Jonah NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (368)
See it if You like think pieces and character development
Don't see it if Intimate scenes and almost nudity, triggered by abuse, suicide and alcoholism Read more
See it if You like a well-written, well-acted play. While a serious topic about the effects of child abuse, physical and sexual, it is often funny.
Don't see it if You don’t like plays where storylines are not told in chronological order.
See it if You want a show you will never forget. Some of the best acting I have ever seen. Want to see a play about difficult topic
Don't see it if If you can't handle dark serious topic But portrayed beautifully
See it if You want masterful writing & directing. You want to see the story of a woman's survival and strength in the face of abuse.
Don't see it if You dislike non-linear shows (it jumps around her life scene to scene). You need something light, this handles heavy subjects but artfully.
See it if You want to see a great play. What off Broadway should be
Don't see it if If you don't want to visit complicated emotions regarding sex, loyalty and intimacy
See it if Excellent cast in absorbing plot with inventive staging. Compelling characters. A young woman’s survival story against terrible odds.
Don't see it if You are looking for big production and light entertainment.
See it if You are okay with intense subject matter and a serious straight play. There are strobe lights as well.
Don't see it if You’re triggered by intense subjects. You are not looking for a serious play.
See it if you can handle plays about trauma and the path to recovery
Don't see it if you're looking for something easy and pleasant Read more
Critic Reviews (17)
" 'Jonah,' is the kind of play that reveals itself slowly but entirely"
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"...it’s a slight disappointment when the play’s denouement tips into overexplanation."
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" 'Jonah,' the Off-Broadway play by Rachel Bonds that’s built to discombobulate us."
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"A young woman’s wariness"
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"...insightful yet perplexing new play"
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“It’s a tricky structure, each narrative line conceived in a different key -- young adult romance, stark family drama, and high comedy yielding to painful disclosures -- yet with all three blending to ultimately harmonious effect…Bonds is interested in the stories we tell ourselves to soothe our pains and maybe even save our lives. For all its apparent waywardness, Jonah is tightly structured, with certain motifs -- nighttime visits, religion, sexual fantasies, a hurled vase -- reoccurring in shifting contexts; the more one thinks about it, the more carefully wrought it seems."
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"Bonds crafts a denouement as genuine and original as it is moving."
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"The play is best at its mysteries which are only slowly revealed. However, audience members may be confused part of the time as to the sequence of events and the relationships. A great deal is never resolved. The scene transitions are accompanied by blaring sound and flashing lights (sound by Kate Marvin; lighting by Amith Chandrashaker) which at times suggest that at least one or more scenes may be fantasies. The costumes by Kaye Voyce remain basically the same but Gabby Beans as Ana seems to grow in poise and maturity though very subtly from teenager to adulthood."
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