All the Ways to Say I Love You
Closed 1h 0m
All the Ways to Say I Love You
78

All the Ways to Say I Love You NYC Reviews and Tickets

78%
(134 Ratings)
Positive
84%
Mixed
14%
Negative
2%
Members say
Great acting, Absorbing, Intense, Thought-provoking, Intelligent

About the Show

MCC Theater presents Neil LaBute's new drama, a solo play about love, hard choices, and the cost of fulfilling an all-consuming desire. Starring two-time Tony winner Judith Light.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (134)

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470 Reviews | 113 Followers
100
Absorbing, Masterful, Great acting, Resonant

See it if You love Judith Light, who gives a powerhouse performance as a conflicted teacher. Beautiful set design set in a school room.

Don't see it if You are offended by the talk of adultery.

64 Reviews | 36 Followers
100
Absorbing, Great acting, Edgy, Intelligent, Must see

See it if you love Judith Light and complex, antiheroines.

Don't see it if you don't mind missing out on the best that NY has to offer. Don't miss this show.

203 Reviews | 49 Followers
98
Absorbing, Intense, Great acting, Powerful, Emotional

See it if you want to see a magnificent performance by Judith Light. Whatever weaknesses in the script, Ms. Light holds court and never lets up

Don't see it if one person plays are not your thing. A very emotional monologue, one can wonder: Who is she talking to?

123 Reviews | 211 Followers
95
Absorbing, Great acting, Great writing, Masterful, Must see

See it if you like intense, thrilling plays, Judith Light, or Neil LaBute.

Don't see it if you don't like one woman shows, otherwise go!

WH
448 Reviews | 88 Followers
90
Absorbing, Funny, Intense, Profound, Thought-provoking

See it if You love Judith Light and a well told story.

Don't see it if Don't like monologues.

57 Reviews | 12 Followers
88
Great acting, Thought-provoking, Relevant

See it if You want to see amazing acting by Judith Light. Story line is pure Neil LaBute (always a twist) so if you love his shows, definitely go see.

Don't see it if You do not like one person shows about complex, real life situations

441 Reviews | 88 Followers
87
Absorbing, Enchanting, Clever

See it if You enjoy seeing Judith Light in probably the best role of her career. An emotionally charged solo performance.

Don't see it if Do you not see this if you are sensitive concerning sexual issues. Do you not see this if you are ultra conservative .

97 Reviews | 18 Followers
85
Absorbing, Great acting, Ambitious

See it if outstanding performance by Judith Light in an interesting monologue would thrill you

Don't see it if a short one person play about a teacher who errs in her behavior would bore you

Critic Reviews (36)

The New York Times
September 28th, 2016

"Light's performance, under the assured direction of Leigh Silverman, is a model of modulated transparency. It’s an artful 'now you see her, now you don’t' presentation of character that almost makes you believe that the story being told on stage may wind up surprising you after all. It doesn’t...Ms. Light brings a vibrant, thirsty eroticism to the part...'All the Ways' feels less like classical tragedy than vintage soap opera."
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Time Out New York
September 28th, 2016

"It could accurately be described as lightweight—or, better, Light-weight: Its impact comes largely from Judith Light’s full-throttle performance...Light moves in and out of emotional intensity, building up pressure and then pulling back. It’s foreplay of a kind, but it builds to an odd anticlimax. LaBute has written very good short plays spun out of single ideas. This hour-long work seems like an attenuated version of one of those: a 20-minute play with stretch marks."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
September 28th, 2016

"The gap between content and tone is so extreme that the play would get dangerously close to giggle-worthy were it not for Light’s commitment to it...She is a marvel of heightened naturalism, all her abilities in top form and wielded together toward the same ends...That said, it’s clear that Light is working too hard to make up for what’s missing in the script...I’m not sure what else the director and actress could have done...It’s admirable how much they succeed."
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Deadline
October 7th, 2016

"This Neil LaBute monologue dresses up the sordid tale of a horny married teacher and her affair with a very young African-American student in a lame approximation of Greek tragedy that reaches way beyond its soap-opera grasp...Mrs. Johnson is a wallowing, self-regarding narcissist...The show is effectively staged by Leigh Silverman for the adventurous MCC Theatre, and I believe we’re supposed to admire her for her 'honesty,' but I wasn’t buying any of it for a second."
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Variety
September 28th, 2016

"An embarrassingly clumsy one-act...LaBute always did have a way with words. But while the language of the play makes for easy listening, not so the thinking behind it...Light is one of our most reliable stage actors...But she appears to be experiencing real discomfort getting through Mrs. Johnson’s humiliating confession, discomfort beyond the character’s own distress about the lies she’s told...There’s no context for Mrs. Johnson’s exposure of her deepest, most painful secrets."
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The Hollywood Reporter
September 28th, 2016

"Lasting less than an hour, the monologue barely justifies its existence beyond serving as a strong acting vehicle...Unobtrusively directed by Silverman, the piece feels overextended despite its brevity; the provocative premise is never fleshed out in sufficiently intriguing fashion. Its thinness is somewhat redeemed by Light's impressively intense performance...The playwright has put us in similarly uncomfortable moral positions many times before, but usually in far more interesting fashion."
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AM New York
September 28th, 2016

"A relatively sympathetic character portrait, in which Mrs. Johnson opens up about the weight of her anguish and regret. It’s as if LaBute is trying to confront the general perception that his writing is misogynistic in tone. Light gives a shaded and dramatically effective performance under the direction of Leigh Silverman that keeps you drawn in. That said, 'All the Ways to Say I Love You' is a pretty slight offering, running just an hour and with a single performer on a tiny set."
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Theatermania
September 28th, 2016

"It is a disappointing misfire from an otherwise dynamite team...LaBute continues his penchant for the unexpected by eschewing all that makes him a thrilling writer, penning a play that is limp in both story and language...The story lethargically meanders as LaBute drops little breadcrumbs that encourage us to hold out hope for an exciting twist that never really comes...Director Silverman does little to solve the disconnect between text and performer."
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