Describe the Night NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (203)
See it if You like shows based around real life events or situations - these events actually took place, which I think is more fascinating.
Don't see it if You have a hard time following various accents and various time periods - it jumps back and forth (I thought it was clear but you may not).
See it if you want to see an interesting portrayal of a true story with good acting and staging.
Don't see it if you want a light and funny comedy.
See it if You would like a well-paced, intelligent historical drama.
Don't see it if The above sounds boring to you, or if you don't like stories that jump around chronologically.
See it if you enjoy the tangle of relationships and some interesting language
Don't see it if want a linear play as it goes back & forth in time
See it if Excellent actors take us to & from points in Russian history that can serve as a warning for us today. An important play.
Don't see it if You have never read Russian history nor have an interest in it.
See it if You enjoy history, Family stories, fabulous writing and want to be entertained
Don't see it if You can’t sit that’s 3 hour performance with 2 intermissions
See it if Characters and events intertwine from four different periods in Russian history. Only bits of truth remain, and even those are questioned.
Don't see it if You don’t enjoy piecing together fragments of a non-linear story. Intellectually challenging with a mean villain, but not emotionally moving
See it if you are a fan of Russian historical events from the past 70 years told in stories that go back and forth in time and are all tied together.
Don't see it if you are not interested in Russian historical events or plays that go back and forth in time that can be a bit confusing & require attention.
Critic Reviews (32)
“Exquisitely acted by the cast and directed with a supple grace...The play is its own vivid, perfectly paced patchwork of memory, lies, and revelations. Raw confrontation and violence share the same orbit as flashes of magical realism...Sardelli and Joseph crisply marshal the play’s complex structure, immersing us in its contrasting eras, which flash up as guiding graphics on the back wall...The play uses much mirroring of past and present to subtle and powerful effect.”
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"A glorious, difficult-to-describe work that searches for the truth amid many lies, melding fact and fiction in creating a wildly unpredictable, endlessly adventurous tale that is as historical as it is contemporary...A gorgeously ambitious play, continually challenging the audience with its unconventional twists and turns. Director Giovanna Sardelli brilliantly navigates through the multiple time periods...So how to succinctly describe 'Describe the Night'? Truthfully, it’s indescribable."
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"All that meta-literary conceit might sound too clever by half. But director Giovanna Sardelli maintains a taut sense of intrigue for close to three hours and brings out the script’s skewed humour...The entire cast adopts a suitably bizarre style of acting...The play’s final scenes tie up all its historical loose ends a little too neatly, thereby weakening the story’s enigmatic power. But 'Describe the Night' still brings us on an enthrallingly warped ride through Russian history."
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“An overlong, overly wordy mash-up of history and invention...We get real and imagined events, braided together and spiraling over nearly a century of Russian history...It’s terribly difficult to describe it all, but suffice it to say that the work is ambitious. Terrifically ambitious, sprawling, overlong, overplotted, uneven, and filled with wonderful performances...But, unfortunately, it does not nourish the hungry theatergoer.”
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"A thrilling new play...The contemporary relevance is chilling...A cast of seven exceptional actors, playing multiple roles under the supple direction of Giovanna Sardelli...Gorgeously theatrical, profound, and engrossing. And funny, if you like mordant jokes about dead ducks and leech soup. It is a terrific challenge to keep track of the relationships and linked identities...'Describe the Night' is a provocation to thought, both philosophical and political."
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"The play is almost three hours long, and whizzes by in jewel-like nuggets of high drama...The journey is magnetically held together by the superb performances of every member of the cast...Burstein moves us through time with ease, as Babel’s stories outlive their subjects and they themselves become reality...The script is peppered with piercing witticisms. Metaphors are thought provoking and amusing...'Describe the Night' unfolds with a focus on the topic of truth and power."
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"In his intimate yet sprawling new play, Joseph has taken some pieces of Russian history and spun them into a narrative tapestry that spans almost 100 years...Joseph weaves all of these strands together expertly, introducing unexpected connections along the way...Under the sure guidance of director Sardelli, 'Night' travels back and forth through time with ease...Phenomenal cast...A partly true and totally engaging tale that would hopefully make Isaac Babel himself proud."
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"What makes this play so compelling is the juxtaposition of serious, hard hitting history wrapped in elements of the mysterious...Unique and brimming with themes, 'Describe the Night' is excellent theater...Adding to the timeliness of the material is superb writing. The path is not chronological so all three acts come together in a wholly satisfying finale...Chock full of excellent scenes...An absorbing, surprising, creative, and intelligent piece of theater."
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