RedBird

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 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 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'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 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 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 like your theatre strange enough to keep you on your toes and deep enough to feel satisfying with wonderfully realized characters

Don't see it if you want easier fare, this is edgy and really beautifully written, but it is a very white world only marginally aware of itself

See it if you are interested in the space launch and history but more than that it is a personal show about a man who comes in second, quite moving!

Don't see it if you hate music or you are so into the literal that you won't get how a black woman can play a white male astronaut - this is brilliant!

See it if you love Shakespeare and you want to see a very well acted version of the Henry's! This is top-notch, filled with great moments/work!

Don't see it if you aren't into Shakespeare or fine acting and wonderful direction, this is very focused and does not stray from its aims - well done!

See it if you want to see some of the best acting in the world right now in an intimate space about internalized oppression that could exist in anyone

Don't see it if you want happy, upbeat stuff that isn't completely focused on language & the sculpting of great drama - this is muscular, dark and riveting

See it if groundbreaking brilliant dramatic piece that has changed theatre as we knew it and a wonderful new cast to go with it for today

Don't see it if you like things served in small bite sized pieces - this is large and intelligent and epic in scope and takes a broad look at the country

See it if Shakespeare as a refugee crisis interests you. Diversity, class conscious, higher stakes, this version adds insight and meaning!

Don't see it if you don't like awesome sets that work on multiple levels, physical acting, finding how Shakespeare is newly relevant, a poignant comedy

See it if you love a good romance - this has 2: the human & animal romances make this a moving portrait of all our love struggles! Super work by all!

Don't see it if you'd miss the best monologue @love in ages! Great Date Show! UR Anti-Metaphor/Talking Hamsters/2 Men & Baby/gay marriage/adoption/LOVE!

See it if you are interested in men in recovery, an ensemble of actors makes this work with some well directed moments. Addiction interests you.

Don't see it if you want a finished product - this is a work in progress. The play is about men trying to be their honest selves and it's worth seeing.

See it if you want that delicious frustration of humans acting like humans without explanation or recourse, a gripping show, extremely moving, intense

Don't see it if you want easy entertainment, this is bold, original, unapologetic, strong aesthetic choices that demand attention, brilliant gem of a show!

See it if you want to be genuinely surprised and entertained. Here is a feminist perspective finally on the family! Wonderfully drawn characters.

Don't see it if you want jokes and banter, you like to sleep through your shows - this will surprise you and make you think while asking you to wonder

Also the human condition on display in all its vulnerability here, beautifully written... Read more Read less

See it if you are interested in world politics and events and want to see how it plays out on a stage - Betancourt's life is dramatic & intense

Don't see it if you want everything spelled out for you - this is poetic and fluid in its approach to storytelling, often imaginative, beautiful yet jarring

See it if you like a smart musical that is inventive with staging (as Urinetown was) and political in its narrative - the cast is super! Great Concept

Don't see it if you are a CIA agent, a State Dept drone or you want T&A - clever, well-made, although casting could have been more diverse - very funny!

See it if you know/love Beckett's work well b/c there is pleasure in recognizing him in this, philosophy is your thing, you want an original story

Don't see it if you expect to care, to root for and want these characters to achieve something, it's more of an idea piece than character-driven w/ stakes

See it if Victorian lesbians and philosophical dogs thrill you! A man on his knees for most of the show and broken conventions excite! Mordant humor.

Don't see it if you want heaving bosoms or explanations or kindness, screw that, this is brutal post-Genet fun & games with hen innards & bloodpacks

See it if you want a show with edge, strong women characters, intensity, Sam Shepherd for Women.

Don't see it if sex on stage freaks you out, animal cruelty and blood and guns upset you, live music is too intense, you want neat stories tied up.

See it if you're collecting versions or want to write about how theatre deals with issues of female sexuality and redemption/religion.

Don't see it if you want clear, sexy, edgy exploration of this historic jewel. The actors do a wonderful job with a difficult adaptation that hinders them.

See it if you're a political animal; you want screaming passionate swordplay and fighting; nastiness appeals; Shakespeare's histories thrill; smart!

Don't see it if blood bugs you; intimate theatre immersive experience is not your thing; you want predictability or a happy ending; violence up close . . .

See it if you want a sense of 1665 London midst plague, you like class power dynamics exposed, you love beautiful language and well acted productions

Don't see it if you want it to move w/ urgency, you want to understand the dramatic question and follow it to a well earned conclusion, blood is an issue

See it if you like to challenge yourself with edgy theatre, you love language, & you love women even when they speak, even if they speak their minds.

Don't see it if smoke and claustrophobia happen 4u, bright lights and loud sounds freak u out, u need everything explained, u want easy laughs -- uwork4this

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 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 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 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 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 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

See it if with everything that is happening right now, this show helps to make sense of it all, plus it's very eye-opening and fun! Super-likable!

