Evening at the Talk House NYC Reviews and Tickets

"'Evening at the Talk House' starts off serving sugary treats, as the cast mingles with the audience. Sadly that is the best part of the whole show. What this play is trying to say, makes no sense...There is much being said here, but it is so oddly stated that you start to tune out...The direction of Scott Elliott, keeps the play moving...Talented actors here were undernourished with a play that had any substance."
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"Broderick is especially good at never losing his benign cool while delivering wicked character critiques that savage like an assassin’s bullets. And Shawn and director Scott Elliott are especially adept at scene-setting in the play’s first few minutes. Where he goes off the rails is with his twist...The 100-minute 'Talk House' meanders on and on after the big reveal, with characters being alternately nonplussed and nonchalant."
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"The shadow of Orwell looms large over 'Talk House.' Only it’s a rather blurry smudge, so it’s not altogether clear what the playwright’s point is...Broderick talks; and then Shawn talks; and then everybody talks and talks. (The play runs about 100 minutes, but a long 100 minutes.) Fortunately, the cast is full of actors who know how to hold the stage—including, yes, Mr. Shawn—so they do manage to keep our attention."
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"It sounded so promising: a New York premiere of a work by the provocative and often amusing Wallace Shaw...Despite the underlying menace, the guests prattle on about TV shows and other gossip. One topic is the mysterious recent poisoning of at least two actors. The lights go out, but the talk continues. The play grinds to a halt with an ending that seems almost arbitrary. Somewhere lurking inside this disjointed mess lies an interesting play. I wish Shawn had waited until it emerged."
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"At first the bonhomie of the pre-show carries into the opening moments of the play...An intriguing concept but the air of casual acceptance of these horrors is so pervasive, it deadens the impact. Yes, that’s Shawn’s point—fascism creeps in on little cat feet. But the acting and direction is so mild, the effect is soporific...The all-star company has been directed to underplay every word and action, except for Shawn and Sriram...It’s a pretty dull 'Evening' with all talk and little action."
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"Director Scott Elliott achieves an ambiance of casualness that conveys a clubby atmosphere of intimacy before the audience that is seated on each side of the playing area...Although the dialogue and interaction doesn’t really add up to the intellectual level that author appears to be seeking, the caliber of the acting grips our attention and makes the work seem deeper than it is."
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“Wallace Shawn has concocted a play that will get you to scratch your head, if only to wonder if this future could actually be ours. But this big reveal of a new reality is quite underwhelming…The play happens to be quite passive; most of the character development occurs through stories of the past. And it starts to become tedious...It's one thing to watch the characters muse about the past if it develops their arcs, but it seldom does so."
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“It's a Wally Shawn play and so it's a talky play but under Scott Elliott's solid direction, an expert cast brings it almost to life…Playing against type as a bitter former theater director who has found a refuge in doing what sounds like a tacky TV series, Broderick shakes off the lethargy that dragged down so many of his post-‘The Producers’ performances. Shawn isn't given to idle sentimentality."
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