Jericho NYC Reviews and Tickets

"The last scene is so movingly done that it tempers the impression of this frustratingly uneven world-premiere production...Mr. Weller adds a vaguely ghoulish, shape-shifting narrator to the proceedings, which is also a bold move...It pays off. But Ms. Braza never gets her arms around one of the trickiest things about 'Liliom' and its variations — a tone that shades from violence to euphoria, menace to humor. The audience response is sometimes unintended laughter."
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"'Jericho' is not a lovable play, and yet I found it unaccountably moving...The first act is defeated by the small space and Braza’s graceless deployment of her company, and it’s not helped by the amateur device of a narrator...Something almost miraculous happens when we return from the intermission...The awkward pacing of the first act gives way to a beautifully choreographed death scene the actors can really sink their teeth into."
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“Michael Weller whose last New York premiere was the misguided musical version of ‘Doctor Zhivago’ has done a fine job of adapting Molnár's ‘Liliom’ to an American setting. Unfortunately, The Attic Theater Company premiere is not quite up to the task. Except for two of the secondary roles, the casting of Laura Braza's production leaves much to be desired.”
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"A provocative and disquieting expressionist narrative...It’s a beautiful story, smoothly directed by Laura Braza, but it’s also highly problematic...Weller negotiates this rather well, but the images it conjures gave me pause. There’s a thoughtful epilogue...Weller’s dark fairy tale for adults is prophetic, as our current national debate about sexual harassment and our current political climate emphatically suggests."
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"A complex and brutal love story...Unfortunately, this shaky production, playing out during the desperate days of the Great Depression, feels unfocused and hard to hold on to...A cast of strange oddball characters unsteadily directed by Laura Braza with an overly exaggerated edge playing to the humor at the expense of the darkness...Much of the script is heavy-handed and comically over the top...The direction just never feels strong or clear enough."
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"The play is uneven. Its biggest misstep is the device of Dr. Ruhl who’s irritating and distracting (ever present) throughout...Two outstanding actors shine: Hannah Sloat inhabits just the right quiet resolve...Pope portrays Mrs. Mosca as if having given her much thought...Director Laura Braza seems to have taken a loose hand. Good actors are swell, the poor ones ungoverned. Pacing is fine, stage movement effective if not creative."
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"This production provides evidence why it has remained out of the repertory...In spite of good performances...the color-blind casting in a historical period of keen racial divisions is jarring...There are other bafflements...Molnár’s original is now a period piece with little to say to viewers conditioned to loathe sexual abuse...Clumsy writing and direction. You may want to stick with the musical version."
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"The script gives us well-developed, empathetic characters and a gutsy story...A fine cast...Weakness lies in its second act, when the story's fabulistic element pushes to the fore and things get uncomfortably silly. Fortunately, Weller has composed a beautiful closing scene that restores the first act's gritty, colorful spell...A believable world where privation and desperation live side by side with hope, optimism, and a perpetual carnival."
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"The final scene is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Even just reading the script brings tears to my eyes. Perhaps it is just one of those things that one cannot fully express in words...Lovingly directed...The production is a theatrical gem, despite the limits of space and budget...In spite of playwright Weller's placing the play in Coney Island, the Old Country permeates in its insistent darkness; and I mean that as a compliment."
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"Despite Jericho’s physically abusive outbursts, which unfortunately were sometimes more heard than felt in Mr. Flutur’s performance, Julie loves and pursues him at all costs...Sloat’s fully felt and entirely committed portrayal of Julie sustains the complications of watching a woman stay in an abusive relationship. Mr. Weller achieves the difficult task of empowering a woman to go after what she desires, clear-eyed, even when what she desires may be unsafe and unpredictable."
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