Days of Rage NYC Reviews and Tickets

“In some ways, Levenson’s disappointing play ‘Days of Rage’, is that good story, except turned inside out...The clash between heavy-handed satire and naturalistic conflict leaves ‘Days of Rage’ in a tonal muddle Levenson can’t resolve. The sexual turn that provides closure to many of the scenes begins to seem like a tic, and when that pales, the only option left is a generalized hysteria. At least the hysteria is effectively staged. The director Trip Cullman gets all the tempos right.”
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"The play quickly gets repetitive, and Levenson’s work lacks both period specificity and an ending. A perfect staging might paper over the gaps, but director Trip Cullman largely miscasts it and...delivers a production without a particle of sexual heat...The details of the play are so unconvincing and the characters’ choices so baffling that we can’t believe they’re realistically sitting on the couch, let alone showing us the true face of progressive hypocrisy.”
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“A slick piece of work, a little too calculated...I left it feeling like I had just watched a careful balancing act, a story that skirted having too much of an opinion...There’s an undertone of superiority...While I respect the play’s implication that there will never be one revolution to end all revolutions—I question the neatness of its structure and the ease with which we’re able to write off the immaturity of its central characters.”
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“It's hard to make out what the playwright is trying to say with this lighthearted work trafficking in serious themes...It all feels like counterculture-lite, hardly anything to rage about. Cullman's assured direction makes the piece, flaws and all, occasionally enjoyable, and under his guidance the young performers deliver amusing turns. 'Days of Rage' is reasonably entertaining for much of its running time, but it could have been so much more."
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“This mildly funny satire of 1960s radicalism is now enjoying a lavish production...It's impressive to behold, but it all feels a bit too grand for the story being told...Cullman milks plenty of laughs from the script, but very little dramatic tension. He compensates with high production values...Overproduced and underwhelming, ‘Days of Rage’ is an incredulous snort at boomer idealism from those of us who are living with the consequences 50 years later.”
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“Levenson's smugly derisive tone, combined with his inability to give anyone...a single interesting character trait, causes ‘Days of Rage’ to be dead on arrival...’Days of Rage’ feels like it was written after he saw a number of bad movies about the era. The single touching moment comes at the end, with a flash-forward sequence that reveals the future of each character. Only at the very last second does he grant them a modicum of grace.”
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“The playwright has built a mostly intriguing play but on an infirm foundation...You might walk into ‘Days of Rage’ with high expectations. In my case, these expectations were quickly dashed...So go along with Levenson back to the late-’60s, if you will. I didn’t buy it, alas. In fact, I walked out thinking it was time to look at Michael Weller’s ‘Moonchildren’, a play captured the times and the attitudes with brio and fervor lacking from the present attempt.”
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“Absorbing, funny, and problematic...Under Cullman’s brisk direction the other actors are similarly well-matched...In presenting Levenson’s would-be revolutionaries smartly, with a full heart and on their own terms, rather than as symbols or forebears of future challenges, the playwright has given us something that feels fresh and vital—without sidestepping the sad, unavoidable parallels between ‘Days of Rage’s’ divisive times and our own.”
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