shows, you don't mind a show about a woman's life adapted and directed by a man. Story of a heroic woman in the Holocaust.

Don't see it if you want it to relate better to this moment; you prefer more dramatization instead of telling; you expect more characters & better craft.

See it if you love a good solo show, you like 1 actor playing several characters, you want a great story about real life, something emotional and true

Don't see it if you want great singing or less quirk. It's very intense and wonderfully done, but perhaps you won't like how much time he takes to tell it

Also A lot of people say it's horrific, but there's basically one horrific moment - it's not as if we're wading into torture or incest here. It's not a war story. There is a lot of beauty here too and the story telling is superb.... Read more Read less

See it if you like Uncle Vanya/ want to see it set today with great acting and a wonderfully updated script! 4th wall breaking & audience involvement

Don't see it if Chekhovian complaining and talky plays bore you or you want something to happen beyond the emotional stuff - it's emotional and provoking

See it if you want to share an emotionally charged evening with the performers who are very much with you about a super relevant show about injustice

Don't see it if you want more of an entertaining evening, more than a gospel choir, more than Greek drama in translation, if politics doesn't pull you in

See it if you want a new way of thinking about our history and our country's future as inclusive and embracing. Inspirational and validating.

Don't see it if language, story-theatre are not your thing - political, super-relevant but long /slowgoing - audiences know all the songs & quite optimistic

See it if you want intelligent well-acted drama with strong themes about righteousness, lots of talk and less spectacle, characters in conversation

Don't see it if you want imagery or movement, this is all set in one doctor's library in 1941 and there are some brilliant moments but lots of talk

See it if you're a fan of Annette Benning who is brilliant here; same for Tracy Letts; you want to see colorblind casting, I applaud it, & the script!

Don't see it if You've seen it; you don't have 3 hrs to kill; you want more than old-fashioned theatre onstage today, you are bored by realism and 4th walls

See it if you like European theatre that doesn't explain everything to you and you love physical work and visual work w/great ensemble work! Stunning!

Don't see it if you don't want to be thrilled by the great acting, language, direction, a F**K Opera, sex, a woman with a vacuum as an arm, amazing images!

See it if you want to understand how the constitution figures in the lives of real people day to day with real stories/real issues, and a female pov!

Don't see it if you don't like intelligent thought-provoking theatre by a female performer who is sweet and smart! You don't like a good debate or solo show

See it if you love Hamish Linklater who is a rake in this and does a great job acting as do all the actors. You like sex and brief nudity onstage!

Don't see it if you want more than a perpetuation of patriarchal roles in a patriarchal culture - there's no promise of anything new here - it's distressing

See it if you love great acting and great technical theatre/staging/lights/sound - and story telling - words words words for 3+hrs! like a novel

Don't see it if you want to really care about the characters, you want more action and less talk

See it if you love classical texts, classical language adapted by a master, and great actors! Or you are researching the use of technology onstage.

Don't see it if you hate the use of technology onstage that reduces the greatest actors to parts and flatness, sleep when live actors talk to screens