Indian Summer NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Although the play’s four characters are given sensitive readings by the fine cast, Mr. Moss’s play remains so muted that it feels like an overcast day at the shore...It feels vaguely formulaic, as if assembled from a kit to create, well, the kind of delicate-hued, funny-sad plays that Annie Baker specializes in. All the talk of the ocean brings to mind the play’s flaws: it has a washed-out, watery quality, and the characters, while agreeable company, are not exactly bottomlessly interesting."
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"A warm and gently breezy new play about teenage love on the Rhode Island seashore…The touchingly tentative coming-of-age dialogue of the first act is not quite matched by that of the second, but the engaging cast puts the play’s cosmic mildness across. Although Moss dips his toe into the dark and vast waters of the ocean, he doesn’t let it linger there for long. He’s more interested in what the tide brings in, however briefly, before washing it away along with who knows what else."
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"Life’s a beach in Gregory Moss’s coming-of-age dramedy. Abandoned by his mom, 16-year-old Daniel (Campbell) clicks with 17-year-old Izzy (Kibler), a local girl with an attitude and a beefy older boyfriend Jeremy (Tippett)...After a promising start, the play crumbles sandcastle-style due to cartoonish characters, an over-explanation of its themes and plot detours."
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"A complex (and somewhat sleepy) meditation on lost opportunities…Moss has some important insights about the nature of relationships, the injustice of circumstance, and the cruelty of time, but those observations would be a lot more impactful in a better-edited play. Presently, watching 'Indian Summer' feels a lot like hunting for a lost wedding ring in a watery cloud of sand and seaweed: We know something truly valuable is there, but it is hard to discern through all the muck."
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"A genial, if rather standard, coming-of-age play…There's some lovely writing when Daniel and Izzy start indirectly expressing affection for each other, and a bit of weirdness when George asks the teenage girl to put on one of his deceased wife's dresses and have a conversation with his as if she were her, but director Carolyn Cantor's strong cast is charming and 'Indian Summer' is a sweet bit of romantic nostalgia."
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"'Indian Summer' is an odd, but affecting, one - a romantic comedy and a meditation on loss, a tough-minded look at the fragility of relationships, and a sometimes illogically plotted tale that nevertheless makes clear how small choices can lead to unexpected results. The production benefits enormously from the sensitive performances of its cast...Moss doesn't go in for dramatic fireworks; instead he understands that the most profound effects are felt beneath the surface."
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"A lot of fraught talk about vague things and half-realized emotions, which results in what is, however comfy, a fraught, vague, and half-realized play…The conflicting notions of what the play is prevent it from ever fully cohering...The acting, though honest, is on the befuddled side…Daniel and Izzy's final scene together is a powerful tribute to the dying art of subtext. But as a whole, 'Indian Summer' fails because it wants everything but is willing to compromise on nothing."
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"Gregory S. Moss’ 'Indian Summer' at Playwrights Horizons is an uneasy mix of two stories, the first about the doomed romantic encounter between two teens and the second concerning the quiet existential suffering of an elderly man. Despite sudden shifts of tone, Moss manages to leave the audience feeling deeply for each of these characters."
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"A deceptively bittersweet comedy…Izzy unveils a poetic streak and a surprising command of language that doesn’t always seem true to her character, but Kibler pulls off whatever Moss hands to her with aplomb. Despite its setting, the events that unfold in 'Indian Summer' turn out not to be the proverbial 'day at the beach' — for either its characters or the audience. But it’s definitely worth making the trip."
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"It's touching without being sentimental...With shifting moods that ought to be disorienting but turn out to be emotionally satisfying. The cast of four assists the playwright by lending a stylistic consistency to his blend of naturalism and gentle absurdist wit…The aggregate effect of the designers' work is sense-filling and evocative of what's most pleasurable to remember about past summers. The same, in fact, may be said for Moss's play and the production as a whole."
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“Things don’t turn out the way you think they will, which is refreshing. And this is an absolute crackerjack cast. Watching these actors maneuver through the long shadows of summer, of young love and old lonely times, of small town desperation and teenage dreams - a total pleasure. Still, the good intentions and talent are not enough to get this play out of idle and into second gear.”
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"'Indian Summer,' about a teen romance at the Rhode Island seashore, is certainly warm, largely thanks to the charming, just-right four-member cast…The playwright’s effort to invest his sandy scenes with a profound context doesn’t detract from 'Indian Summer,' but it’s the shoal-deep interplay on the beach that most engages us."
