For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (165)
See it if you wanted to see a talented ensemble dealing with a family drama.
Don't see it if you didn't realize what a heartbreaking family play this is (the advertising was very deceptive). The "Follies" like climax moved me.
See it if you love Sarah Ruhl's work and want to experience it no matter what. An understandable point of view!
Don't see it if you are after profound revelations, high-caliber acting, excitement. Read more
See it if Fantasy oriented family drama. Well intentioned, but misses on many levels
Don't see it if like a concise story that mixes whimsy and drama successfully
See it if What a waste of superior talent in a story that doesn't seem to know where it is going
Don't see it if You have any other options . These actors have all done great work elsewhere and will do so again . Skip this one . Read more
See it if you want to see 70 year old playing Peter Pan.
Don't see it if you don't like shows are partly realistic and part fantasy.
See it if you like family dramas and don't mind themes of aging and mortality.
Don't see it if you prefer action or "easy" shows that don't require much brain power. The dialogue is sometimes complex and scenes are disjointed.
See it if you are interested in unusual ways to re-visit Peter Pan and do not mind the lack of story line.
Don't see it if you want a strong story and well-developed characters and do not particularly care about Peter Pan.
See it if This is a dialogue driven play with two disjointed parts. To me, Peter Pan is overdone, and this point of view was tedious but tried
Don't see it if You are not into overly talk-y plays
Critic Reviews (46)
"It feels like a first work, a crude attempt by a promising playwright to 'write what you know'...The problem is, as Ruhl writes them, the siblings have no particular distinction...The play is all small talk–expository and personal–not only about them, but other relatives as well...The five siblings and their Dad are well played by a lively cast led by the appealing Kathleen Chalfant, who always lights up a stage."
Read more
"Ms. Ruhl fails to embrace the darkness of her central conceit. What Peter Pan has to say about the terror of growing up, about Oedipal struggles, lost innocence, and looming mortality should provide rich material here. These tragic elements were not lost on Barrie's original children, who eventually outgrew and left him, with one recounting that he pretended to continue believing in fairies only to appease his older friend. And yet Ms. Ruhl remains gratuitously optimistic."
Read more
"Loaded with some profound and touching ideas. It is also graced with the indefatigable presence of its star, Kathleen Chalfant...The stakes however, never seem that high and Ruhl’s play tends to meander between recollections, current affairs, ordinary sibling rivalry, and regret...It ends up feeling like a cathartic self-help exercise...In the final analysis, 'For Peter Pan' has some tender moments but, overall, it fails to take flight."
Read more
"It's gentle and generous, without much conflict...There's almost no dramatic arc, and there's almost no emotional arc either...Despite these significant drawbacks, 'For Peter Pan' is interesting in an experimental-theater kind of way. It's rare to see an accomplished playwright deviate so drastically from dramatic structure. It's imaginative...There is tender and affecting dialogue...But ironically, it is the most fantastical elements that keep this 'Peter Pan' firmly on the ground."
Read more
“A tender, touching new play…‘For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday’ is a story about death and dying, family, different political opinions, and growing up. Tie in a memory of ‘Peter Pan’ and you have quite a nice evening in the theatre…A generally entertaining, tender, down-to-earth play with just a dash of fun and a healthy dose of heart.”
Read more
"It rarely rings false, and it never stumbles over misguided grandiose ambitions. Its main flaw is that, simply, it isn’t very interesting...The harmless sincerity of this schema can be respected, but Ruhl does very little to delve into the complexities that presumably underlie it...It all seems accurate enough; it just never seems enough...Ruhl’s script has understandably not given director Les Waters much inspiration...The acting is all good."
Read more
“Fashioned out of love, remembrance, and Ruhl’s imagination, the play unfolds to tell us a story about family and mortality…Director Les Waters has done a terrific job of coordinating all the elements…The mix of reality and fantasy is ultimately charming and moving. What may have seemed light becomes layered with thoughts of mortality and questions of how one is to live one’s life: How can one be useful? Is one person more important than another?”
Read more
"The idea...certainly has promise, but Ruhl bludgeons it to a premature death with countless side trips into forced whimsy and heavy-handed dialogue...Ruhl’s play meanders both obviously and pointlessly...What’s disheartening is that Waters directs persuasively, the sets are beguiling, the lighting is often dazzling, and the costumes are amusing. Fully on board is the entire cast...But nothing can disguise that 'For Peter Pan' is all dressed up with no place to fly."
Read more