Dry Powder NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (127)
See it if you like intelligent theatre dealing with current issues, enjoy comedies with meat, are a fan of Clare Danes & John Krasinski
Don't see it if a complicated idea like leveraged buyouts makes you squirm, don't like business/economic stories, or aren't a fan of the financial industry
See it if /for brilliantly capturing Mitt Romney's private equity world and the moral blindness and humor inherent in its testosterone-laden dynamics
Don't see it if /since portrays world in two dimensions (wall street/bad, main street/good)/characters with limited emotional range; predictably money wins
See it if You're really interested in seeing yet another Wall-Street-is-bad play.
Don't see it if You didn't like The Big Short or similar films/plays.
See it if you want to see a very incisive, very contemporary take on the relationship between money and values.
Don't see it if a bit of finance jargon will bore you.
See it if You want to see the celebrity actors. You like short plays with no intermission.
Don't see it if You've already had a day at the office. Most of the play takes place in business meetings.
See it if you enjoy plays by a fresh new writer. I look forward to seeing Sarah Burgess's next play. Also, if you enjoy/understand finance.
Don't see it if you do not understand finance.
See it if you want to see a terrific cast and first-rate production values.
Don't see it if you are expecting to learn anything new or significant about private equity firms.
See it if You enjoy watching great actors deliver a well-written play about a current topic. It is both funny and dramatic at the same time.
Don't see it if You cannot pay attention to intense non-stop dialogue. If you need hearing assistance , get the device before the play begins.
Critic Reviews (30)
"These people may live their jobs, but watching them do so does not have infinite appeal, unless you enjoy clucking at amorality for 100 minutes…If there’s an element of stiffness in Danes’s nonetheless tartly funny performance, it probably derives from a glaring lack of nuance in the character...For all its flashy talk, 'Dry Powder' mostly brings us the unsurprising news that the folks who work in the higher realms of high finance are very, very interested in making lots and lots of money."
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"The play's depiction of class and consciousness is more nuanced than it may seem at first. Burgess conveys not just the language of the high-stakes game she depicts—financial jargon is woven nimbly into the snappy dialogue—but also the differing mindsets of its players…The play makes sharp points about the power and limitations of protesters, but its focus is on Wall Streeters’ view of themselves...'Dry Powder' feels extraordinarily timely."
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"What is troubling about 'Dry Powder' dramaturgically is that almost none of its crises or challenges arise from character. Rather, they arise from externally induced plot developments...That 'Dry Powder' is nevertheless a fully engrossing and entertaining play is a testament to Burgess’s terrific dialogue and to the beautifully paced and acted production...If only the excesses of our beautiful free-enterprise system were as amenable to correction as a promising young playwright’s!"
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"Thoroughly unsurprising...That's disappointing, as a lot of A-grade talent has been assembled for this vigorously acted world premiere…The twisty financial details are mapped out with admirable clarity in Burgess' writing, but that doesn't make it any less predictable…Kail distills the drama into a fast, fat-free staging…The actors have a firm grasp of their characters and bring plenty of bite, which keeps it engrossing and often quite funny…But this is an unrewarding, one-dimensional play."
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"A frighteningly funny play…It falls to director Thomas Kail and his diamond-cut cast to make this dry subject enthralling and horrifying…Danes’ cool characterization of a businesswoman with ice in her veins is harsh, but very funny. The showdown between Jenny and Seth may seal the fate of Landmark Luggage, but it’s only the plot, not the point of this timely play, smartly directed by Kail with focus and efficiency."
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"Burgess writes smart dialogue that crackles…There are echoes of Caryl Churchill and David Hare in the theme of corporate dehumanization...'Dry Powder' lacks the concision and the devastating rhythmic patois in Mamet plays, a ruthless poetry. That makes for a very long unbroken hour and three-quarters…I suspect the actors will loosen up as the run continues, but at the critics’ performance I saw they seemed uncomfortable and stiff, as if exploring the play in an early reading."
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"Sarah Burgess’ play doesn’t quite rise to the level of its deluxe cast and director. It takes a while to get going — too long. The show’s first half bogs down in pseudo-important business talk…Krasinski and Danes comfortably play to their strengths…But the show itself belongs to Azaria, who’s scarily believable as a manipulative Master of the Universe…You only wish the actors — and the playwright — toyed more with ambiguity. In the end, the characters do just what you’d expect of them."
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"'Dry Powder' is a dramedy about finance dusted with cynicism that’s an inch thick. That’s about as deep as Sarah Burgess’ slick, timely, well-acted but predictable play goes…Credit Burgess, a relative newcomer, for her fast-paced script…The play’s talk of leveraged buyouts and business lingo is ever accessible. Direction by Thomas Kail cranks the tension and entertainment value to the max…But superficial and stereotypical characters nag."
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