“Offers plenty to think about and much to enjoy in Michael Greif’s sleek production. But as drama it’s not only a nonstarter but a nonender; it’s a red herring that swallows its own tail…‘A Parallelogram,’ which at first seems like a change of pace from Mr. Norris’s usual satirical approach, reveals itself as more of the same but weaker…Norris’ ginned-up climaxes go nowhere...If you knew how the play ended when it began, would you see it? In this case, I think not.”
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“Whether you'll want to see ‘A Parallelogram’ depends on your palate for poison. Norris excels at writing conversations you heartily wish would end, and Keenan-Bolger and Kunken talk at each other with the kind of blank insistence that does, in fact, make you fear for humanity. I certainly came away with a bad taste in my mouth; the play is successful, as far as it goes, in making even the pre-apocalypse savor of ashes.”
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“The restless, disturbing new play burrowed under my skin…I left 'A Parallelogram' with the same feeling in my internal organs that I’ve had after watching certain episodes of 'Black Mirror'—and Norris’ play strikes me as the closest I have seen a piece of contemporary theater come to accessing that same unsettling strain of science-not-quite-fiction…Norris, director Greif, and their company have done a rare thing: They have created a production that’s not asking to be liked.”
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"If you knew in advance what was going to happen in your life and couldn’t change it, would you still want to go on? Audiences at Norris’s darkly funny but frustrating comedy...are likely to walk away with a different query: Is that all there is? Alas, yes. Despite pungent performances all around and a crisp staging by director Michael Greif...the play leaves you wanting...Leaving things up for grabs is one thing, but copping out is another...In the end, the play doesn't square."
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"Greif keeps a sharp cast moving at a smart clip through a static text that’s more talk than action—and more thought than talk. Most of the conversation takes place in the bland bedroom of an unmarried couple who are themselves pretty bland...The problem with the play has nothing to do with science, or even sci-fi versions of time travel. The problem is that Bee is severely hamstrung by her limited imagination and lack of human compassion."
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“More often than not it seems to be spinning its own wheels…‘A Parallelogram’ doesn’t live up to its sharpest moments. Whatever messages Norris is trying to impart are muddled at best and depressing at worst. The shifting perspectives add up to little more than clever narrative tricks…The play also feels needlessly dragged out…The performers do solid work, but Keenan-Bolger and Kunken are hamstrung by their characters’ shrillness...The saving grace is Gillette."
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"Far from Norris' best...Norris’ premise is an interesting one but what should have been an existential head trip ends up something of a cop out and dramatically it’s rather inert. All of the characters, including a young Latino lawn cutter, become tiresome halfway through. It is well acted though and Greif’s direction is strong enough to keep us guessing far longer than the play deserves...Disappointingly half-baked."
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“An undeniably intelligent and multilayered play…This comedy with a bitter dramatic aftertaste will leave you pondering what exactly you just saw for days after…Norris has us mentally firing on all cylinders. Every beat seems to bring a new insight or argument to consider…A well-staged, sharply designed production…Greif and Norris steadily accelerate the flow of ideas and dramatic possibilities all the way to the end as we work to keep up with a play that always feels a few steps ahead of us.”
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