Hir NYC Reviews and Tickets

79%
(61 Ratings)
Positive
89%
Mixed
8%
Negative
3%
Members say
Edgy, Thought-provoking, Great acting, Funny, Clever

About the Show

Playwrights Horizons presents a comedy about a former housewife forging a deliriously liberated world for her children: Isaac, a former Marine; and Max, who is sculpting a third-sex gender identity for hirself.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (61)

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95 Reviews | 28 Followers
100
Exquisite, Great writing, Hilarious, Must see, Profound

See it if you want a thrilling, unflinching, and big-hearted entry into the big questions we need to ask about queerness, the left, and the future

Don't see it if you want something more conservative

70 Reviews | 38 Followers
100
Funny, Great acting, Intelligent, Must see, Profound

See it if You'd like an hilarious comedy with profound things to say about gender and justice

Don't see it if Really, I can't think of a reason not to rush to this show

94 Reviews | 26 Followers
100
Edgy, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Profound, Relevant

See it if you are interested in gender identity. One of the most brilliant plays I have seen in the past ten years in NYC.

Don't see it if you don't want to be open to thinking about things in a new and different way.

273 Reviews | 47 Followers
99
Ambitious, Funny, Intelligent, Must see

See it if you enjoy ambitious theatre, and are a fan of the work of Taylor Mac.

Don't see it if you do not enjoy a text heavy script.

197 Reviews | 224 Followers
90
Absorbing, Intense, Riveting, Thought-provoking, Original

See it if edgy, black comedy about modern families falling apart is appealing. Excellent performances and a twisted script make for great theatre.

Don't see it if you're a fan of traditional family values.

51 Reviews | 12 Followers
90
Ambitious, Clever, Great writing, Great acting

See it if you are a fan of Taylor Mac's work, you want your assumptions about gender challenged, you want a breathless display of theatrical heroism.

Don't see it if You don't want your assumptions about gender challenged; you are triggered by issues of abuse, or can't handle someone simulating vomiting.

175 Reviews | 20 Followers
87
Hilarious, Edgy, Great staging, Quirky, Relevant

See it if you want to see a provocative, original comedy with an amazing set design that perfectly mirrors the conflicts of the characters.

Don't see it if you are transphobic.

387 Reviews | 108 Followers
86
Funny, Edgy, Great acting, Thought-provoking, Quirky

See it if you are comfortable exploring issues of gender and sexuality / you like a dark, dark comedy that will still make you laugh

Don't see it if you are stuck on the gender binary / you are looking for simple answers

Critic Reviews (33)

The New York Times
November 8th, 2015

"Mr. Mac’s audacious and uproarious black comedy, which opened at Playwrights Horizons in a crackling production, makes even the more extreme angst-amidst-the-chintz plays seem like demure drawing-room comedies of the 1950s...What is remarkable about 'Hir' is not its woolly, dark vision of an American family run amok, but the flawed and real humanity that simmers beneath all the surreal comedy."
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Time Out New York
November 8th, 2015

"Patently metaphorical and threaded with nervy satire, 'Hir' at times suggests a modern inversion of David Rabe’s 'Sticks and Bones'...It has a ringing voice all its own, however, and formidable broad-mindedness in its sympathies (and its jabs). The upstairs theater at Playwrights Horizons may be too small for the aesthetic of Niegel Smith’s production...Some of the acting can seem overscaled. (Imperfection and excess, in fairness, are part of Mac’s artistic creed.)"
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New York Theatre Guide
November 9th, 2015

"The actors are, to a person, fine. Smith’s direction is multi-levelled and keeps the complex issues from becoming trite...The second act left me wondering why I was watching this as well as why the second act so blatantly slips off the edge and falls into the creek. There are so many issues at work here that Taylor Mac has spread himself mighty thin... In art, if we are asked to focus on multiple plots, each with equal weight, it is easy to get lost in the effort."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
November 8th, 2015

"In his other work, Mac’s maximalism has almost always paid off, not only in terms of gorgeous maquillage and feats of endurance but in his ambition for theater as a communal tool. But here, the huge kaleidoscope of attempted analysis — gender, class, political, aesthetic — makes it difficult to track his intentions. The somewhat chaotic production by Niegel Smith also gets in the way."
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New Yorker
November 8th, 2015

"Change, physical and otherwise, is at the center of 'Hir'... 'Hir' has a lot of ideas—necessary ideas, especially when it comes to flinging open closets in the 'trans' world—which spill over the edges of the play, but I wouldn’t take much out in order to make the show dramaturgically tighter or easier to absorb. The rudeness of its form is part of its power: you can’t build a clearer future without making a mess of the past."
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The Hollywood Reporter
November 8th, 2015

"Mac clearly has serious things on his mind here, and his anarchic take on the kitchen-sink family drama, although hardly revelatory provides some amusement. But the thematic points quickly become repetitious...Director Niegel Smith lets the pace drag considerably, despite the play's running time of under two hours. On the other hand, there's Nielsen...Her sterling performance, and the fine work by the rest of the ensemble, nearly make up for the play's hollow posturing."
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Theatermania
November 8th, 2015

"Director Niegel Smith's production is intense and thoughtful, with a four-member cast that is collectively excellent...'Hir' isn't perfect (the speed of the who's-on-first-style word-and-action repetition is oftentimes wearying), but the play is sharp, shocking, and really, really funny while also vividly explorative of the depth of human emotions. Mac has crafted a piece that defies labels and categorization. 'Hir' is an audacious, important work that won't be easily forgotten."
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Lighting & Sound America
November 9th, 2015

"The writing has such verve and acid wit that it carries us along on contrasting tides of hilarity and anger right to the powerful, if open-ended, finale...'Hir' is hardly a perfectly constructed play - the ending, while gripping, leaves unclear how any of the characters can go forward - but it represents a noted talent striking out in a new direction to considerable effect...Mac's comic fury is more apposite than it at first seems."
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