Illyria

“Nelson, who is a master of naturalism and making theater in the present, here presents something that lies between a diorama and a shared dream…Three masterful scenes…There's a sense of scrappy camaraderie that helps the play avoid any facile foreshadowing…There are lovely scenes in which characters have long conversations about life and art while eating copious meals, which in this case help transform these potential ghosts into flesh and bone beings…An exceptional production.” Full Review

“It’s a dramatic tale filled with ambition, creativity, genius, pride, politics, manipulation, celebrity and historically significant events...‘Illyria’ feels like a corner seat in the room where it happened...Although you know this is about THE Joseph Papp...it’s actually a quiet, realistic piece about some kids who have a dream and no money. Nelson lays out all the struggles and the obstacles, not least of which is Papp’s well-documented volcanic temperament." Full Review

"I spoke to several people who had severe problems hearing the actors...It’s a pity because 'Illyria' is one of the best new plays to open in New York City this year...There’s never a misstep in Nelson’s script or any of the performances...'Illyria' is a must-see for anyone who cares about the theater. Just make sure you rent a listening device or sit in the first row." Full Review

"Transfixing and rhapsodic; a lovely portrait of a group of young artists struggling to find their place in the world...Nelson (who also directed) and his cast display a note-perfect grasp of these characters, their individual rhythms and their group dynamics -- the audience truly comes to feel like flies on the wall...A striking vision emerges, one that understands the impossibly difficult, brick-by-brick, minute-by-minute process of creating any work of art." Full Review

“Every young boy and girl who plans to be a performer must see ‘Illyria.’ You should, too. Through Richard Nelson’s new play and production, everyone can see what real acting is – meaning acting that doesn’t seem to be acting at all…Nelson gets a natural, unadorned and unassuming performance from each of his 10 actors…Once again see that underplaying is a much better choice than over-the-top. Call this Theater-of-the-Matter-of-Fact." Full Review

"The work fascinates as it also provides a window into a time of political foment where artists were still being summoned to the McCarthy tribunal and many in City government were bowing down to a kind of political cronyism and fear mongering the likes of which we are again being buffeted by...The cast delights as it works seamlessly...Author Nelson, also directs, imbuing the play with an even greater intimacy." Full Review

"A dramatically-engrossing greenroom chronicle...Nelson serves himself well as director...Nelson, by having the performance purposely underamplified, seems to encourage the notion that you needn’t necessarily hear every word that is said...The heretofore little-known Magaro dominates the play...Magaro—like the bantam Joe himself—is small and intense, with a smile and enthusiasm that can sway the severest naysayers. Brill and Kranz are excellent as Papp’s staunch henchmen." Full Review

“A compelling view of an insider world...’Illyria’ is played and directed (by Nelson) in such a low-key manner it’s like eavesdropping on private conversations. But that’s exactly the effect the playwright-director is after...John Magaro conveys the fury and brilliance of Papp while John Sanders captures Vaughan’s measured cautious nature. They and the rest of the company create an illusion of intimacy as a legendary theater is born.” Full Review

"Actors in 'Illyria' are doing delicate, absorbing work conjuring very real people. The play is quite literally understated...I might even call it navel-gazing — but perhaps that’s all right when you have, admittedly, a very interesting navel...Almost feels more like documentary or museum recreation than theater itself. But despite its conscious avoidance of the dramatic, the piece ultimately works its way between your ribs." Full Review

“Director-playwright Richard Nelson opts for an ultra-naturalistic, stripped-down approach...The female parts seem a little thinly sketched, though that may be a commentary on 1950s gender politics...Nelson’s dialogue perfectly mimics the rhythms of ordinary conversation...Those Chekhovian discussions unfold against a subtly evoked backdrop of lurking menace." Full Review

"In his absorbing new play, 'Illyria,' Nelson makes you feel like a privileged insider, inviting you behind the scenes to meet Papp and his co-founders...It’s a conversational style of theatre, intimate and non-dramatic – but it makes a deep and lasting impact...Sums up the character of this complex charismatic leader, who led a theatre company through its formative years into a glorious future of challenges and triumphs, of which we all are beneficiaries." Full Review

"A quiet, talky, pensive and unresolved new drama...The play ends without climax or even a hint of resolution, and much of the conversation rambles on too long, but those who appreciate Nelson’s intimate, low-key, ensemble-oriented aesthetic and Off-Broadway history will not want to miss it." Full Review

"The most lovely thing about writer and director Richard Nelson's evocative new play, 'Illyria,' is that it's told in his gentle, fly-on-the-wall style...We get to know this group of theater friends not through highly-dramatic happenings, but through their intimate conversations...It's that undertone of canniness that keeps the play from being too sentimental...Unfortunately, they are more soft-spoken than the 'Gabriels' cast — I often had trouble catching whole phrases." Full Review

