Dr. Ride's American Beach House NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (58)
See it if You like shows that mesmerize. This somehow balances beautifully on that line of being about everything and nothing simultaneously.
Don't see it if You’re looking for fast paced or lots of action. This is one of those shows that creeps up into your head and kind of blooms like a flower. Read more
See it if Repressed lesbian best friends hang out and plumb their identities. Made me feel the ongoing struggle of finding myself. Inspiring.
Don't see it if You don’t like character development plays where the action is inside the mind. A wind blows away the fog of confusion and lets in hope. Read more
Critic Reviews (12)
CRITIC’S PICK "Getting Intimate at ‘Dr. Ride’s American Beach House’: In a witty new play by Liza Birkenmeier, restless friends find themselves challenged by the first American woman in space."
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4/5 Stars "The route of Birkenmeier’s plot is tightly mapped in retrospect, but full of worthy little detours into character...'Dr. Ride' takes its sweet time to rev up, but it goes the distance when the engine kicks in. It’s a specific and evocative depiction of identity and power at a crossroads."
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"After 80 luscious minutes of conversation, the company somehow has material for a whole nother play, a ten-minute scorcher between Sally Ride (Sieh) and an old friend Molly (Markey)...The play itself just keeps soaring up and up and up."
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"Dr. Ride's American Beach House and the Secret Lives of Lesbians in the 1980s: Sally Ride's historic space journey inspires four women on a St. Louis rooftop."
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"A conversation piece for four women who take to a St. Louis rooftop…its air of laziness extends to the playwright, Liza Birkenmeier, who -- despite her knack for distinctive dialogue and a certain offhand, off-the-wall wit -- can't be bothered to come up with anything like drama."
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4/5 Stars: "A sensitive work by an up-and-coming playwright. Ars Nova, a company that discovers and nurtures new artists, adds Birkenmeier's name to the roster of young dramatists whose future plays can be pleasantly anticipated."
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"Has all the elements of a fascinating drama but as presented by Ars Nova at Greenwich House it is all about subtext and undercurrents which may go right over the heads of many audience members. Little happens but there is much tedious talk which is a cover-up for what goes unsaid."
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"It's a play that sneaks up on you, lingering long after the lights come up. Even days later I find myself going back to certain scenes. While set at a very specific moment in time, the feelings of being unsatisfied with life are universal."
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"Liza Berkenmeier's historically inspired play offers a meditation on queer desire and repression."
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"'Dr. Ride's American Beach House' does not rise to an epic tale of 'queer anti-heroes' forging a pathway to self-acceptance and claiming true power and control. Under Katie Brook's direction, the cast does what it can to authenticate their character's conflicts despite the weakness of Liza Birkenmeier's script."
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"Small, slow and seemingly random, existing almost entirely as subtext…largely about repressed desire….a payoff at the end that might not be enough for many theatergoers…yet, there are many moments where we feel encouraged to bask in their friendship."
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"Birkenmeier's play bravely imagines what it was like when being gay involved claustrophobic secrets, blind struggle and a stepping into the void to create a reality without social or cultural precedence."
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