Endlings NYC Reviews and Tickets

77%

(27 Reviews)

Positive

85%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Ambitious, Thought-provoking, Clever, Absorbing, Great staging

About the Show

On the Korean island of Man-Jae, three elderly women spend their dying days diving to harvest seafood. Across the globe, a Korean-Canadian playwright wrestles with the expectation that she write “authentic” stories."

From the show:

On the Korean island of Man-Jae, three elderly haenyeos—sea women—spend their dying days diving into the ocean to harvest seafood. Across the globe on the island of Manhattan, a Korean-Canadian playwright, twice an immigrant, spends her days wrestling with the expectation that she write “authentic” stories about her identity. This “fascinating, audacious and deftly satirical” new play by Celine Song, directed by Sammi Cannold, questions what we inherit and challenges who dictates the terms.

Member Reviews (27)

Great writing, Thought-provoking, Relevant

See it if you like new work from an underrepresented voice that touches on family history, identity, and artistic voice

Don't see it if you prefer shows that stick to a traditional format, or don't poke fun at the audience and theater in general

The first hour of this play was very interesting, the story of three old korean women (haenyeos) who dive in the ocean daily to collect seafood, arduous work for meager pay. but the remaining 40 hours were unbearable, awkward, excruciating, & boring.

See it if you have an interest in the subsistence-level island life in South Korea and the preservation of SK's rapidly vanishing traditional culture.

Don't see it if you dislike plays that are insistently META and self-referential and self-indulgent. Read more

Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Clever, Absorbing, Ambitious

See it if you enjoy a play that surprises you with every turn that it takes.

Don't see it if you aren't a fan of unorthodox narrative structure.

During previews

Beautifully constructed, Brilliantly played, Wise, Funny, Innovative

See it if you want to experience a brilliant young playwright’s cutting-edge script that speaks to both the human condition & today’s social order.

Don't see it if you want a traditional play, or don’t feel like thinking about persisting structural racism or the toxic state of real estate in 2020 NYC. Read more

During previews

Super meta play about dying breed of korean female deep sea divers; kor-am playwright shows how she tries to shed "whiteness" of creative antecedents & current gatekeepers for plays by going back 2 her ancestral roots

See it if shows how Kor-Am playwright tries 2 find her creative identity; result-story of feisty/hilarious Korean divers that teems w life & loss

Don't see it if awkward 3-part structure moving from realism to meta-ism to absurdism; absurdist satire of white stage managers is blatantly obvious Read more

During previews

Too many moving pieces, Unique, Indulgent, Ambitious, The parts of this whole do not a sum make.

See it if You want to see an artist finding her voice. You still believe whites control content and perception in art, theater and life.

Don't see it if You are not interested in the unraveling of at least three plots as they then begin to interweave. A tremendous amount of swearing. Read more

During previews

Thought-provoking

See it if Like diving into the unknown, choppy waters of the past with strange surprises and emerging in the present. Interesting immigration story.

Don't see it if Meta, non linear, playwright writing the play in the play, some strange parts aren’t your thing. Cussing older women disturb you. Read more

During previews

Postmodern, Self-referential, Charming

See it if you're interested in principles of authorship and identity in modern American theatre.

Don't see it if you often complain about being "preached" to. Read more

Critic Reviews (8)

"In ‘Endlings,’ the Pain of Swimming Between Worlds: What do Korean divers and Manhattan playwrights have in common? A new play looks for the connection."
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3/5 Stars. "These divers turn out to be red herrings for the bigger fish that Song is out to fry: herself, her creative process, and the systems supporting this very play. Although the result is less than cohesive, 'Endlings' is a bold and revealing act of autofiction."
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"Every Day a Little Death: 'Endlings' and 'Unknown Soldier'"
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"Diving for Metatheatrical Satire in Endlings: Celine Song's poison-pen letter of a play makes its New York premiere at New York Theatre Workshop"
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"The most inventive creative team can't paper over the fact that 'Endlings' is constructed out of two narrative stands that lead nowhere."
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"Since this is ultimately a play about real estate, where we should live. But you'll be thinking about Song's ocean-diving women long after you've stopped worrying about whether her integrity's intact. What a shame she didn't dig a little deeper into the play that actually means something."
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4/5 Stars. "Celine Song's fascinating and wonderfully complicated new play is clever and self-aware, in on its own joke, but also deeply serious."
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