Fade NYC Reviews and Tickets

77%
(115 Ratings)
Positive
86%
Mixed
13%
Negative
1%
Members say
Relevant, Entertaining, Great acting, Funny, Thought-provoking

About the Show

Primary Stages presents the NY premiere of this comedy about the burgeoning friendship between Lucia and Abel, two Latinos working at a ruthless Hollywood studio.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (115)

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417 Reviews | 190 Followers
80
Great acting, Great writing, Entertaining, Cliched, Talented playwright

See it if You like an easy to follow plot, are interested in Latinx culture, family drama, the TV industry, challenges to make ends meet.

Don't see it if You expect a great classic, Like changing sets and large casts, Do not like soap operas. Read more

761 Reviews | 166 Followers
79
Absorbing, Ambitious, Funny, Slow, Relevant

See it if you like office comedies that deal with serious issues like class attitudes & minority treatment, as well as friendships on the job

Don't see it if you don't like two-handers, occasionally thick accents and use of Spanish, reminders of the pressures and manipulations of work

186 Reviews | 25 Followers
75
Funny, Absorbing, Sharp, Witty

See it if how race and class impacts opportunities and ambitions for Latinos

Don't see it if ethnic humor and sensitivities

305 Reviews | 98 Followers
75
Intelligent, Relevant, Resonant, Slow, Cliched

See it if You want to see a predictable story set in a different context . Well intentioned.

Don't see it if You are bothered by bilingual actors who don't translate everything .

107 Reviews | 26 Followers
75
Predictable but enjoyable

See it if You want to see a predictable but enjoyable show - elevated by the male lead's performance

Don't see it if You want a challenging, thought-provoking play

754 Reviews | 128 Followers
75
Intelligent, Relevant, Ambitious, Slow, Resonant

See it if you are interested in the process by which TV shows are created from the writer's point of view.

Don't see it if you dislike social messages in comedy. Although the characters are Latinos, they could be Irish or Jewish; ambition is a cruel human trait.

51 Reviews | 9 Followers
75
Intelligent, Intense, Thought-provoking

See it if You like slowly-building storylines with a small cast.

Don't see it if You don't have patience for a slowly-building storyline. Read more

88 Reviews | 19 Followers
73
Entertaining, Somewhat predictable, Engaging

See it if you want to see a well-acted two- hander with "Latino" characters in an office setting, where there are interesting dynamics at play.

Don't see it if you absolutely need a play with a great deal of action, dislike potty mouth dialogue and can't tolerate some plot predictability.

Critic Reviews (19)

Theater Pizzazz
February 9th, 2017

"Class, culture, language, appropriation, and integrity underscore the quiet power of Saracho’s 'Fade.' A story about storytelling, a play about the creative process, a demonstration of culture meeting commerce and two characters from very different worlds who meet at work...Ruiz’s choreography of these initial interactions and the subtle performance of presumption and quiet decision to put up these 'microagressions' are stunning...The power of this story grows as it is absorbed."
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Theatre Reviews Limited
February 8th, 2017

"The play’s ending is no surprise and does not warrant the unusual blackout and completely different part of the set. One of several odd choices in Jerry Ruiz’s staging and Ms. Saracho’s script...It is not the actors’ obvious craft that is in question here. Although 'Fade' raises some enduring and rich questions about classism, sexism, racism, and prejudice, the play does not offer any new perspectives on these issues nor does it address them with any depth of understanding or suspense."
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New York Theater
February 8th, 2017

"'Fade' is well acted, and Saracho’s script touches on several worthwhile issues that seem based on her own experience...But by the end of the play, 'Fade' feels slighter and more obvious than it could have been...Her observations are nothing new, and, given what’s going on in the country now, it’s frankly hard to muster much outrage about the behind-the-scenes of television. If the TV industry is meant as a metaphor for the country as a whole, it feels an inadequate one."
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Theatre's Leiter Side
February 10th, 2017

"'Fade’s' treatment of identity, sexual, and office politics, as well as class warfare, is the mildly spicy flavoring of a play that actually could be about people of any ethnicity...Stuffed with one-liners (including two limp ones alluding to Trump) that too infrequently raise chuckles (or require you know Spanish to comprehend), the highly episodic ‘Fade’ shifts back and forth from fast-paced comedy to serious dilemmas, stumbling now and then to maintain consistent believability."
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The Huffington Post
February 9th, 2017

"Saracho’s play—so smart about prejudice often seemingly rampant—goes somewhat off the tracks...She lets the audience get ahead of her...Though that goes some way to vitiate 'Fade,' it doesn’t undermine the play completely. Her observations about the complexities of intolerance are astute...The playwright is valuably abetted by director Jerry Ruiz."
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W
February 11th, 2017

"Playwright Tanya Saracho has big ambitions here: 'Fade' is built around issues of race and class and immigration. She herself is a TV writer and the early scenes have a delicious, insider quality that smack of the autobiographical...But the dialogue can veer into lecturing, which is hard to take from the irritating Lucia...As the play goes on, and the scenes become interminably long, it becomes less and less credible or engaging."
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Village Voice
February 14th, 2017

"Saracho allows the 100-minute interaction to arise with believable spontaneity and gives both characters edges and shortcomings that take the play far beyond a simple parable about ethnicity and assimilation...Ruiz handles it adroitly. He neither pushes the emotions nor forces the pace, keeping the story grounded in realism without letting it get bogged down...'Fade,' for all its limitations, is a play genuinely worth paying attention to."
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Epoch Times
February 13th, 2017

"More could have been developed on the subject of class, which is so potent and seldom addressed in our society...The performances, under the direction of Jerry Ruiz, are both fine and give the script more dimension than is tangibly evident in the spare writing...Perhaps it is because of unanswered questions and a bit of teasing by the playwright that 'Fade' is a good bet for an evening at the theater."
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