Tatyana V.

See it if you're into tiny no budget productions, silly jokes and bad acting

Don't see it if Just don't. It was excrutiatingly painful to sit through that show, so offensive it was to all senses, mostly to a common one.

See it if you want to see the most aesthetically pleasing Broadway production: stark and elegant, it feels like a modern art installation

Don't see it if you need lots and lots to be entertained, this is severely minimalist production.

Also We have a classic love triangle: a couple and his best man/best friend who is also fucking his wife. Seven years he has been fucking his best friend's wife. This is the beginning of the show. After that we go back from 1977 to 1968. Early critics regarded this as an unnecessary and confusing gimmick. But I welcomed it since the story itself is so boring and blah that told straightforwardly it would've been unbearable. As it is, it's a tad confusing but extremely stylish. It could easily be the most aesthetically pleasing Broadway production: stark and elegant, it feels like a modern art installation as opposed to a human story. And its protagonists are also super cool, stylish and... cartoonish. Their dynamic at the end is understandable - they all pretty much hate each other. But it's bewildering to see the exact same dynamic in the height of the affair heat, as well as that in the beginning of it, when everyone is in love with her and she's in love with everyone.... Read more Read less

See it if you like poetry - this show is as rare as a great poem.

Don't see it if you need a traditional play

Also I would give a day of my life to see how this play has been put on, such is an amazing synergy of Andy Bragen’s text and director Knud Adams’ efforts. The play is as trite as life itself, and as tragic. And as filled with love as life should be.
It’s not death that our protagonists - a son and his mother - fear. It’s what precedes it: pain, indignity of dying, horrors of old age, finality of every departure, inevitability of a brutal end.
The show is daringly unsentimental. It’s stark, almost austere, and it’s not warm: neither script nor stage design try to make you feel entertained, complicit or even interested. The play scrutinizes, reflects, and rages against the dying of the light while never toying with our emotions.
Ari Fliakos and Caroline Lagerfelt tandem is one of the most lyrical duos ever staged, and and when she dies (which we actually never see) you feel like you were robbed of a loved one.... Read more Read less

See it if you like Angels in America and want to see what is actually an update on it.

Don't see it if you already saw Angels in America - then this show themes are redundant

See it if you don't mind a bit of a funky dystopia

Don't see it if you need a straightforward drama or a musical

Also It's punk theater at its best, not for the faint of heart.

See it if you think the future is in the interactive theater. If you like being close and personal to feel your vis-à-vis joy and angst.

Don't see it if You'd rather have a 4th wall in the theater. If you expect Poe's theme - he's just used as pretext.

Also Actors are game and give it all to make you feel... I've actually have no idea what the show creators wanted us to feel. The premise is terrific - you are at some secret party in 1969, surrounded by privileged youth of that era. This is Edgar Allan Poe society and their only mission is to figure out how he died. The space they rented is insane fun, the costumes and the types are all spot on. And - action!
This is when it all falls apart. There is no coherent directing, let alone a decent script or even an idea of where this all is going. Poor actors are reduced to some terrible mannekens writhe - all they do for a good hour is show you how possessed they are. Which painfully reminded me of another clueless albeit super popular affair - Sleep No More. It's not terrible since you are already plied with drinks but it's also not necessary.
Go if you need to to impress friends out of town, visually it's great and if the substance is not there, you can always add another shot of tequila.... Read more Read less

See it if you like celebrity vehicles. You like plays that build up intimacy. You appreciate intensity of human relationship.

Don't see it if you'd rather see a hollywood version of a love story. This play takes courage to create a relationship.

Also He is insistent to the point of utter machismo. Today he'd be taken for a stalker: she tells him to leave again and again. Instead, he stays put. Because no is not always a no. Because he knows what she needs while she herself - burnt and scared by men - does not. Because human relationship is not always contractual.
This is an ode to white trash. She is a 41 year old waitress without any talents. He's a 49 year old cook with 2 years in the joint behind him. Yet, he's well if sporadically read, and she is sweet and kind underneath her protective shield. They deserve their happiness as much as anyone else on this planet. And they awkwardly and painfully fight for it. Except the actors' chemistry was not there as their union in this very realistic play was not realistic at all. The original production had young Murray Abraham and Kathy Bates, who was frumpy, fat, and emotionally defined by her unattractiveness. THAT I want to see. Audra McDonald is way too assured of her good looks.... Read more Read less

See it if you are a huge fan of Susan Sarandon - it's a celebrity vehicle of a play.

