Ballyturk NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (36)
See it if you enjoy Enda Walsh's erratic surrealist take on existential issues. If you enjoy Beckett or non-linear innovative storytelling.
Don't see it if You want a conventional experience at a theater. The experience of an Enda Walsh play can be quite visceral and not for everybody.
See it if you want a play that will make you think and powerful performances. great set and impactful end. reminds me of becket.
Don't see it if you want a traditional play and don't like when things go unanswered
See it if You like existential theater delivered by a skilled cast. Walsh's writing is dark and thought-provoking. Mikel Murfi is especially fantastic
Don't see it if You struggle with slow, non-narrative-driven theater. The central actors bring levity but the directing indulges in excruciating silences.
See it if you like Enda Walsh
Don't see it if you need to understand what was going on the whole time
See it if You love avant-garde theatre, or don't but just go to the theatre to be moved. You will be moved and you won't understand why.
Don't see it if You have no tolerance for plays that seems pointless until half-way in. Or if you over-intellectualize and want everything to make sense.
See it if you like off-the-wall theatre that is very active and makes you really pay attention to try and figure out what's happening.
Don't see it if you don't like Twilight Zone-esque plots. It got a little weird and confusing for sure.
See it if you're a fan of the Beckett-style
Don't see it if you need concrete plot and concept.
See it if you like quirky re-interpretations of Waiting for Godot. The actors are excellent. Good staging!
Don't see it if you're tired of Beckett-esque things...
Critic Reviews (15)
"The dark and enigmatic cosmic farce...'Ballyturk' is so verbally dense that it’s possible to be hypnotized, if not numbed, by some of its lush spoken arias. Even at 90 minutes, it would be better shorter...As a director, Walsh knows how to weave a web of images that defy language. And he infuses them with a kinetic charge...But no matter your immediate response to 'Ballyturk,' it is likely to take up residence in your thoughts after you’ve seen it."
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"Walsh crams big themes into small spaces...After immersing us in this busily static space—Beckett on uppers—Walsh pulls it down with the dramatic arrival of 3 (the magnetic Fouéré)...What this deliberately mysterious play 'means' is left to the audience to imagine. To me, it feels like a theatrical metaphor about the attractions and limits of theater itself; your mileage may vary, but Walsh offers plenty to consider and enjoy along the road."
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“Thrilling...A wild, devastating cry from a playwright who’s both celebrating the small miracle of humankind’s creative impulse and interrogating its ultimate usefulness...A play full of stunning monologues...Walsh turns theatrical examinations of stuckness into exegeses on the art of playmaking. Theater is uniquely good at talking about, eviscerating, celebrating itself — and in 'Ballyturk' you can sense Walsh’s fear that perhaps, in the face of real life’s chaos, that’s all it’s good for.”
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"There are flashes when it’s funny and sad. But mostly it’s a mystery...What’s it all about? That’s never fully explained but intentionally left up in the air. But here’s the thing about a head-scratcher: It can also stimulate your brain. 'Ballyturk' does."
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"As enigmatic, exhilarating, nonsensical, and frustrating as Samuel Beckett's masterpiece...Though Walsh isn't adding any particularly new insight into the theatrical conversation about life, death, and everything in between, once we see the direction in which he's going, we are able to focus more on what's important. The work, too, finds a nice little center, and there is an unexpected poignancy that follows as Murphy and Murfi confront all of the feelings they thought they'd forgotten."
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"Seems to operate on the theory that if a bit of nonsense is amusing, a shipping container's worth is even better. This is not to denigrate the total commitment and skill of the two actors...As 'Ballyturk' begins to acquire a dramatic profile, it also comes to resemble a compendium of absurdist drama tropes…Shuttles between the inexplicable and the derivative, it may be worth seeing if only to catch Fouéré...She very nearly transforms this willfully strange piece into a meaningful experience."
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“A dark comedy...An existential drama about friendship and all the personal sacrifices, large and small, that it can demand from an individual...It is amazing to see Murfi do his frenetic comedy routines on stage, while infusing a genuine humanity...Equally mesmerizing is Murphy, whose physical agility and sensitive acting as Character One terrifically complements Murfi's...Fouere delivers a commanding performance...‘Ballyturk’ at St. Ann's might just convert you into a Walsh fan.”
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"While there is an often frustrating incoherence, this does not diminish the emotional punch thrown by the performance’s climax...Murfi is fantastic...As goofy in 'Ballyturk' as he is devastating...‘Ballyturk’ elicits more questions than it answers in its 95 minutes running time...Be prepared to be thrown off your axis. It is a noteworthy experience, but you’ll land a bit disoriented when the house lights go up.”
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