Incognito NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (185)
See it if you like theater that challenges you and doesn't follow a linear plot line
Don't see it if you aren't willing to pay attention to actors weaving in and out of multiple characters Read more
See it if You love riveting and captivating meditations on life, humanity, and the mind. The performances are masterful and the script is impeccable.
Don't see it if You prefer lighter fare, more ostentatious theater and escapism. Don't see if you don't like minimalism and thought-provoking theater
See it if You want to see something a little different. The cast was excellent and it was interesting how all the stories came together.
Don't see it if There's some weird business in between each scene where they wave their arms around and it's silly, don't see it if you can't get past that.
See it if you can follow actors playing multiple roles. They are all quick change artists in several clever pieces of story
Don't see it if you don't want to work/thin a little
See it if you want a thought provoking experience that is extremely well acted.
Don't see it if sit-coms are your thing.
See it if You want to experience another intelligent play from Nick Payne.It has unusual subject matter and the great cast members play many roles
Don't see it if You prefer simple plays that don't require much attention span or complex plots.
See it if you're interested in psychology, neuropsych, neurobio, science, etc. Can be a bit of work to keep up with no knowledge going in
Don't see it if you have no interest in the science/history of it. Need big sets/costumes. Can't deal with multiple characters/actor.
See it if want to see 4 great actors playing a multitude of roles. Enjoy science, medicine, and/or psychology. Writing is also very thought-provoking.
Don't see it if you don't like stories that are broken up/confusing at times. There were weird "dance breaks" that they weren't selling so i wasnt buying it
Critic Reviews (31)
"Payne has compressed more information about the human mind into 90 minutes than most of us will understand in a lifetime…In total, there are twenty characters played by four incredibly fine actors. Even if you’re still scratching your head at the curtain call, one has to admire the marathon that they are running...While it would be unfair to pan a play I don’t fully understand, one thing is clear: at least for this reviewer, the meaning of 'Incognito' is in disguise."
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"Clever and poignant…Payne can be too clever for his own good though, and some of 'Incognito’s' formal notions don’t entirely succeed. But one of his great gifts is the ability to poignantly meld complicated philosophic and scientific tenets with simpler human struggles. Molaison’s condition and its implications for human identity are fascinating, but more moving is his love for his wife, whom he greets anew every minute."
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"One half of 'Incognito' is a mash-up of plots from a few Joan Crawford movies..It’s sentimental, but it’s doubtful Payne wants to be saccharine...The play is pretty middle-brow stuff...The third act, 'Retrieving,' comes chockablock with aha moments of resolution that don’t illuminate much of anything. The fractured structure merely obscures to allow for delayed and meaningless dramatic surprises. Playing multiple roles, only Morgan Spector manages not to overact."
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"Doug Hughes puts an adept four-person cast through this convoluted-by-design brain-teaser which is likely to send you out of the theatre working out the puzzle. And keep you thinking for days after. 'Incognito' is brainy, all right…The good news of the day is that Payne pulls it off…It should be stated that folk in search of light entertainment might do well to go elsewhere; 'Incognito' could overwhelm people who aren’t looking for an evening of intellectual stimulation."
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"As in any pastiche, some stories are better than others. I wished that some had been prolonged and others had been attenuated or even eliminated...The actors are wonderful...Director Doug Hughes skillfully juggles the many strands so that the audience can usually find its bearings without undue difficulty. I admired Payne’s ambition and intelligence even when an occasional scene misfired."
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“Nick Payne’s multilayered exploration of neurological phenomena...The four-person cast of Nick Payne’s ‘Incognito’ get a workout in Doug Hughes’ fascinating and challenging production. Each plays a variety of roles in three separate story lines concerning the effect of the brain on personality and memory. At first, they seem unconnected but by the end of 90 intriguing minutes they are bound inextricably together like strands of DNA.”
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"Make sure your brain is in good working order if you go to see “Incognito,” as it will undergo demanding exercise as you strain to follow the clever, intricate interplay...The acting is consistently admirable, as the cast members slip in and out of a variety of characters at a rather rapid pace...Payne is especially creative and demanding in this Manhattan Theatre Club presentation. And there is just the right cast to make the most of his head trip."
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“The last two minutes are the only fully satisfying ones...The problem is that while they really are terrific minutes you have to sit through the other 88 to get to them...The only thing that ended up resonating with me were those final moments with the amnesiac, beautifully realized by Cox, because they played to the heart as well as the head...I don't think watching a play should be the equivalent of taking a GRE.”
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