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"The ensemble performs enthusiastically under Carolyn Cantor’s direction but the result is more external than internal...‘Indian Summer’ touches on themes of growing up, sexuality, love, death, belonging, identity, and grief but little of it resonates beyond what we’ve seen in so many other plays. George’s occasional commentaries on the mysteries of life, particularly of the ocean, add to the insistent poetic mood,...but not much to the progress of the plot."
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"We get this is about all the stages of love, but does that in itself make a watchable play? Campbell is blasé and we never really care about him. Ms. Kibler manages to layer her role, with no help from the playwright. Mr. Tippett is muscled to perfection and adds some of the most touching and real moments and Mr Hadary is witty and perfectly cast. Carolyn Cantor’s direction makes this play move, but the story is lacking in any kind of depth that it is hard to hold our concentration."
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"Moss’s new play has a lot going for it -- three appealing young actors and a first-rate production…Jeremy is played by Tippett, who brings humanity to a cartoonish role...What starts as a simple summer idyll goes seriously off course in the second act with a bizarre scene between George and Izzy. George’s hijacking of the play’s ending is the final misstep that wiped out my early good feelings."
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"Sweet and breezy and delectable…Playwright Moss—apparently making his New York debut—mixes his plot strands and sifts his sands in a thoroughly winning manner. Indian Summer is at once charming and evocative, tender and funny; it even wets its toes in the mystical. Most crucially, though, Moss quickly wins over his audience and never loses them. 'Indian Summer' should have a healthy afterlife, in part because it’s just so likable."
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"A few parts of 'Indian Summer' do work. Kibler makes a feisty and attractive Izzy. Campbell is sweetly awkward as Daniel. And the energy level soars whenever Tippett's Jeremy appears. But most of the humor is derived from Izzy and Jeremy's working-class accents or their social ineptness. And I felt uncomfortable sitting in a room full of people affluent enough to enjoy a night out at the theater who were spending it laughing at people who wouldn't have the money to do so."
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"'Indian Summer' has abrupt shifts in tone, making it hard to understand what we’re intended to feel. A bigger issue, though, is that the whole thing isn’t very believable. You’re always conscious of the author manipulating the characters...There are a few scenes that have the charm of adolescent authenticity. But most of the time, 'Indian Summer' is too contrived to elicit much feeling for the people on stage."
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"After the first act I was amused, but sort of questioned the point...The payoff, however, was well worth it by the end and the food for thought that Moss prepared was deeply satisfying…Cantor’s subtle direction allows her impeccable cast to grasp the essence of Moss’s language…Moss has found the perfect balance between superficial simplicities of beach life and the layered complexities of human nature, creating a work that is as beautiful and deep as the ocean itself."
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"Gregory S. Moss is indeed a talented playwright...The grandfather was a disturbing and incongruous character with a creepy effect. Maybe this was what Mr. Moss was going for...What I do know is that the play is slow. Very slow...The extremely talented young actor, Owen Campbell, is an adorable, smart young man…It wasn't a zinger, wasn't a thriller, and wasn't memorable. It was, perhaps, like a summer read of the latest by Mary Higgins Clark on the beach. Mindless. Easy. Forgettable."
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"Enjoyable but slight…Moss seems to want his Rhode Island locals to serve as paragons of authenticity...In doing so, he risks condescending to them, suggesting that it might be news to us that meatheads have feelings or that intelligence and privilege are not necessarily aligned...Despite all this, 'Indian Summer' is enjoyable to watch. Moss's characters are endearingly familiar, his banter is crisply composed, and it's hard not to root for Daniel and Izzy's friendship."
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“Although not always clear, the play does have some lovely moments...Owen Campbell’s sensitive Daniel, and Elise Kibler’s alternately feisty and dreamy Izzy. Joe Tippett’s Jeremy, though brimming with enthusiasm, is a bit over the top at times and could use some toning down. Less might prove more for him...Director Carolyn Cantor has done a fine job of coordinating all the elements and keeping the pacing moving along smoothly.”
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"'Indian Summer' is a gem of a script that contrasts the gorgeously bittersweet throes of young summer romance with the melancholy ache of being elderly and alone...Moss has written a story that masterfully absorbs the viewer into the journey...Director Carolyn Cantor does a brilliant job staging the action and empowering the actors to play to their strengths. The cast is superlative and perfectly placed in their roles."
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"George’s monologues are instructive and amusing, but seem beside the point– until they don’t. The small ensemble is ably directed by Carolyn Cantor. Kaye Voyce’s costumes are casual, cute and carefree, as you’d expect of summer attire. What could have been a sweet little story turns bittesweet. Sometimes a story takes a detour, as 'Indian Summer' does. Is the unexpected zigzag for better or for worse? You decide."
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