HUNGRY: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play One NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Tony Award-winning playwright and director Richard Nelson returns to The Public Theater with 'Hungry,' the first in a new three-play cycle introducing us to the Gabriels of Rhinebeck, New York.
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See it if A play that sticks to your ribs. A "Big Chill" for our time. Like getting together with smart relatives who have been around the block.
Don't see it if You dislike naturalism.
See it if you like intimate, realistic family stories, have seen Richard Nelson's Apple Family plays, like up to date theater relevant to today
Don't see it if the mechanics of everyday family life bore you on stage, you don't want to think about how this intimate story relates to you!
See it if you like family interaction. The play is lovely.
Don't see it if can't imagine not liking it
See it if You like realistic plays that are staged so that you feel as if you are looking through a window at an ordinary family.
Don't see it if You need high drama and raised voices and lots of action to enjoy a play. This is NOT that play. A literal kitchen sink play !
See it if you enjoy subdued family dramas with minimalist staging that pack an emotional punch.
Don't see it if you're going in on an empty stomach. Their cooking made me HUNGRY.
See it if you like realism. Hungry feels like an edited film of a real family. Still, Nelson's hand is evident in its humor and intelligence.
Don't see it if you want something bold and theatrical. Hungry has a small focus, used to spotlight our times especially women's roles. Strong ensemble! Read more
See it if you're interested in watching a slow-burn slice of life play with great relevance to the 2016 election, you like real, relatable characters
Don't see it if you want high drama, high stakes, fancy sets and earth-shattering cliffhangers.
See it if You like shows that make you think more than entertain you.
Don't see it if You like to be entertained a don't like wordy plays
Critic Reviews (19)
"Nothing much happens except the conversations most people are having about this coming election...We spend an hour and forty-five minutes in conversation about the present state of the political circus...No insight, no conflict, so nothing gets resolved. Honestly how is this a play? Where is the arc? Where is the emotional commitment? Where is the entertainment?...This play left me starving for something, anything, and I was left unfulfilled."
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"The only distressing element about 'Hungry', the initial installment in Richard Nelson's new trilogy about the Gabriel family, is that the author makes the whole thing look so effortlessly easy...We have been so impressed by Nelson's work on the 'Apple Family Plays' that we tend to overlook his direction, which is precise and perfect...Everything is beyond just right."
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"Nelson’s skill at incorporating feelings about events in the larger world into naturalistic family conversations is even more seamlessly realized here than in the 'Apple' plays. The cost of this seamlessness is a lessening of drama and traditional plot, a trade off I can readily accept...If you demand fast-acting drama, you will be miserable, but if you enjoy leisurely conversation by intelligent people, you will be quite content."
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