A Clockwork Orange (New World Stages) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (239)
See it if you want to see an intense, fast-paced, imaginative, highly stylized, well-choreographed staging of Burgess' groundbreaking dystopian novel.
Don't see it if you'll be disturbed by the violence & harsh language of the British gangs and the disturbing treatment of the protagonist by the authorities
See it if you want to see an inventive physical reimagining of the story.
Don't see it if you like to identify with the character. Alex is inaccessible. He's a punk, arrested, therapized and a mess. You never see HIM.
See it if You want to see this story told in a new, inventive way. The music choices and choreography were effective.
Don't see it if You are expecting the intensity of the movie. I found this version less disturbing which may not satisfy fans of the movie. Read more
See it if you like the novel and curious about its staging, enjoy athletic dancing with homoerotic overtones, like bright lighting & loud music
Don't see it if don't like shows like Tap Dogs even with more plot, loud noisy music & dancing, difficult to follow if unfamiliar with source, bright lights Read more
See it if you’d enjoy excellent performances, and the play’s relevance to today’s loss of societal humanity and the search to regain it.
Don't see it if you would be upset by the pointless cruelty of the characters, or you need a lovable protagonist. Every character here is deeply troubled.
See it if .
Don't see it if .
See it if You are in the mood for athletic variations on A Clockwork Orange’s themes performed by a stunning all male cast.
Don't see it if Do you want a replication of the movie.
See it if you like testosterone, gorgeous bodies, complex speech, a fairly complicated plot, dynamic sequences with some ultra-violence, and milk.
Don't see it if violence upsets, you have issues with language comprehension, you don't like men, you have an unrelenting needs to compare plays to movies.
Critic Reviews (48)
“Alexandra Spencer-Jones’s staging slices deeply into the human psyche…Ms. Spencer-Jones’s creation is an accurate telling of the novel energized by the athletic dance movement and athleticism of the ensemble cast…Under her precise and inventive direction, the ensemble cast of ‘misfits’ and ‘miscreants’ deliver uniformly authentic performances…A theatre piece that scrapes away at the stolid underbelly of American morality with surgical precision and a merciless zeal to heal.”
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“Davies anchors the piece with maniacal precision and vulnerability...He and his equally sexually charged all-male ensemble deftly move their way through Jones’ physical staging…Davies is best at dialing back but others in the ensemble subscribe to ‘more is more’ with fire and brimstone delivery that occasionally undermines the script. That being said, as a whole, the multicultural cast takes on a slew of characters with deft clarity and physicalization.”
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"While September is admittedly very early to make predictions about an entire theater season, it’s hard to imagine there will be a more spectacular NY stage debut than the one being given by Davies...But Spencer-Jones rather oversimplifies the philosophical discussions. Indeed, one often feels that style has overtaken substance throughout much of the play’s 90-minute running time, with some sections, striking as they are, skirting a little too close to a pure modern dance performance."
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“Spencer-Jones's work is highly choreographic, with every movement…precisely timed, like the mechanism after which the play is named...Well-done as the choreographic movement is...we get caught up more in its technical than emotional or painful aspects, a problem dominating the entire ramped-up production…The high-pressure theatrics make it difficult to accept anything as real, much less erotic...The presentation favors form over substance, i.e., it could use more orange and less clockwork.”
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"Less a conventional stage play than a high-voltage homoerotic dance drama...Never less than watchable, thanks to some thrilling choreography and to its graceful, hunky nine-member cast...The author’s sly morality tale is still there for the diligent theatergoer, the story of ultraviolent Alex, a menace to society, who becomes menaced by society...To his credit, Burgess offers no pat answers, and lets no one off the hook, not even himself."
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"A thrillingly respectful amalgam of Burgess’ hurtle into an acidic culture...Spencer-Jones' immaculate treatment of the material results in a 90-minute, intermissionless dive, one featuring precise, exaggerated behaviors and closely drilled movements...There is much to be said for the performers cast for this production and it’s not just that they’re triple-threat actor-singer-dancers; as an ensemble, they’re off the charts."
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"What is happening at New World Stages in 'A Clockwork Orange' has me scratching my head...The men of the cast are chiseled, buff, and beautiful on the outside. But on the inside, they are warped, sadistic, and their vicious foreplay borders on homoerotic...Davies as Alex is hauntingly brilliant...This 'A Clockwork Orange' glorifies criminal behavior, making it sexy. Suddenly the world feels not so safe and this show seems way too long."
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"Blame it on director Spencer-Jones, who uses Burgess’s Nabokovian fable about free will and state control as an excuse to have cute guys whip off their tank tops and dance-fight. If you already know the story you’re in for a long 90 minutes of cartoon mugging and cheesy, choreographed rapes and rumbles…Fewer BDSM clichés and better acting in supporting roles would have made the show feel less like a camped-up ethics lecture and more like the journey of a soul."
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