Can You Forgive Her? NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (166)
See it if you want interesting issues raised (the role of money in relationships/society) and are willing to have the discussion terribly muddied.
Don't see it if you want a coherent plot and consistent characters. The dialogue drags. For the Vineyard's stage, unsuitable.
See it if You want a clever, fun character piece in a tight one act show. Amber Tamblyn was fantastic. Easy show to digest and enjoy.
Don't see it if You don't like funny character plays. or plays about our inner dysfunction.
See it if you've like Gionfriddo's past work, enjoy quirky characters including a great turn by Amber Tamblyn, as well as thoughts on women and money
Don't see it if you want to be gripped immediately by a play, have no patience with odd characters, can't stand excessive stage yelling and tantrums
See it if you're an Amber Tamblyn fan or a fan of such stale topics as single-motherhood, working-class debt & mommy issues (w/o any new insights).
Don't see it if you seek an engrossing, amusing or thought-provoking production. This contrived, unevenly acted, half-baked play has none of those qualities
See it if Gionfriddo's take on modern women's economic/sexual choices loosely based on Trollope novel Teaming with ideas yet nothing seems to cohere
Don't see it if Overly long & slow build up hinders early compassion for characters; sluggish direction by DuBois Action picks up with Frank Wood's entrance
See it if like a play where each character asks Why Am I doing this? Vineyard is always a great place to see theater. The cast gets it.
Don't see it if a bit fluffy at times.. relations between Moms and children arise from the blue
See it if You'd be interested in a play about the plight of lower middle class white people trying to dig out of debt and deal with their lives.
Don't see it if You're not interested in another dramedy featuring whiny, down-on-their-luck characters. Read more
See it if you enjoy stories about dysfunctional relationships or people who are downtrodden.
Don't see it if you're looking for a pick-me-up or likeable characters. There are some laughs in this, but the focus is really on life's harsh realities.
Critic Reviews (29)
“The characters speak a kind of bad-faith dialogue, often mechanical or contrary to logic…‘Can You Forgive Her?’ does not, over the longish haul of its 95 minutes, make much drama out of its question mark…The tone is so wobbly that the play draws laughs when it wants to be taken seriously. The opposite is sadly true as well…Despite its perceptiveness about women and marriage today, the play as a whole suffers from the same self-cancelling vagueness as its heroine.”
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“Gionfriddo’s new play is called ‘Can You Forgive Her?,’ and after 95 punishing minutes, the obvious answer is no. We cannot forgive the playwright for a haphazard drama knocked together out of unbelievable situations. We cannot forgive the lame characters and thin dialogue…DuBois's direction has no zip or style…Barely a single thing on stage seems right: actors are miscast...The play lingers briefly and sourly in the mind, waiting to be forgotten—if not, you know, that other thing.”
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“This dark comedy proves far too inconsequential to justify spending time with its mostly unlikable, weightless characters…The play, sluggishly directed by Peter DuBois, sporadically succeeds in showcasing Gionfriddo’s talent for pungent dialogue...The charismatic Tamblyn provides much needed sparks and Wood garners consistent laughs…Their efforts are probably not enough, however, to prevent theatergoers from wishing they had made the life choice of seeing a different play.”
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“A whimsical piece of work…For all its honorable ambitions, it turns out to be more of a party than a play…The banter between Graham and Tanya is clever and yet sober enough to make us think that we’ve got a handle on the playwright’s intentions...Miranda (Tamblyn) shows up and the whole play switches gears…All her stories are jaw-droppers…Despite DuBois’ savvy helming, none of this brittle conversation leads to a plot, let alone a resolution, but it is what it is—great gallows humor.”
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“Tanya and Graham are the central, and least likable, characters…Things get even less interesting with the arrival of David, an emotional blank who wouldn’t be worth our time were he not being played with a cunning edge by Frank Wood…The coincidences beggar the imagination…Ella Dershowitz grows harder and less sympatico...Darren Pettie all but disappears as Graham. Eshan Bay has wild eyes as Sateesh, but he isn’t threatening for a moment in this blunt-edged play.”
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"Life is all about hard choices. The same goes for this disappointing contemporary dark comedy...Over 90 minutes that feel longer, characters name-drop Robert Frost and Shakespeare and gab nonstop about choices, money, morals and class as they try to figure out their next moves. The evergreen themes are worth exploring. Too bad they don’t connect in satisfying ways."
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“Not entirely cohesive, but it does give Gionfriddo space to break new ground on the topics she writes so well…Tamblyn makes an outstanding off-Broadway debut…Unfortunately, despite the glowing jack-o-lanterns that punctuate her entrance, nothing particularly haunting happens for some time following Miranda's arrival. We even forget the supposed stakes of the situation…The story does finally come to a chilling climax complete with spooky shadows and lighting.”
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"The dialogue has the hard, bright quality that marks it as the playwright's work, but the details are largely dreary, dealing as they do with absent fathers and incompetent, needy mothers...Tamblyn needs to work on her voice; she navigates the play's lengthy exposition on a single strident note...There are memorable moments...but too much of the time 'Can You Forgive Her?' feels rather flat and rudderless, a series of confrontations in search of a cogent theme."
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