Is This A Room NYC Reviews and Tickets

79%

(156 Ratings)

Positive

86%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Relevant, Thought-provoking, Intense

About the Show

Vineyard Theatre presents a new play staging the verbatim transcript of the FBI interrogation of Russian election hacking whistleblower Reality Winner.

From the show:

A true story, still unfolding. June 3, 2017. A 25-year-old former Air Force linguist named Reality Winner is surprised at her home by the FBI, interrogated, and then charged with leaking evidence of Russian interference in U.S elections. Reality remains in jail with a record-breaking sentence. The FBI transcript of her interrogation is the heart of IS THIS A ROOM, conceived as a play and directed by Obie Award-winner Tina Satter, in which an extraordinary human drama unfolds between the complex and witty Reality (Emily Davis), and the agents who question her. As Reality’s autonomy shrinks before her eyes, a simmering real-life thriller emerges, asking what it is to have honor in this American moment, and how the personal can reverberate globally.

Show-Score Member Reviews (156)

100

Thought-provoking, Relevant, Profound, Great staging, Great acting

See it if Fantastic acting especially by emily davis, cool staging and lighting technique. Very important show.

Don't see it if No reason not to- its a straight play thats about an hour.

100

Great acting, Ambitious

See it if You wanna get a minute and personal look at how dystopian our security apparatuses have grown

Don't see it if You like intricate sets Read more

100

Gripping, Relevant, Great acting, Great staging, Masterful

See it if you are interested in seeing a theatre company stretch their muscles into new territory. A completely novel idea executed beautifully.

Don't see it if you do not enjoy political theatre. Read more

Relevant, Intelligent, Great acting, Banal, Absorbing

See it if You are interested in the true story of a whistleblower, like a no-frills straight play with excellent acting

Don't see it if You don’t like political topics or are looking for props and scenery or a love story

Resonant, Relevant, Intelligent, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if You are interested in a brilliant depiction of an actual event that is still ongoing in our nation today ! Political espionage is your thing

Don't see it if You are looking for a light comedy. You don’t enjoy simple staging with very sparse setting and those with just one subject.

Riveting, Relevant, Masterful, Great staging, Absorbing

See it if You want a show filled with dramatic tension, brilliant acting, and a relevant story. It's chilling given the banality that runs through it.

Don't see it if You want a musical or something light and fun. While it's not a dark play, it is an intense one.

Must see, Intense, Great acting, Exquisite, Absorbing

See it if you want a gripping storyline that is 100% true and based on real, recorded dialogue. The acting is top notch.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy tense situations.

Profound, Thought-provoking, Great staging, Edgy, Absorbing

See it if You have an interest in the politics of our country

Don't see it if You a lighthearted show,

Critic Reviews (13)

For a previous production

CRITIC’S PICK "Why’d She Blow the Whistle?: Tina Satter’s remarkable docudrama recreates the bizarrely banal interrogation that led to the arrest of the intelligence contractor Reality Winner."
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For a previous production

4/5 Stars "The production smartly balances vérité and stylization, offering its own interrogation of the event…But 'Is This A Room' has a movingly human presence at its core. Davis gives a performance of heart-wrenching rawness and lucidity."
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For a previous production

"When I learned that the show would move to the Vineyard for a longer engagement, I was thrilled to see it again—it contains one of my favorite pieces of performance ever. Pencils down, voting over."
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For a previous production

"Is This a Room Dramatizes the Interrogation of NSA Leaker Reality Winner: Tina Satter's new play exposes the weight of body language in exercises of power."
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For a previous production

"Real Life Provides The Intriguing Script For Tina Satter's Tense Drama 'IS THIS A ROOM'"
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For a previous production

"Seeing Winner -- an achingly vulnerable Emily Davis -- struggle to make small talk with these strangers, who shuttle between chatty repartee and veiled threats -- is an authentic white-knuckle experience."
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For a previous production

4/5 Stars "A stark and striking new work of documentary theater, a sharp slice of real life that gives audiences something current and substantial to chew over afterwards."
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For a previous production

"The second problem is that since it is a transcript it is not very dramatic, going back over the same material again and again, trying to catch Winner out or be careful to cover all legal bases. The dialogue remains mundane for most of the performance."
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Trailer

Creative team