Can You Forgive Her? NYC Reviews and Tickets

“Some plot developments couldn’t really withstand a test of plausibility. But you can forgive her–or at least I can–because of all that’s worthwhile...Gionfriddo has a terrific ear for dialogue, and an eye for comic touches…I found much of the script quite funny…Underneath the farcical proceedings, the play allows us to glimpse ourselves in the characters’ differing perspectives on—and ambivalence toward—their obligations: to their parents, to themselves, to money, to love.”
Read more

“This slow-to-get-started piece, despite socially relevant thoughts couched in passably entertaining gambits, is structurally shaky and fraught with character and plot implausibilities; its most provocative feature is its title…'Can You Forgive Her?' too often bogs down in exposition, has a ludicrous premise for why Miranda opens up to Graham, makes Miranda both insightful and clueless, and, among other things, takes forever for us to care about the stakes, if we ever do.”
Read more

“Sadly, the admitted strengths of Gionfriddo’s work, including some very funny lines and an intelligent examination of a provocative subject, are undercut by DuBois’ oddly unenergetic and slightly miscast production…The burden of making the play work rests squarely on the shoulders of the character of Miranda. And there lies the biggest problem of this production…Unfortunately, Tamblyn proves to have too little stage technique...She is clearly acting, rather than inhabiting the role.”
Read more

“‘Can You Forgive Her?’ hardly calls for any rating. It earns polite dismissal with a sincere wish for better luck next time…The dialogue makes little sense and becomes increasingly tiresome…When material is so unmoored, audiences may wonder if the actors suspect that what they’re saying and doing is as bad as it is...The performances were misshapen, the result of a shared attempt to make their individual and collective assignments more palatable or understandable.”
Read more

"The most fascinating character in Gina Gionfriddo’s new play, ‘Can You Forgive Her?,’ doesn’t show up until about two-thirds of the way through...The dialogue crackles whenever Miranda, David and Tanya are going at each other. It almost never does when Graham is involved, and that’s the first 60 minutes…With the exception of Wood, Peter DuBois directs his actors to bring a sit-com bounce to their performances, which diminishes the material.”
Read more

"'The play is driven by the soul-shriveling contest between happiness and solvency, and how marriage is rarely the solution..These are not new issues, but Gionfriddo works hard to wring postfeminist laughs from them...As we head to a climax, you might be wondering whose story this is, anyway: Graham’s or Miranda’s? Some of that focal blur, and an overall sense of sketchiness, are mitigated by Peter DuBois’s shrewd, compact staging and a feisty, well-balanced ensemble."
Read more

"Despite the dubious premise that brings these four characters together, despite the awkward structure...the play has its redeeming features, including some wonderful dialogue...I would have guessed that the play was a piece that needed further work, but learned that it was produced in Boston a year ago. Maybe its problems are resistant to further improvement. In any case, I forgive the playwright for not being at the top of her form. Even her second-drawer material can be entertaining."
Read more

"Nowhere near as entertaining as the earlier works that twice made Gionfriddo a Pulitzer finalist...None of this makes much sense...'Can You Forgive Her?' is only 90 minutes but the first hour seemed like two. Tamblyn works hard (perhaps too hard) to make Miranda an irresistible kook but the play only comes alive in its final third when Wood arrives...Wood's character isn't any more convincing than the others but this actor is such a master craftsman that he truly is irresistible."
Read more