Catch The Butcher
Closed 1h 40m
Catch The Butcher
82

Catch The Butcher NYC Reviews and Tickets

82%
(23 Ratings)
Positive
87%
Mixed
9%
Negative
4%
Members say
Clever, Absorbing, Entertaining, Funny, Edgy

About the Show

Cherry Lane Theatre kicks off its 2015-16 season with the Off-Broadway debut of 'Catch the Butcher,' a dark comedy about a woman who sets off to find a serial killer - and love.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (23)

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79 Reviews | 58 Followers
100
Absorbing, Entertaining, Clever

See it if Saw this back in 2015. Great show!

Don't see it if Special effects could have been better but still loved it.

58 Reviews | 15 Followers
90
Clever, Entertaining, Funny, Original, Hilarious

See it if You like quirky comedy. Loved Angelina Fiordellisi

Don't see it if You're easily offended by dark humor

Al
127 Reviews | 888 Followers
50
Absurdist, Peculiar, Dark, Slow

See it if you'd like a play about a serial killer whose latest victim falls in love with him.

Don't see it if you dislike absurdist plays.

30 Reviews | 28 Followers
70
Absorbing, Funny, Morally questionable

See it if you enjoy small performances spaces and a twisted plot.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy a slow plot.

20 Reviews | 14 Followers
92
Great writing, Ambitious, Funny, Absorbing

See it if Amazing script. Just read the published copy. So good.

Don't see it if You can’t. It’s closed. Read more

11 Reviews | 4 Followers
62
Disappointing, Great singing, Overrated

See it if You like Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Don't see it if You want more than a story about cats being bullied.

17 Reviews | 5 Followers
35
Disappointing, Fluffy, Overrated, Slow, Indulgent

See it if you want a show with a lot of tension and a bit of mystery.

Don't see it if you want to feel connected to characters that have a dark side. I was expecting to really see some deep character analysis; I didn't.

9 Reviews | 7 Followers
97
Edgy, Great acting, Funny, Original, Weird

See it if This show popped up in my list of shows I saw this year. Holy cow it was nuts. Which is great. More theater should take as many risks

Don't see it if If you like safe theater.

Critic Reviews (13)

The New York Times
October 4th, 2015

"Quirky, unsettling and rewarding...The principals gradually find their rhythm, but once they do, they skillfully assay Mr. Seidel’s effective blend of romance, absurdism, satire and - buttressed by Quentin Chiappetta’s haunting ambient music - dread. It’s a tricky balancing act, but the company retains its footing."
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The Observer
September 30th, 2015

"'Catch the Butcher,' a curious, neatly directed and wonderfully acted new play that defies category but keeps you riveted, changes all that. This is a new one: a play about a mass murderer who kills women, written and performed in the style of a sitcom. Don’t be put off by the subject matter. The play is never remotely gory. In fact, it is delightfully different."
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Lighting & Sound America
September 30th, 2015

"It's impossible to tell what writer Seidel was after - a straightforward thriller, a black comedy, or some combination thereof. I can personally testify to the total absence of tension on the stage, and, regarding humor, I will add that, aside from a handful of snickers, the audience at the performance I attended was a silent as the grave."
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Talkin' Broadway
September 29th, 2015

"Though Seidel spends most of the 90-minute evening viciously skewering tropes, in the last seven minutes or so he gives in to them and turns 'Catch the Butcher' into exactly what it's been rebelling against...Violence, in general, is no laughing matter, but once Seidel has started you down that road, you don't want to exit from it quite so quickly. If 'Catch the Butcher' is in the end unsatisfying because of its finale, the run-up to it is a killer in all the best senses of the word."
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CurtainUp
September 26th, 2015

"The playwright puts these characters in a situation so dire that you want to dismiss it from the get-go as too far-fetched and dramatic. However, you can't because they catch us in their clutches...The dialogue is in turns funny, ironic, ominous and even heart wrenching."
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Theatre is Easy
October 1st, 2015

"Playwright Seidel replaces cliché lines about falling in love with language of finding out what it’s like to be normal. He crafts some notably co-dependent characters in this bizarre play. Director Fratti keeps the story moving, but can't quite find a suitable tone...'Catch' feels sadly forced. It’s neither enough of a black comedy, nor sexy enough for the bondage play it could be. And it’s got nowhere near the nuance it would take to make it a fascinating Genet-like power play."
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Theater Pizzazz
September 30th, 2015

"'Catch the Butcher,' for all its implausibilities, actually might have worked as an offbeat comic thriller had it been buoyed by clever direction, sprightly performances, and a flexible setting, none of which it receives. The pace is funereal, the scene shifts...are interminable, and the would-be laughs little more than forced titters...'Catch the Butcher' may be about a serial killer, but that’s no reason for it to be so deadly."
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Times Square Chronicles
October 2nd, 2015

"'Catch the Butcher' has a wonderful actress, is smartly directed, but goes nowhere, which is odd, because this show about a serial killer and the woman, who intentionally wants to be his next victim, ends pointlessly... 'Catch the Butcher' had the chance to be a really interesting and delve into so really dark places, unfortunately it was just a superficial play done for laughs."
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