Don't see it if you don't like women anyway. You don't care about politics - this is a political show. It's language based story-telling without spectacle

See it if you love the GoGos! This is a vehicle for their work, and their work is given priority over any regard for the idea of musical form

Don't see it if you expect the music to forward the plot - it won't. Beyond that, there is nothing at stake on stage in any way that made me care

See it if you are a woman or supporter of #metoo and #timesup movements or want to hear more stories of female experience in an exciting visual piece

Don't see it if you are entrenched in 1 view, you want easy entertainment, you want less of a challenge or more fluff. This is thoughtful and provocative.

See it if you love farce, funny characters, frippery, silly and more silliness and a general panache that looks fabulous w/intelligence underneath it

Don't see it if you want characters who are more than moving the laughs along, some heart underneath it all beyond the silliness - there is not much there

See it if you like politics, especially Israel/Palestine, a first person pov 1-woman show that moves deftly and packs a dramatic punch, this shines!

Don't see it if you want something easy, banal, escapist. This is a thought-provoking moving portrait of a young woman becoming a martyr, deserves attention

See it if you want a challenging theatrical experience that is moving, dramatic, and beautifully produced with fantastic supporting female characters

Don't see it if you want your endings sewn up/ packaged w/a bow, you need to like/care about every character - you won't - entitled winners/accents bug you,

See it if you are married or thinking of marrying, a great date night, a great evening to discuss with a mate, a play filled with ideas to chew on!

Don't see it if you want emotions, drama, edge of your seat stuff - this is cool in temperament and smart, an intelligent person's evening out (grown-up?)

See it if you hate women - you want to laugh about rape, you want to laugh about women being raped, especially a 15 year old who is written cluelessly

Don't see it if you are not ready to laugh at rape or you think characters should have dignity, not be written condescendingly as if women have no brains

Also I tried to go with an open mind - a man writing a rape play? okay, but this was so offensive and so off-putting from beginning to end, and intensely long, and even the men in the audience were groaning. It is supposed to be absurd, but it portrays real situations and real actual responses in all too real ways, so where is the humor in this? Bad taste, bad choice, and the artistic director apologizes for it on the first page of the program. In this world - this is not the play to see.

The author might have stuck to the only compelling part of the play which is the relationship between the gay football player and the straight one -- there is play in there somewhere, but it wasn't on stage tonight.

So many stereotypes, no framing, and hurtful, nasty comments, and why does this main character have to be so clueless and dumb? I did not expect it to be beyond the pale awful, but it got worse and worse by the minute with cheap jokes and tasteless victim-blaming just like real life! Why?... Read more Read less

See it if you like personal journeys that have political edges, and you love language plays that employ humor and fantastic writing to tell a story

Don't see it if you are not interested in ideas of compassion and an erasing of boundaries between our world and Muslims, the Middle East, the way we relate

See it if you can identify with the bravery required of single parents, you have big choices to make, you like music and struggle, you are a romantic!

Don't see it if you aren't into new forms, ingenuity, big stories with small casts, really cool music looping, crying by the end of the 1st song, touching!

See it if the issues excite you, remarkable events, ways forward and ways toward reconciliation can be thrilling, see it if you are looking for hope

Don't see it if you expect Disney or answers, don't go for the music or the laughs, this is a serious drama and while there are lighter moments, it is tough

See it if you want gorgeous staging, lighting and a beautifully composed sound-score, with a strong ensemble cast, evocative images that stick

Don't see it if many languages & an onstage translator bug you, it can be disorienting in a good way, but not for everyone, dark but not brutal or gruesome

See it if you like human stories, interwoven monologues, a way to see today's refugee crisis in historical terms, to find relevance in how we survive

Don't see it if dark storytelling is not your thing - you want dialogue, spectacle, entertainment, this is engrossing and moving but you must go in to it.

See it if you love Shakespeare and want to see a well acted, well embodied piece where the clowns are brilliant and the original music is superb

Don't see it if you want something edgy or political or you are looking for a fast re-imagined re-cut Shakespeare -- this is charming and great for kids too

See it if take a kid and make a Shakespeare fan! Awesome set, rhymes, hip-hop and caricatures, drag, super silly, well-written condensed, fast!

Don't see it if you want it to pass the Bechdel Test - it doesn't - and Othello is at heart so misogynist, it can wear you out, but they try to address it

See it if you're a parent w/a teen w/anger issues/body image/identity/addiction, you're a young teen dealing with personal issues; you like folk music

Don't see it if you want a more multicultural perspective beyond wealthy white personal problems; you want deeper exploration of those issues.

See it if you like language-based theatre where the words make the visuals. You want to think/make your own connections, and a deep experience/trip.

Don't see it if you must have visuals - there are none you'll enjoy -- this is profoundly moving but you have to do the work with it questioning our values.

See it if you like dinner table gossip @ who slept with whom & why told in the most up-to-date, relevant, fun way 4 today, women on stage, period play

Don't see it if don't want to understand sexist privilege & how to maintain it or if you want heaving bosoms, or multiculti casting -- it's so white!

See it if you want smart and funny, an evening of entertainment that keeps you laughing and on your toes thinking - tour de force!

Don't see it if you don't care about race in this country, you don't want to laugh out loud and cheer, you want a less intimate, less thought-provoking show