Incognito NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (185)
See it if you enjoy a four-person acting tour de force. Each cast member moves effortlessly between their various roles, inhabiting them perfectly.
Don't see it if you require a simple, linear story. This isn't that, though you get the whole picture of how the various lives connect by the conclusion.
See it if You love split story telling, non traditional staging, and actors quickly changing from one character to another! Beautiful story telling.
Don't see it if You need a traditional set and plot.
See it if you have an active imagination and like to be a bit challenged when you enjoy a play. Einstein's Brain is not a prerequisite.
Don't see it if you only like the straight forward, tell a linear story kind of play. Has some twists and turns and eventually winds up in a neat bow.
See it if you'd rather see the good 30 minutes of 3 90-minute plays at the same time than sit through an hour of exposition to get to the good stuff.
Don't see it if you want a cohesive story told from beginning to end
See it if You want to see acting at its best. 4 actors 20+ characters. Confusing & dizzying at first, but then you get it..sort of. Go for acting.
Don't see it if You can't follow actors turning into different characters in seconds. It is fast and dizzying, so you must be patient.
See it if you have a strong interest in the possibilities of the mind.
Don't see it if you are easily confused and enjoy traditional theater.
See it if you like ensemble pieces where each actor plays multiple roles, plays about mental health and science, you want to see some great acting
Don't see it if you'll be bothered by a problematic script even though the acting makes up for it completely, don't like shows that don't really "resolve"
See it if you are interested in quick but thoughtful takes on the very human experiences of existence as defined by the state of one's brain.
Don't see it if you don't like somewhat minimalist staging and conceptual choreography (which i really enjoyed btw!); if the topics are upsetting/triggery. Read more
Critic Reviews (31)
"It’s not as compelling, or as cohesive, as 'Constellations,' but, vividly staged and acted, it’s quite diverting…'Incognito' does sometimes seem fitted together, a combining of information rather than a fully imagined whole…These tales are sort of tied together at the end, but in a contrived, not very revelatory, way…Four fine actors play a total of 20 characters…'Incognito' is an ambitious and intelligent play, but it’s in its presentation that it’s most engrossing."
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"Carr and her three co-performers, Charlie Cox, Heather Lind and Morgan Spector, play 20 parts between them with remarkable dexterity, seamlessly switching between British and American accents and barely pausing to draw breath…The ending comes across as a little bit Hollywood, but 'Incognito' is that rare thing: a piece of theatre that really forces us to think."
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"Payne ties things together by the end, and the fragmentary episodes emphasize the point that 'the self' is not a unified entity. But the play’s notice-me structure also tends to pull attention away from the primary theme he’s exploring: namely, that trying to figure out how the mind works just by slicing it up is a pointless endeavor. Scenes that clicked most were incidental to main proceedings...The subjects Payne is toying with should make us feel a sense of wonder, which is lacking here."
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“Four actors playing twenty different characters...That none of this ever becomes remotely confusing is a testament to actors who switch between British and American accents with tremendous ease, and who delineate their many characters without the help of a single prop...'Incognito' might have easily tipped over in pretentiousness but instead proves fleet, witty and, by the end of its 85 minutes, heartbreaking.”
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"It's the sort of faux-deep play that's so fun to watch in the moment that it's only afterward you realize something is missing. What's absent is story lines and characters that we come to care about...Payne's play is well-constructed, and there are surprise connections that are satisfying to piece together—but these don't outweigh a longing for a true narrative with a stronger point of view...His lack of conviction makes 'Incognito' a set of individual stories that don't hold together."
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"But more compelling is how Payne questions the purely physiological functions of the brain, weighing them against the emotional — is it possible to maintain a ‘sense of self’ when one is going through dementia, even though on a physiological level the brain doesn’t have a headquarters to retain that information? Payne answers that question in a moving way by the play’s conclusion, which left the elderly gentleman next to me sobbing."
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"This is a brilliant, witty play that in its best moments is also heartfelt. Under Doug Hughes' direction, the cast acts as an ensemble, like a great string quartet. Best is Charlie Cox, particularly in his touching impersonation of a man who has no memory. His Henry is sweet, but pained at his realization that he is mentally unmoored. This is one of the best plays I have seen so far this season."
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