Don't see it if you need more substance. This is essentially one anecdote, told for 2 hrs without an intermission.

See it if you have a teenager you want to bring to the theater. It's fun, quirky accessible like a school play.

Don't see it if you want a staging true to this classic Stevenson piece - it takes the story and then twists it to accommodate modern tastes and tiny budget

See it if you love Armory - no matter what you put in there, it works, simply because of its vastness. And it's quite epic in the Homerian sense.

Don't see it if you're into light entertainment and musicals only

Also All the characters (14 main and throngs of extras) are being played out by three actors, all known to you by this or that British tv show. It's like "39 Steps" in grandiose but a bit boring setting and no props. The performers describe their characters, their settings and their histories in the third person and it's all minimalistic to let the text shine, which would have been great, were it not that visually repetitive. It was staged in Paris in 2013 and Milan in 2015, where it clocked in at five hours, so we should consider ourselves lucky with this 3.5 hrs abridged version.
This show manages to be a show about a Jewish dream at the same time as a not too flattering metaphor of American capitalism. Which gives me a pause - are we supposed to root for those poor Jews when they are building their tremendous fortune, or rather despise them for ruining the spirit of American pioneers since they don't actually produce anything but finance, invest and gain?... Read more Read less

See it if are into absurdities and farcical gags

Don't see it if you want substance from the theater

Also The play wants to be Ionesco but it doesn't even reach the level of Borat. A parody of a play, it shows all men as sexists and all women as their silly victims. The play is pretty callous but two of the actors are great, the staging is terrific and the transformation of the scene at the end is so astonishing that it almost warrants a visit.... Read more Read less

See it if you want a rather lighthearted modern comedy

Don't see it if you are not into sitcom-like theater

Also Two couples are meeting for dinner, enjoying some pseudo-intellectual bickering and hypothetical discussion on child rearing. And then everyone is pregnant, but not by people they were supposed to be getting pregnant with. And, action!
The playwright is trying too hard to make them all stand out as different characters, so hard that we are having a difficult time believing that these couples - an uptight closeted republican financial mogul and his hippy-dippy decorator of a wife whose best friend is a weirdly financially insecure libertarian lawyer who comes from money and who is married to this obsessively healthy history teacher - that these people can actually be in the same room, let alone, be friendly there. And when they have it all out, you have no choice but wonder - did they all meet yesterday? And how come no-one told them their partner choices were disaster in the making?
It's kinda cute, kinda half-assed, kinda smart ass, kinda naive and definitely sloppy.... Read more Read less

See it if you are Ethan Hawke fan.

Don't see it if you'd rather see a modern relevant play, not this allegory on the modern family collapse that today looks irrelevant and forced.

See it if you like interactive shows. If you don't mind grabbing a bite with your Shakespeare fix. If you're not offended by silly takes on classic

Don't see it if You expect an actual shakespeare play. If you are gourmand. If you don't like interacting with actors.

Also This intimate Meatpacking loft production combines an eight course meal, with wine pairings and a compact and breezy Shakespearean comedy. If you think it's cheesy - it is. But if you cringe, thinking that it's another terrible dinner when a waiter is spitting his Nessun Dorma syllables all over your minestrone, or as in those medieval feasts you'd have to gnaw on your mutton leg while some people are fighting at your feet - don't fret, you are not in Kansas anymore, and NYC won't disappoint. The food (also prepared by actors) is perfectly eatable, sometimes bordering on elegant. The wine, while not prize-winning, is totally legit. Oh, and then, there's Shakespeare! I think good ol' Will would actually like it - it's raw, lots of fun and batshit crazy: his characters flirt, fight, make silly jokes, snort coke, dance, drink, sing and make music using serving tongs as castanets. All of this with gusto and lots of enthusiasm.... Read more Read less

See it if You like pseudo-intellectual debate off New Yorker pages. If you are into lengthy dialogues.

Don't see it if You'd rather read a good article of the subject of human consciousness. If you prefer human emotions rather then some heavily diluted ideas

See it if You are interested in revealing the absurdity of our current history revision, convoluted sensitivities of the left in the intimate setting

Don't see it if You are easily offended by satire. If you don't appreciate fun being poked at sensitive political issues.

