"This overlapping of our responses to a seductive bot is the most ingenious and instructive aspect of 'Blast.' Otherwise, Kazan’s new play, although immaculately mounted and fluently acted, seldom fully grabs our feelings or stirs our thoughts...Characters often seem to have little existence beyond their functions as avatars of a new social order. The relationship between Oliver and Anna never acquires the heat to make us feel anxious when it’s in jeopardy."
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"As designed by Noah Mease and voiced by Will Connolly, the robot dominates Zoe Kazan’s cautionary drama 'After the Blast'...It is palpably overlong, and there is some rather heavy-handed finger-wagging about the things we take for granted. But Milioti and Harper are excellent in the central roles, director Lila Neugebauer surrounds them with a top-drawer production and Arthur is downright merchandisable."
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"Its heart — and its strength — is its examination of despair, the daily, deadening tug toward the dark...Under Neugebauer’s meticulous, confident hand, Harper and Milioti give mesmerizing performances: painfully raw without a trace of melodrama....Milioti’s interactions with her automated scene partner feel like tiny miracles...'After the Blast’s' brilliance lies in its use of science fiction’s black mirror to cast light on human betrayals both global and personal."
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"It pulls off the bedazzling feat of taking a hyper-politicized topic and using it as the occasion for a taut, sermon-free drama whose true subject is the inability of men and women to see each other plain...Milioti brings a disciplined yet utterly natural intensity that makes it impossible for you to look at anyone else whenever she’s on stage...The true star of 'After the Blast,' however, is its creator. Kazan has emerged as a writer of real individuality."
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“'After the Blast' teeters disturbingly on the loomingly intrusive interplay between artificial intelligence and basic human instincts and emotions...Kazan has something bigger in mind and not futuristic at all...Under the keenly sensitive direction of Lila Neugebauer, ‘ After the Blast’ has been given a dream showcase, starting with the cast.”
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“Director Lila Neugebauer’s production is sleekly designed — sets and clothes hit subtle futuristic notes — and skillfully acted. Milioti is particularly fine at capturing Anna’s intense feelings. But at 2 1/2 hours, the play loses momentum and the play becomes more pedestrian. Bottom line: Hot jobs post-apocalypse include scientist, doctor, marriage counselor.”
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"Sluggishly paced and needlessly attenuated, the drama squanders its provocative ideas through self-indulgence...'After the Blast' delivers an imaginative, understated portrait of a futuristic society...But the writing also feels flabby and unfocused...Director Neugebauer's listless staging doesn't help, making the evening feel even longer than it actually is. She has, however, elicited superb performances from the lead actors."
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"Full of sensitive insights and glimmers of horror, this domestic drama still moves at the sluggish pace of a recluse who refuses to change out of her pj's...Undoubtedly, that robot is the thing everyone will remember about 'After the Blast'...Milioti and the robot have the most natural chemistry of anyone in the cast...Kazan's play contains echoes of earlier (and more fully realized) science fiction...Director Lila Neugebauer realistically creates this sunless world."
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