“Nelson's plays are really, really, really just not for everyone. They work for me, though. ‘Illyria’ might not feel like quite the lifeline the Gabriel plays were a year ago, but I found it to be similarly comforting and moving just the same...Conversation, typically ultra-natural, steers clear of obvious exposition...The play manages enough detail for audience members who know very little about Papp or the Public to make sense of what's going on.” Full Review

“Nelson's sliver of a drama, even if it sometimes feels constricted, has its own fascinations...Seeing ‘Illyria’ is like listening in on a private conversation; you have to figure out what's happening...'Illyria' may be challenging for those not conversant with Papp's biography...Adding to the difficulty is the throwaway performance style...The actors are, too often, simply inaudible...Still, there's something authentically touching -- and strangely of the moment -- about Nelson's portrait." Full Review

"If you don’t know much about the real Joseph Papp, you may wonder what the heck’s going on and why you should be interested. If you do know a lot about Papp and his associates, you may be a bit exasperated by the liberties Mr. Nelson has taken...But 'Illyria' also affords distinctive if fleeting pleasures that no one these days does better than Nelson...Theatergoers with patience will be rewarded by moments throughout when they will feel transformed into proverbial flies on the walls." Full Review

"His directorial approach is very much in the non-stagey, realistic mode of the Apple plays, with the actors to speak conversationally and not always easy to hear...This is essentially a backstage story that doesn't pull you in right away...The dialogue in the second and third scenes becomes sharper, the conflicts more intense and timely — especially given arts institutions nowadays under budget cutting assaults by the powers that be in Washington. The actors too get more into their roles." Full Review

“As unshowy a play as you’re ever likely to see about show people...It’s revealing, when you tease significance from it...It’s also at times a little listless, quiet enough that if you’re not in the front rows you might have to lean in and strain to catch it all. It’s less like you’re watching a play than trying to make sense of your first day at an internship...The show is often muted...'Illyria’s' artists catch us up in their rich, reeling talk. But the scale and scope here is vigorously hu... Full Review

“There is almost no plot, but it’s fascinating to watch and hear these young versions of people who went on to great success as they try to figure out how to keep Papp’s dream afloat...Nelson has directed the play and much of it is 'conversational’ – meaning so low in volume that even I, sitting in the second row, missed a lot of it...If you are fascinated with this period in our theatre history, I think you will have a good time. If you’re not, you’ll probably find ‘Illyria’ a tough slog." Full Review

"I fear that playwright Richard Nelson is in danger of becoming a victim of self-parody. He seems to have succumbed to a one-size-fits-all solution to every dramatic problem...He has definitely hit the point of diminishing returns is his latest effort for the Public Theater...At the end of the long first scene, I was hopeful; by the end of the second, considerably less so. The rambling third scene squandered whatever positive feelings I had left for the play." Full Review

"Nelson's latest play has made the audience into flies-on-the-wall...Performances were excellent, although I found Magaro’s Joe Papp attractive but too mild-mannered...More aggressiveness in Magaro’s performance might have heightened the overall presentation...Although not as theatrical as I would have preferred, the show is enticing to anyone who would enjoy knowing more about Papp and his early contributions to New York City theater." Full Review

“While the final scene gives some human and narrative payoff...the road there is long and paved with an awful lot of repetitive, testosterone-fueled bluster...The main arc of the play doesn’t give much more than a snapshot of Papp’s personality...Underneath that main arc, though, move some very interesting questions...Where the battles for real estate and urban vibrancy are being fought, passionately, by the characters, the gender issues seem unrecognized within the play." Full Review

"None of this is dramatized so much as revealed through conversation in three scenes set several months apart...'llyria' is probably best appreciated as a glimpse into the passion that theater ignites in its practitioners, especially for those theatergoers who are not fully versed in the history of the Public Theater and its principal players." Full Review

“Nelson's strong suit in recent years has been to move large groups of people around and talking as intimates which is well evident in the new play. However, as director he has kept the tone ‘conversational’ as he has called it in his last seven plays, in which no one raises their voices and all seem almost to be whispering. This proves to be very un-theatrical and makes the play seem like there is no dramatic event.” Full Review

"Part of the play’s charm is how its characters communicate, which is with a free-wheeling naturalism where sentences clash into each other, and people mutter or giggle. As beguiling as this is, you strain to hear what is being said...At its worst, 'Illyria' feels not only frustratingly inaudible at times but wincingly smug and self-indulgent...It is very easy to fall in love, in fitful stretches at least, with its characters." Full Review