See it if you enjoy intimate off off broadway production, if you want to see great acting.

Don't see it if you are into big Broadway and musicals

Also Cute little play with some big awkward ideas on politics, business and environmental challenges. The script is ambitiously tailgaiting Glenngary Glen Ross but a playwright Adam Seidel, while showing a good ear for monologues, is no David Mamet, and the whole enterprise seems unbelievable and simply naive. Multi-million dollar oil contracts without a single lawyer in sight, anyone? Dale Carnegie techniques as a Bible of "closing"? The author has obviously never participated in one. The sales people hustle and delusions of grandeur are depicted quite well though, and played with gusto by a strong trio of actors, where Robert LuPone is a standout. The staging is brisk and assured. The play has potential, provided the script is adjusted accordingly. I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it to a bigger venue, it deserves viewers.... Read more Read less

See it if you're into violence and low-class psychopaths shows

Don't see it if you have good taste and cringe at the vulgar and obscene for the sake of obscenities.

See it if you like Harvey Feinstein's work. If you love Michael Uri - it's his show. If you want to see Angels in America sans the drama.

Don't see it if you are not comfortable with gay theme.

Also Harvey Fierstein's play is essentially Angels in America but without politics and the AIDS. Instead we get jokes. Lots of jokes. Gay jokes, jewish jokes, jewish gay jokes. They are all genially funny, it's just that (and I never thought I'd say that) there are way too many of them. Fierstein's characters seem to be hiding behind them, and instead of luring them out to show the drama, he drowns them in their own jokes. At the beginning the bombardment of witticisms is almost unbearable but then the actors are terrific, especially Michael Urie. It's hard to say that he steals the show as there's essentially no show at all without him, and I don't think he's off stage for a second during this 2 hour 40 minutes play.
There are just a few surprises, well-built into the play. The staging is also not too imaginative and sometimes awkward. But the ensemble of actors, their chemistry, and their love for this project gets under your skin and you can't help but enjoy the hell out of this show.... Read more Read less

See it if you are ok with female sexuality exploration. If you are looking for a fun rather than a deep and meaningful play.

Don't see it if you want a traditional staging.

Also A series of connecting riffs on lesbians, wanna-be lesbians and female dual sexuality in NYC. The actresses are a blast, each one of them: they have a great chemistry and look like they are having a lot of fun themselves in the process, which becomes contagious.
The play itself is super weird and offers some rip-offs of Midsummer Night's Dream it also uses as inspiration. There are two plain lesbian characters and two initially straight ones who were wronged by men. No, they were neither raped nor sexually assaulted - rather, they don't get any. And this is wrong. So two lesbian characters are set to straight it out. Or rather, queer it up. While staging a play, loosely based on MND.
Unsurprisingly, every character comes out as shallow, sexually or monetarily driven and overall quite unpleasant. But the staging is so inventive and brisk, and the actresses are so personable, that the play is able to transcend its own premise and become a heartwarming fun ride.... Read more Read less

See it if you like small productions

Don't see it if you are into musicals, big Broadway productions, etc.

Also This is a very intimate and quiet staging of a terrific Shaw work. They did it more farce than I cared for and added some strange but cute gimmicks like sing along with an audience (no, you don't have to). The actors are quite mediocre with an exception of two characters, but the play is so sparkly and fun that even actors are not in its way.
I've read it many times but for the first time I saw how relevant it was with a perfect Trump figure in its midst.
Even though the play deserves a much more refined staging, this one is so disarmingly warm and humane that it's easy to forgive it its naive vices.... Read more Read less

See it if you are into #metoo movement and don't mind some blatant history rewriting

Don't see it if you're not into Agitprop theater which it is at times.

Also The actors are amazing, direction, while not too imaginative, is solid. The play modernizes the story of Sara Bernhardt, thus taking away from her by turning her into a cartoonish fighter for female rights.... Read more Read less

See it if love Shakespeare and don't mind a very straightforward and unimaginative staging of his work.

Don't see it if If you'd rather see an interesting director interpretation.

Also While the acting ensemble is strong, the director doesn't do much to highlight their abilities. The staging is almost cliche. The stage design is awkward and primitive.... Read more Read less

See it if you are into boring historical plays with some weird PC undertones (women rights in 17th C England, seriously?)

