Hir NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (61)
See it if u want original personas and inspired family disfunction. Beyond dysfunction -- what's the phrase? I had a high-bouncing ball of a time.
Don't see it if Kristine Nielsen is beyond your appreciation. Hey, who are you? She's hilarious, toughing, truly fantastic. Great cast and prod all-round.
See it if you want to explore cracking family dynamics.
Don't see it if you like conventional kitchen sink family dramas.
See it if want to see characters you haven't seen before and a difficult topic handled in a way you wouldn't expect. Dis-functionality at its best.
Don't see it if don't like to think too much. You have to see beyond the setup to feel the painful situation they are all in. Although funny it's not easy
See it if you like shows that discuss current issues. Also, if you're a fan of Taylor Mac. Powerful show.
Don't see it if you're not someone who likes theatre to test you.
See it if Entertaining performances, deftly satirizing today's gender politics. At times laugh out loud funny.
Don't see it if Ultimately doesn't really go anywhere, though all the trendiest terms are name-checked. Not sure what Mac was trying to say.
See it if you're interested in strong writing and very original ideas.
Don't see it if you like nuance in performance - two of the four performances were over the top and undermined the power of the play.
See it if overall entertaining enough. The theme is current.
Don't see it if overacted. Issue that's been done to death lately and not in a particularly original way.
See it if you like living room comedies for the post modern family.
Don't see it if you don't like things like deconstruction and gender binaries.
Critic Reviews (33)
"The dialogue abounds in jargon-laced gender identity talk, but for all the spirited comic energy with which it’s presented, a didactic aroma wafts over its satirical attack on conventional family relationships, the patriarchy’s downfall, and the myth of the gender binary...Everything is so overblown that you feel like you’ve wandered into a real nut house; if Ms. Nielsen had to interact with real people on the outside she’d be in a straitjacket before you could say Jack Nicholson."
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"It appears as if 'Hir' is something of an autobiographical piece. It may or may not be, but it's a frenetic piece that rapidly becomes tiresome."
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"Niegel Smith directs this horrific tale like a rollercoaster of the mad and insane...This cast is terrific, but it is Ms. Nielsen who is a tour de force of insanity that grounds this play. This performance is award winning, riveting and savage. This is a hard play to watch, but it is hypnotic in it’s brutality."
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"This play might be called a kitchen sink drama, but the sink is filled with dirty dishes and the drama is covered by a thick layer of absurdist comedy...A certain amount of chaos is necessary to the play, but there was too much for my taste. Any play that offers Kristine Nielsen a starring role is worth seeing in my book, but this play puts that to the test. David Zinn’s set is a cluttered wonder. Gabriel Berry’s costumes suit their characters well. Director Niegel Smith’s direction is assured."
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"Nielsen excels at playing eccentric—and often hilarious—women whose antics mask a deep yearning to be taken seriously. And there are moments when her Paige is almost frightening...The rest of the cast is a little uneven...I found these plays to be as depressing as all hell...And yet, both 'The Humans' and 'Hir' continued to haunt me in the weeks since I've seen them. I'm guessing that they'll be frontrunners when it comes time to award next year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama."
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"A polemic instead of a play, 'Hir' is blessed with talented and committed actors who mine the text of playwright Taylor Mac for the humorous and complicated and real emotions that are buried underneath speeches and spectacle like I.E.D.s of life, little explosions of genuine drama illuminating what is all too often just a disconnected series of ideas...I am not very satisfied with this disjointed, rambling review but unfortunately it reflects the play I saw."
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"It's fascinating and sad. (Of course, there were funny bits, and many of my fellow audience members were hollowing throughout, but I found the undercurrents devastatingly sad.)"
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"Based on novelty alone, I found it fascinating...It’s a fine play, if at times difficult to get through while watching Paige (a terrific Kristine Nielsen) so loudly control the room after decades of staying quiet. I look forward to seeing more work in this newly emerging genre over the coming years."
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