Ideation NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (119)
See it if You are familiar with the corporate world and would enjoy seeing it skewered in parody, or if you like thinking through epic conspiracies.
Don't see it if You want your shows to have a satisfying conclusion, instead of a "dun dun dun..." and fade to black.
See it if intelligent, logic oriented morals and ethics
Don't see it if absurdity
See it if you want to get a glimpse of the way corporations do business. How far do employees go to do the bidding of their corporate employers?
Don't see it if you want a tidy ending.
See it if You like theater that gets you to think.
Don't see it if You don't want to think at the theater.
See it if you love Saturday Night Live. This is essentially an SNL skit -- about management consultants who overthink -- expanded to 90 minutes.
Don't see it if you want drama, or if repeated variations on the same gag aren't your idea of humor.
See it if you don't know anything about business and like a fantasy show.
Don't see it if you like subtle acting. There's a bit too much scenery chewing. Also despite the unusual premiss the show's structure is predictable.
See it if you want to feel as if you were sitting for ten hours watching a 90 minute play!!! Should have been a brief one-act play.
Don't see it if Just don't see it. This is truly bad theatre: bad acting, bad writing, bad directing.
See it if waste 1:45 watching "conspiracy theory" deception playout in an executive boardroom. Horrible writing. No character development.
Don't see it if Unless you were a business major who likes watching actors talk in circles, without a conclusion. Sadly, many fake positive reviews posted.
Critic Reviews (30)
"If you have a few synapses you’re not using for anything, I suggest you swan over to 59E59 Theaters and put them to good use. Aaron Loeb‘s play 'Ideation' will give them a fabulous workout, as will the cast who dishes up this most excellent presentation...It is a masterful script and a very fine production indeed. THIS is what 'The Crucible' was intended to do. The sacrifice of the few to protect the many is on trial here, and the jury is out."
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"What they begin to speculate is the remarkable and powerful story line of Mr. Loeb’s script and the ensemble cast capably brings it to a chilling and disturbing climax. Josh Costello keeps the pace at the frenetic and horrifying level needed and his creative vision never misses the opportunity to turn the audience’s expectations into a delectable chaotic psychological disarray...Loses steam briefly about 80 minutes into the performance...Mr. Loeb might consider making a few judicious cuts."
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"Although it’s been called a psychological thriller, Mr. Loeb’s play leans more toward being a frequently funny and decidedly edgy satire of global corporate power, the self-interested rationalization of ethical dilemmas, the paranoia leading to conspiracy theories, and the impossibility of knowing who to trust and how much. ‘Ideation’ creaks a bit here and there but, on the whole, is a fast-paced, original, suspenseful, and intellectually satisfying yet consistently accessible contribution."
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"Acting is excellent across the board...This is a superbly cast production of actors who work with one another like a humming machine...Heat, both sexual and hostile, feels real. Perhaps the highest achievement here is the production’s skilled timing without which we wouldn’t be bound...Aaron Loeb has concocted a psychologically adept scenario, relevant both as metaphor and conceivable eventuality...My only caveat is the ending which, I think, calls for more commitment."
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"'Ideation' is like the hit sci-fi TV thriller 'Lost." So many unanswered questions when we reach the blackout...The script jumps from absurdist to melodrama to farce with a snap of the finger. Bringing it cohesively together is the job of the director. Josh Costello found a through line but it was bit jagged...A polarizing play in the sense of satisfaction. You may not be thrilled with the outcome or you may find it perfectly accurate to life. Either way, Loeb has forced you to feel something."
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"A taut, ironic thriller...Loeb’s well-drawn characterizations enhanced with studied distinction by the actors’ portrayals, bring this real-surreal office dynamic to life...'Ideation' is a must-see production, its concept well-thought-out and executed to perfection by the sustained efforts of the cast, creative team and director. The production unfolds seamlessly, step by step, with sardonic humor, suspense, and a realism that the actors vibrate with and make us experience."
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"'Ideation' takes an unsettling project, how to discretely handle mass deaths from a virus, and disassembles it into manageable parts. It begins with finding the gallows humor in the management processes, which ignores the human effects of their work all the time...'Ideation' is crisply directed by Josh Costello and well written by Aaron Loeb. It is altogether a tight show, right up until the end. And then 'Ideation' loses its nerve."
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"I give playwright Aaron Loeb high marks for his characters. He manages to create archetypes without making them stereotypes...My big complaint is with the ending. Loeb has set all the dominoes up to knock them down with an ending that comes down on one side or the other, and then he chooses not to take a side…Director Josh Costello has staged a small-cast, talking heads play in a single setting and has done so without boring the audience."
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