Don't see it if you don't have to.

See it if you love a Moliere-worthy comedy with a modern twist

Don't see it if You'd rather see something modern or a musicale

Also I saw it with two 9-year kids and both kids enjoyed it even more than I did. As good plays go, this one works on different levels, and everyone will find something to laugh about, whether it's an intricate play on words, fart jokes (not bad, I promise), or an amazing physical nimbleness of the actors.... Read more Read less

See it if you're Letts fan and appreciate his pungent, albeit cringeworthy jokes and situations.

Don't see it if you're uncomfortable with graphic sex scenes on stage

Also This play has some funny situations and some amusing lines but it could be tightened up quite a bit. The last scene, especially could be cut for the ending to be more resonant and relevant. The actors are too "Chicago school", i.e. muted and understated to my taste, but they were cast well, the staging is terrific, and the honesty in the story telling is so refreshing that it makes this play a rather fun, albeit bumpy, ride.... Read more Read less

See it if you are interested in AA story, for whatever reason. It's not very well told though

Don't see it if you are allergic to didactic narrative and cartoonish characters.

See it if you like the play itself - the production is very faithful to it, just don't expect any frills, it's done on a shoestring budget

Don't see it if you'd rather see something done right. The directing of the play is ok but actors are too bad even for understudies.

See it if you want to see a deep meaningful play that will not let you go for a while.

Don't see it if you'd rather see a music

Also It is a heavily heady play: she is a lonely accomplished professor at Yale. He is her precocious student and a talented writer. It is Stoner meets Catcher in the Rye. And for the most part of the play we see them reading or relating their own or the other's tales. It's high literature on stage. And it is so powerful in its address that the text crawls inside your brain and lodges there for a while. This is a quiet and desperate rumination on loneliness, the creative process, connection and power, education, class issues, and, ultimately, growth. And it is so merciless and so not caring about your feelings or the feelings of its protagonist that it makes it one of the most shocking and profound plays, especially considering that it is so muted. It's also very American as it has It has this mid-last-century feel of an utter despair, sprouting from a juxtaposition of seemingly happy and healthy environment and your inner revolt against it.... Read more Read less

See it if you're a fan of either gentleman or if you need to improve your opinion of straight white males. Apparently, if you prick them - they bleed!

Don't see it if you don't like mono shows

Also Simon Stephens and Nick Payne give us two mono shows for the price of one: first we have Tom Sturridge story and after the intermission Jake Gyllenhaal takes over with a strikingly similar (yet much funnier and precise) monologue. Both men are super sensitive, happily married and adoring their families. Sturridge story is more tragic so he chose to deliver it with a single emotion - he is scared. And while we do sympathize with him, he's banging us on a head with his sorrows to the point where we are rather bored than horrified. Sturridge is a decent actor but there's not much he is given to play with.
Gyllenhaal has a better material which he prefers to give us with a very confused face. His lines are also confusing, to be fair, as he's telling two stories at the same time. I'd rather have watched just this part and not have my impression contaminated by the first one - cheesy albeit tragic - story.... Read more Read less

See it if You like interactive theater and don’t need a classic narrative

Don't see it if You’d rather sit next to your companion throughout the show. You’ll be walking a lot and it could be claustrophobic for some

Also The troupe is young, vibrant and caring. While the show can strike an older viewer as somewhat naive and too conscientious for the sake of environmental vogue du jour, it's also kind and rather pleasant.

Three families used to live in this house in different times, and now they all come to live, connected by the same problem - lack of drinking water. Show's structure is a bit crumbly but then it's an interactive spectacle, where you go from one room to another, following the characters in a Sleep No More style though it's closer to Then She Fell in its mood and structure.

It's perfect to take your kids to, and they say it's ok from 5+ but then it doesn't look like any of the show creators actually have kids and/or know anything about their preferences. I'd say 10+. Also, keep in mind that you will be separated from whoever you came with.... Read more Read less

See it if you like thinking about the plays you watch

Don't see it if you expect light entertainment.

