Antlia Pneumatica
Closed 1h 45m
Antlia Pneumatica
65

Antlia Pneumatica NYC Reviews and Tickets

65%
(79 Ratings)
Positive
47%
Mixed
37%
Negative
16%
Members say
Slow, Confusing, Disappointing, Great acting, Absorbing

About the Show

Playwrights Horizons presents the world premiere of Anne Washburn's new play about a group of old friends who reckon with their pasts as they bury a loved one.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (79)

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60 Reviews | 18 Followers
56
Confusing, Insipid, Cliched, Boring, Banal

See it if you have nothing better to do and have a subscription to this good theatre.

Don't see it if you are looking for a very interesting, exciting or deep evening or matinee at the theatre.

408 Reviews | 86 Followers
55
Disappointing

See it if you might enjoy a cool visual effect where the theatre is lit up like a starry sky. that's about it.

Don't see it if you don't want to be disappointed

94 Reviews | 26 Followers
53
Confusing, Great acting, Interesting set

See it if you like odd shows that don't follow storytelling norms.

Don't see it if you get confused easily.

186 Reviews | 37 Followers
50
Confusing, Funny, Edgy, Quirky, Disappointing

See it if you like Anne Washburn or surreal plays that deal with the theme of death

Don't see it if you want a coherent ending, explanations, or something fun.

112 Reviews | 36 Followers
50
Confusing, Slow, Meh, Ambitious, Thought-provoking

See it if you enjoy shows that leave you thinking afterwards, partially because you're trying to figure out what exactly happened.

Don't see it if You want a show with a clear-cut story that comes to a conclusion at the end.

89 Reviews | 37 Followers
50
Soporific, Indulgent, Droning, Uninspired, Predictable

See it if You enjoy being captive for 1 hour 45 minutes with no intermission, listening to confused voice overs and sitting in the dark, listening.

Don't see it if You want theatre to engage you fully.

179 Reviews | 19 Followers
50
Confusing, Disappointing, Edgy

See it if You are new to Off Broadway

Don't see it if You want a coherent, entertaining evening of theatre

104 Reviews | 37 Followers
43
Ambitious, Confusing, Quirky, Slow, Edgy

See it if Bizarre southern ghost stories with extremely strange dialogue sounds appealing

Don't see it if You like to care about the characters onstage

Critic Reviews (32)

Theatre's Leiter Side
April 4th, 2016

"Washburn plays with our perceptions of reality as her script slowly ambles, or, I should say, rambles, along, offering behavior that's sometimes conventionally realistic...and sometimes magically realistic. This being a play in which things are not always what they seem to be, the situation, for all its seeming ordinariness, makes it hard to become fully engaged with these shadowy characters...‘Antlia Pneumatica’ could stand to have some dramatic air pumped into it."
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The Guardian (UK)
April 4th, 2016

"While 'Antlia' works well as a low-key naturalistic play and fairly successfully as a more stylized one, the production doesn’t yet unite the two modes in ways that seem purposeful. Some of the disappointment is in the finish, where Washburn sets up a terrific conflict where diverging realities suddenly collide. But just when the nightscape threatens to become wonderfully mystifying, the play ends."
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Times Square Chronicles
April 4th, 2016

"The plot you figure out almost instantaneously. The problem here is once you do, you don’t care...We get banal talk about the stars and our existence...Director Ken Rus Schmoll does not help make this piece any more palatable. The good news here is the actors all radiate warmth and a realness that makes this seem less like acting and more like peering through a slice of time."
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The Wrap
April 4th, 2016

"Beware of plays with coy, obscure titles that are clumsily explained shortly before the final curtain...Washburn captures the awkward humor of people trying to play catch up with their collective past. She and her director, Ken Rus Schmoll, are effective when scenes feature the witty banter between Nina and the other female characters...A not insubstantial amount of 'Artlia' unfolds like a radio play with voices amplified and/or taped as the audience sits looking at a bare stage."
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B
April 4th, 2016

"I did not have high hopes for Anne Washburn’s new play now at Playwrights Horizons. Alas, my low expectations were met...It has a major gimmick and a few minor ones, none of which worked for me...All this might have involved me more if the characters had been more interesting...Ken Rus Schmoll directs with a sure hand. Washburn is greatly admired by many in the theatrical community. I wish I could see what they see."
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Broadway & Me
April 9th, 2016

"Perhaps because I've been wrestling with some of the issues that Washburn is trying to work out, I was willing to forgive the play's considerable shortcomings...The acting is uneven...Parisse anchors this production with a smart yet heartfelt performance...But the real problem is that the play's aims are murky…In some ways, 'Antlia Pneumatica' seems like a draft instead of a finished play. As the characters nattered on about one thing after another, the audience got more and more restless."
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Off Off Online
April 6th, 2016

"A meandering play...The scenes come off as a torturous radio show and may spur you to cancel your subscription to NPR...The conversations seem deliberately mundane and opaque, and although director Ken Rus Schmoll imparts a certain sporadic charge to them, the effect is frequently to leave the listener at a loss...Washburn has a following and her work is produced regularly, but she also has skeptics. Obscure and unsatisfying, 'Antlia Pneumatica' will give the latter plenty of reason to carp."
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Financial Times (UK)
April 6th, 2016

"Without basic narrative grist, the dramatic machinery risks grinding to a halt. There lies the problem with Anne Washburn’s new play 'Antlia Pneumatica'...The six characters just don’t have much to say to each other. And what they do say sounds scripted...'Antlia' evolves into a kind of ghost story — albeit one that never surprises us. Under Ken Rus Schmoll’s direction, the pacing remains glacial throughout."
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