Fondly, Collette Richland NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (32)
See it if you like bizarre stories; you like non-linear, dream like sequences;
Don't see it if you need a coherent story; need a linear plot; need to understand what is going on; don't like a circus-like atmosphere and style.
See it if you enjoy being confused or not having a clear understanding. Definitely see it if you love experimental theatre.
Don't see it if If you're not a big fan of experimental theatre or if you don't like shows without a very clear plot.
See it if I've been trying to remember the name of this thing for YEARS, because it's the worst of the hundreds of plays I've seen. Like, by a lot.
Don't see it if The chances of it being revived are hopefully nil, but, well, I had a fight w/my then-gf at intermission that was more fun than the play. Read more
See it if This play is excruciatingly dull and overlong.
Don't see it if you can't sit through long plays.
See it if you're willing to open your mind and have it totally screwed with. This is a free form show that creates its own world and set of rules.
Don't see it if you've never enjoyed a David Lynch film.
See it if haters gonna hate, but I laughed my ass off! I was wearing sunglasses a lot at the time because I still do.
Don't see it if you're sober.
See it if you want to get lost in mildly fun absurdity.
Don't see it if you want a plot-driven experience!
See it if you love watching people's faces as they walk out.
Don't see it if you prefer a narrative thread.
Critic Reviews (16)
"Where this show falls apart isn’t in the details, it’s in the bagginess with which they’re all strung together...Basically, this is a case of the Emperor’s new clothes, if the Emperor’s new clothes were a theatrical conceit. By the end, the amplified, mechanistic cranking sound effect that accompanies every set change might as well be the insular echo of self-applause. For, as bright as its occasional flashes of brilliance are, 'Fondly, Collette Richland' is too dazzled by itself to draw you in."
Read more
"Ms. Kempson’s text is dense and to claim it is not would be to discredit the sophistication of the script. There are 'big impossible problems to contend with' and all of them are hauntingly delightful...It is ultimately best not to overthink the piece or wonder about issues of provenance of thoughts or images or ideas. The audience member simply needs to allow the piece to flow over mind, body, and spirit and rejoice at the resurgence of wonder, the revelation of the undertow of wonder."
Read more
"During the intermission for the Elevator Repair Service’s 'Fondly, Collette Richland,' at the same time that a noticeable number of theatergoers fervidly exited New York Theatre Workshop for good, an avant-garde director I know came up to me and said 'I’m loving this. But it should be at 3 in the morning.' I agreed with the director…and also with the exiting theatergoers...The key to appreciating 'Fondly, Collette Richland' is not to try to understand it, but to let it wash over you."
Read more
"This inscrutable potpourri of old-fashioned avant-garde eccentricities is well enough performed by a talented ensemble that seems to be having more fun than the audience; but their unusual characters are so dependent on highly stylized techniques that none have enough humanity to make you care a whit about them. This was one of those experiences where my eyes were on my watch almost as often as on the stage and where I applauded more for the play’s being over than for my appreciation of it."
Read more
"If insanity and confusion is what theatre is about then playwright Sibyl Kempson and the Elevator Repair Service succeed with 'Fondly, Collette Richland.' If you love 'Saturday Night Live' skits one after another for almost three hours, this will be right up your alley, it is not up mine...I can’t even really tell you what this play is about and I forced myself to stay awake."
Read more
"If coherence and intelligibility are among your requirements for a theatrical experience, this new play is definitely not for you. It has plenty of interesting characters, a clever set, Inspired costumes and an intricate sound design. Unfortunately these strong points are overwhelmed by the lack of a discernible narrative arc and an unfortunate tendency to pile on the surreal and the ridiculous beyond what the play can bear."
Read more
"If you're going to follow the goings-on, you've got to be super-alert. That's because Sibyl Kempson's 2-hour-45-minute play often dispenses with plausible links between what the various characters say, or what happens. It's a loose-structured approach to drama that, unless you're a devotee of New York's downtown experimental theater scene, takes some getting used to. Seeing 'Collette Richland' would be a good test of whether it's a style that's your cup of tea."
Read more
"Simply a mess. Produced with stilted language and divorced from actual emotions, it seems designed to force very good actors into producing terrible output. 'Fondly, Collette Richland' revels in off kilter pacing, unexplainable changes in tone and extra wacky characters. These things need not render a show unwatchable, but the added artificial pronunciation, surrealism and studied emotional non-reaction to events combine in a terrible mix."
Read more