Also Something old - the play is about three perfectly decent if complicated people, it almost felt refreshing given the rarity. It's about grief and importance of dialog
Something new - a playwright Christopher Shinn came us with a great twist - the brothers are identical twins, which gives an actor - terrific Colin Woodell - to show everything he has, interchanging between a live flamboyant gay brother and a cold withdrawn dead brother we see in flashback scenes.
Something borrowed - the ever-popular emotional abuse theme is annoying, the heroine is pathetic, when she cites daddy issues: "He bought me lots of things I did not want!". What a bastard!
Something blue - It's sad. Grief is a tough bitch, especially when you can't separate whether you grief for a departed loved one or for your own bitter and meaningless life.
The actress couldn't pull her weight, but the actor along with a playwright and a director did great.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see a straightforward but strong revival of Miller's play. If you like to see strong actor's work.

Don't see it if you are not into lengthy dialogs, and would rather see something lighthearted

Also Miller is like Leo Tolstoy of an American stage: his emotions can be moralistically black and white, which comes across as flat when delivered by dialogs only. But the strength of his moral compass and the super-strong carcass of the work itself, the way it unfolds and puts all the pieces together in the final blow, deserves a yearly revival. This is just the 4th one since 1947. The staging is rather static and unimaginative, but Tracy Letts is milking his juicy role with a gusto and his transformation from a kind town elder to a bloody capitalist, proclaiming "War and peace is simply nickels and dimes!" is quite effecting. Annete Bening is also a great force, as a fiercely loyal queen Lear, grieving and manipulating, as she's losing her marbles.... Read more Read less

See it if you love Isabelle Huppert. It's a pure celebrity vehicle with a supporting cast. The direction is also terrific.

Don't see it if you want substance from a play. It's about a woman going nuts in a very cliched and hysterical way.

See it if like funny and well-written dialog and appreciate terrific acting.

Don't see it if you are not into a current pc trend to re-write history and mythology to accommodate transgender actors at the benefit of common sense.

See it if you like your Shakespeare with a Game of Throne twist.

Don't see it if You don't like anachronistic plays and prefer substance to star power.

Also Everything was in confusion in the King Lear’ house. Women old enough to be his sisters play his daughters, Latino dude is saving the kingdom, every positive character that survives is black and every villain or a dead body is white, and there's a deaf block in a kilt and with a personal sign language translator on stage. We are used to anachronisms in the theater, so what if there's a cute quartet running back and forth, while playing a terrific Philip Glass score to spice up some commandoe movement on stage. And the sign translator was actually a cool touch. But I can't wholeheartedly say this is great Shakespeare, because while it may be interesting, brave, silly, or unexpected, - it's got very little to do with Shakespeare, apart from his lines, briefly and carelessly delivered by this ragamuffin ensemble. Evil sisters and their romance with illegitimate Edmund are fun to watch though, the set is gorgeous, and overall it's worth seeing.... Read more Read less

See it if you like propaganda in the theater and don't mind knowing every next curve of a virtually absent intrigue.

Don't see it if you prefer individual over party line. It's an agitprop on metoo theme. The chemistry between actors is real but it's wasted on a bad script

See it if If you know who William Kentridge is - run until there's still tickets. It's an electrifying collage of imagery and ideas.

Don't see it if you don't know who Kentridge is, you probably won't enjoy it much. It's a theater of absurd.

Also This is the theater of absurd so usual measures are hardly applicable to it. The first World War gave birth to absurd theater, its memory served as an impetus for further development, therefore it's only fitting to use it to depict WWI now.
It has all of his usual Meyerholdian tropes, but the scale and the scope of the Armory lends the show an unbelievable physical and emotional strength. I don't think I've ever watched anything this epic.

The music, the voices, the projections, the shadow play tricks - on every imaginable level this show is a giant feast.... Read more Read less

See it if you can't get enough of magic in your life. If you have visitors you need to entertain. If you have kids 7+. If you want to have great fun!

Don't see it if You are easily offended with jokes (fun is poked at some viewers) and with your neighbors being loud and obnoxious (it's very umm democratic

See it if You like one story being told from different angles

Don't see it if You are tired of the mean when the same story is being told from different angels

See it if you like intimate period pieces on WWII, if you're interested in Ireland's history, if you are ok with minimalist setting

Don't see it if If you don't respond well to banalities. The show, while cleverly staged and beautifully played out, essentially is quite trite.

See it if you're are open minded, interested in female sexuality, and appreciate great acting.

