Illyria NYC Reviews and Tickets

“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."
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“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.”
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“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.”
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"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."
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"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."
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“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."
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“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."
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“A string of anecdotes…and historical references do not a play - a good one, at any rate - make…The dialogue and behavior seek to be ordinary, and off the cuff, as untheatrical as possible; the speaking is often so low key that early reviews and word of mouth are causing long lines…to borrow assisted listening devices…Given that so much of the talk is small talk, that 'dramatic' moments arise very sporadically, and that the play's narrative arc is so languorous, the play quickly begins to drag.”
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