Hold on to Me Darling
Closed 2h 0m
Hold on to Me Darling
78

Hold on to Me Darling NYC Reviews and Tickets

78%
(63 Ratings)
Positive
86%
Mixed
11%
Negative
3%
Members say
Funny, Great acting, Great staging, Entertaining, Great writing

About the Show

The Atlantic Theater Company presents this world premiere from award-winning writer Kenneth Lonergan, about a country-western singer who tries to find his way by returning home.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (63)

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574 Reviews | 88 Followers
79
Entertaining, Great acting, Great staging, Great writing, Too long

See it if you want to hear brilliant dialogue from terrific actors

Don't see it if you get annoyed by playwrights who don't want to end a scene. Each scene was wonderful, but almost all were 3-5 minutes too long. EDIT!!!

580 Reviews | 736 Followers
78
Funny, Great acting, Great writing, Quirky, Great staging

See it if you like lovable, narcissistic characters or shows about celebrities.

Don't see it if you prefer a short show. This one runs nearly 3 hours!

64 Reviews | 49 Followers
75
Phenomenal set, too long

See it if you're a Lonergan fan, and even just for the incredible set design; some performances are also excellent.

Don't see it if you do not want to sit for three hours and wonder at the end what it all adds up to.

1009 Reviews | 950 Followers
75
Entertaining, Great staging, Cliched, Self-indulgent, Slow

See it if Charming cute story, Great staging. Entertaining. All other characters but the "hero" are realistic and well acted.

Don't see it if Main character seems to have been written by a different author than all other characters. The inexplicably pedantic melodramatic hillbilly.

177 Reviews | 30 Followers
75
Entertaining, Great staging, Quirky, Slow

See it if You like clever dialogue and sets.

Don't see it if you like your shows edited and tight. The show runs a little long and needs some trimming. It also doesn't break any new ground.

187 Reviews | 41 Followers
74
Well acted, Entertaining, Original, Quirky, Slow at times

See it if you like Lonergan plays. Charmingly funny. You'll get the main character's posturing when, for me, the emotional impact hits at the end.

Don't see it if your only reason is to see Timothy Olyphant. His character could get a little tiresome.

54 Reviews | 11 Followers
72
Uneven slow inconsistent

See it if you like Kenneth Lonergan's work

Don't see it if you don't like second-rate Kenneth Longergan.

104 Reviews | 103 Followers
70
Hilarious, Great staging, Great acting

See it if Gorgeous and eclectic set design (very impressive). Excellent supporting cast. So many trenchant and hilarious one-liners!

Don't see it if You're not into shows with a self-absorbed celebrity protagonist. You don't like plays to be significantly longer than 2 hours,

Critic Reviews (29)

Theater Pizzazz
March 15th, 2016

"Kenneth Lonergan’s often uproarious comedy…Admittedly, Strings is as self-indulgent as Lonergan’s overlong, shaggy-dog story…But Olyphant’s sheer magnetism practically draws you to him, and the knowledge that Lonergan might unleash a priceless comic line at any moment is likely to keep you glued to your seats…What we have here is comedy-as-character study. It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, but Olyphant has the sure footing that allows him to never take a misstep."
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Front Row Center
March 16th, 2016

"A v-e-r-y long two plus hours. The first act was literally painful to watch. Mr. Olyphant went through the motions in his portrayal of Strings with such effort that he appeared to be uncertain of his lines, his blocking or his intention. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by the second act. One scene in particular revealed Lonergan’s writing to be much smarter than the first act indicated...Excellent performances were not quite enough to rescue this play."
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Theatre's Leiter Side
March 15th, 2016

"Lonergan’s dialogue has never been more richly humorous...it constantly makes unexpected shifts that hit your laughter buttons and cause you to explode. ‘Hold On to Me Darling’ has a serious theme, but I wouldn’t bother my head about it. I advise you to enter the Atlantic Theater with only one thing in mind: you’re about to watch nearly three hours of some really funny people saying really funny things in a really funny way. Hold on to this, darlin’, and you’ll have a damn good time."
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The Guardian (UK)
March 14th, 2016

"It’s a fine premise, but Lonergan and the director, Neil Pepe, are not quite sure what to do with it...Too many scenes seem to do the same narrative work and the abrupt ending, another tonal swerve, seems as yet unfinished. But Lonergan’s dialogue is as effervescent as ever and his wry, sympathetic sense of the ways in which we lie to each other and to ourselves remains unmatched. If only he had a tighter hold on the play itself."
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The Wrap
March 14th, 2016

"Kenneth Lonergan has written a terrific new comedy...'Hold on to Me Darling' is great, fun theater because 1) Lonergan has real talent, and 2) he takes that extra hour-plus to develop not only a truly inspired principal character but surrounds him with five other characters, each of whom exudes enough backstory to spawn five other plays...'Hold on to Me Darling' doesn’t ramble so much as it takes its time, and director Neil Pepe keeps all the comic moments percolating."
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B
March 14th, 2016

"It’s good to see Kenneth Lonergan get his playwriting chops back in this new comedy...The satire is broad and the dialogue, frequently hilarious...The actors are uniformly excellent. The play could benefit from some trimming as it’s a bit too slight for its length. The second act loses steam and the final scene does not seem to fit very well...Neil Pepe’s fluid direction keeps everything moving smoothly. It’s a little too much of a good thing, but I’m not complaining."
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Wolf Entertainment Guide
March 27th, 2016

"Some of the smartest, most perceptive and amusing dialogue of the current theater season can be found in 'Hold on to Me Darling.' What’s more, the entire cast can be lauded for terrific acting that entertainingly and flawlessly illuminates the characters...The dialogue that the author has provided Strings is masterly...On the heels of all of the comedy that abounds in Lonergan’s writing, the situations he creates and the acting by the excellent cast, the play delivers one poignant sequence."
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Broadway & Me
April 2nd, 2016

"The actors who bring these folks to life are so all-around terrific…Timothy Olyphant is pitch perfect as Strings, radiating sensual charisma one minute, pouting like a five-year old the next…This all makes for great fun, even though there are all kinds of holes in Lonergan's plot...The play is far too long...I began to wonder how Lonergan was going to wrap it all up. The answer proves to be through an abrupt tonal shift and a literal manifestation of the title that didn't quite work for me."
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