Blue Ridge NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (143)
See it if YOu like Marin Ireland, this is a showcase for her incredible acting. Also, great interplay of character dialogue. Lots of issues raised.
Don't see it if YOu want a clear understanding of the characters and their choices. Or if you need to have a clear message from the playwright.
See it if Some stellar performances esp Ireland and Kendall. Witty and funny dialogue. Fast paced.
Don't see it if Three meltdowns in one play are too many for you - especially when they come out of the blue. Read more
See it if you're interested in plays about people trying to work through recovery, or want to see a great performance by Marin Ireland
Don't see it if you're looking for a play without flawed or troubled characters or prefer to see something more cheery.
See it if Marin Ireland is always worth watching. Cozy neighborhood theater conveniently downtown.
Don't see it if Depressing characters and hillbilly accents are a turn off. Read more
See it if Rate the play 70-75, the performances 80-85. Worth seeing even though not a totally satisfying experience.
Don't see it if Unsympathetic protagonists & unresolved endings don't appeal.. If you can't get past the play's weaknesses to enjoy the acting.
See it if you are interested in seeing new works produced by a strong and talented cast
Don't see it if if you are turned off by stories about mental health issues and addicitions
See it if you love Marin Ireland. She, along with the rest of the cast, is fantastic.
Don't see it if don't want to do a deep dive into mental health issues.
See it if For new voices in writing about real life and actors who inhabit the challenges of playing it real
Don't see it if Stories of anger, hurt, and flawed humanity are not your thing. These are hard characters to like or watch.
Critic Reviews (28)
“Rosebrock introduces an interesting mélange of broken characters in her new play...As multidimensional and multi-leveled as these characters are, the playwright never allows them to develop fully...Rosebrock chooses to tackle a myriad of relevant and important themes...Although not one of these themes receives an exhaustive exploration...Magar directs with acute care allowing each actor to explore their character’s conflicts and the resolution of those conflicts."
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"A comedy that morphs into an intensely acted drama...Ireland’s remarkable performance brings out the full range and force of Alison’s personality with every gesture and expression. And she is not alone. Rosebrock’s script feels flawed at times in two contrary ways — sometimes aimlessly meandering, sometimes abruptly implausible. But under the direction of Taibi Magar, the production serves as a stellar showcase for some riveting acting by all six members of the cast."
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"'Blue Ridge' shares with its predecessors several thematic concerns…as well as an offbeat female lead. However, it mostly flounders in a haze of thickly authentic hillbilly accents, tediously laconic characters, tenuously amusing repartee, and thinly contrived plotting…Alison is another of the edgy, emotionally vulnerable, volatile women that have made Marin a…critics' favorite…Taibi Magar…is unable to invest this material with life, or to make organically credible its more 'dramatic' scenes."
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"Brave. Raw. Truthful. Compelling. These adjectives have been applied with unusual consistency to the work of actress Marin Ireland for nearly 20 years, so it should be far from surprising that they prove, once again, to be absolutely fitting when describing her performance as Alison, a woman with serious issues of anger, self-esteem and narcissism, in Abby Rosebrock's ultimately harrowing drama 'Blue Ridge.'"
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"Beautifully articulated, extremely wise play...Rosebrock sets her plot going in an impressive blend of humor, pathos, theatrics, surprise and heady dramatic spice...Interpersonal eruptions unfold and mount in increasingly incendiary scenes that underline Rosebrock’s command of psychological complexities...Rosebrock’s script receives first-rate direction from Taibi Magar, whose cast members are uniformly flawless."
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"The remarkable actor Marin Ireland delivers a big, inventive, overwrought performance that might even be more devastating if it were cut in half...One of the real pleasures of Rosebrock’s writing is that, while Ireland’s Alison has more Appalachian twang than a half-dozen hillbillies, she’s one of the smartest characters on the stage...What is perfectly developed are Alison’s razor-precise and spot-on attacks on the pervasive male patriarchy surrounding her, and smothering her."
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"The first act builds slowly to a surprising climax that I did not see coming. The second act features a gripping emotional meltdown, but then spins its wheels and ends on an unsatisfying note...Director Magar shows an affinity for the material. For me the opportunity to see Ireland emote was reason enough to attend. The rest of the fine cast more than holds its own onstage with her. At its best moments, the play is quite gripping. It’s just good enough that one wishes it were even better."
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"Few actresses can wring as many variations on self-indulgent despair as Marin Ireland...Her interactions with her fellow participants and the group’s facilitators form the backbone of Rosebrock’s prickly and moving drama. The dialogue crackles with authentic flavor delivered with intense conviction by Ireland and the ensemble, directed with a feel for empathy by Taibi Magar...'Blue Ridge' delivers a satisfying insight into the irresistible paths of dysfunction."
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