Don't see it if you are tired of #metoo agenda as the ending is very disappointing and doesn't hold.

Also The play has so much potential, and the beginning is absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately the older our hero becomes the more banal and cliched writing becomes. The ending is just absurd.... Read more Read less

See it if You are clinically insane

Don't see it if You have a heart and a brain

Also This is a terrible monetizarion on a real tragedy that happened in our city several years ago. Why the author decided to depict a grieving couple as evil incarnated, is beyond me. Frankly, if I were those people, I’d sue the theater. The whole show is insensitive, cliched and just awful.... Read more Read less

See it if you are interested in the past and current peaceful protest movements. If you enjoy work of Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen, If I forget)

Don't see it if you are uncomfortable with non-pc works, if you'd rather see a musical.

Also Great and timely play about futility of public protests, clasp of high-minded and down-to-earth ideas, youth, its confusion, its struggles and its frailty.
The "collective" of three young people live together, while trying to stop Vietnam war pretty much singlehandedly. Their relationship is tested on an everyday basis, they fight, love, cry and rage. Oh, how they rage!
The play, written by Steven Levenson (If I forget, Dear Evan Hansen) is terrifically non-pc, the language is so vibrant, it could have been a radio play. Trip Cullman (Significant Other, The Substance of Fire) assuredly directs a solid group of young actors (my favorite Tavi Gevinson is becoming a formidable force) - I saw a preview and there wasn't a single hiccup one needs to correct. Casting of Lauren Patten (Fun Home, the Wolves) is a bit questionable and the play could use more music, because what young people don't listen to it non-stop, but overall it's theater at its most enjoyable and smart.... Read more Read less

See it if you have a kid in tow. It's excruciatingly boring for the adults.

Don't see it if you actually want a coherent and meaningless play on inventions and/or history of inventions.

See it if you are into British exports and farce in general

Don't see it if you don't like meaningless laughs and have contempt for bad plots. This one is not genius to say the least.

See it if you like interactive shows with lots of audience participation

Don't see it if you love musicals, traditional linear genres, etc.

Also Mecurio promises “no barriers” “revealing and fascinating” show but the result, while never boring, is just shallow. A lot depends on the audience, of course. When I went there was barely 30 ppl in a much larger theater which felt a bit weird, as if you were attending a dress rehearsal. Mercurio used to be a M&A lawyer turned one the original writers for John Stewart show. He called in some younger folks (not fun as they have no story to tell yet) and some much older ones. There was his second grade teacher with her friends, his neighbor (though he had no idea she was his neighbor) and some delightfully crazy stalker of John Stewart (for real!) with her kid.
The show is essentially what the audience makes it to be. What it lacks completely though is any teeth since screaming at the audience “shut up” and “fuck you” is not exactly that. It has great potentials. But it needs to cut the small talk and really have no barriers.... Read more Read less

See it if you prefer brainy entertainment, if you enjoy science and love animals.

Don't see it if you are not into one-woman shows, and want a traditional play

Also Ms. Rossellini is the bravest woman I know. An actress turned farmer turned dog trainer turned biology professor turned director.
Her new show is warm, whimsical and quite educational. I’ve learned that dogs and ducks have the most intricate vaginas in order for a female to choose the right partner during a gang rape. Ive learned the difference between Aristotle and Descartes approach to animal psyche. I’ve learned that birds have accents, chickens can identify Picasso paintings and that Ms.Rossellini is a lot of fun. And I’ve learned that it doesn’t mater how famous or beautiful you are, you have to constantly learn, and grow, and take others for the ride. She is full of insecurities she is very aware of, and she fights her fears as well as the world’s fear of its own ignorance.... Read more Read less

See it if you like seeing great young actors with amazing synergy. If you prefer relevant themes of race and economics

Don't see it if you are not into intimate works and prefer more glitz. This one is quiet and a bit unsettling.

See it if You like big but tasteful Broadway productions. If you like Bernard Shaw. If you like deep themes.

Don't see it if you are into musical and comedies, can't stand long thoughtful monologues

Also Broadway of the year, and possibly best Broadway I've ever seen.
Ms. Rashad is not always up to her task but the staging is astonishingly beautiful, the play is whip smart, and the male ensemble is strongest since Incident at Vichy two years ago.... Read more Read less