Juno and the Paycock NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (59)
See it if ...you are a fan of Irish Theatre. This is a classic and they do it well.
Don't see it if ...you should see it. The acting is first rate and the set beautiful.
See it if You like Irish history and incredible acting and powerful writing.
Don't see it if If you get upset if you don’t get a happy ending
See it if family drama with humor & sadness that takes place in Dublin during Ireland's Civil War, great acting by Plunkett as strong woman*
Don't see it if don't like historical dramas (this takes place in 1922), Irish stories; don't want to see the human cost of war Read more
See it if you are an O'Casey fan, are amenable to Irish historical material, enjoy great acting esp. Plunkett who is a joy, overall fine production.
Don't see it if you are up to your eyeballs in revivals of classical Irish plays, can't manage varying degrees of brogue, have no compassion for the poor.
See it if You want to see a well acted, well directed, and beautiful production of Juno and the Paycock. Couldn’t take my eyes off Maryann Plunkett.
Don't see it if You don’t like historical Irish plays and being reminded of the difficulties of war. Read more
See it if there are very funny bits, but make no mistake: this is a tragedy. O'Casey embodies the pain and struggles of a century ago that echo today.
Don't see it if you want a light comedy.
See it if Excellent mounting of Sean O'Casey's most famous play. Directed by Neil Pepe, it's very well cast with Maryann Plunkett & Ciarán O'Reilly.
Don't see it if It's barely possible to find negative: perhaps O'Reilly's Capt. Boyle is a bit too puckish & Plunkett works v/ hard to rev-up the emotion.
See it if Irish Rep's masterful revival scores across the board - writing, acting & staging on Corcoran's grand immersive set Pepe's direction stellar
Don't see it if O'Casey's lamentation on human foibles while not w/o humor is fairly bleak esp in context of Irish civil war but Plunkett & O'Reilly shine
Critic Reviews (16)
“’Juno and the Paycock’ highlights an even stronger O'Casey, a writer ever more sure of his footing and able to align comedy and tragedy, having them walk hand-in-hand next to each other...Plunkett, who plays Juno, not only holds the play together as the character, but as an actress she creates a foundation and a present strength that anchors the production and is a lifeline for the audience through all the tumult. See the production just for her acting if nothing else.”
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"As expected of any production at this invaluable institution, the accents, atmosphere, and emotional atmosphere of 1922 Dublin are captured with loving authenticity…Pepe's production, to a satisfying degree, captures this complex world, in which booze, dancing, and singing mingle with pain, anguish, and suffering, belief does battle with skepticism, and human decency, ever in short supply, gleams like the full moon when it emerges…Ciarán O'Reilly excels…Maryann Plunkett is superb."
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"Neil Pepe, who has a day job as artistic director of the Atlantic Theater Company, helmed the Rep’s production with varying success...This second installment struck me as wobblier than the first. The humor in the first act seemed forced and the tragedy in the second rushed. The accents became more labored, too...The saving grace was the vanity-free performance by Maryann Plunkett."
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"O’Casey’s work is populated by singular characters whose flawed humanity rings with truth and tragedy...This very identification with this family makes the conclusion of O’Casey’s work all the more tragic and heart-wrenching...Tension is carefully, subtly wrought by Pepe’s staging and his precise shepherding of the actors...The production shines in the cast’s rendering of O’Casey’s searing portraits of the Dublin tenement-dwellers and their relationships with each other."
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"What Sean O’Casey’s political tragicomedy 'Juno and the Paycock' lacks in plot, it makes up for in characterization. Under Neil Pepe’s splendid direction for the Irish Repertory Theatre, characterization gets its due...It remains for the virtuosity of O’Casey’s writing to take us from boisterous comedy to dispiriting situations, to tragic results, and yet leave us with a sense of the heroic."
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"Sean O' Casey's 'Juno and the Paycock' is one of the highlights of this current season...Both funny and strikingly moving in so many ways...The large and brilliant cast abetted by Neil Pepe's strong direction makes this one not to be missed."
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“A hard and beautiful play, and Pepe’s staging is lovely...Pepe dilutes or Americanizes his 'Juno and the Paycock' by seeing the work as a middle-class play, as opposed to a working-class one, or directly, as one about abject poverty...Even in a production that normalizes despair, O’Casey’s keening shrouds the eyes in mist.”
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“A family story that will make you laugh and shed a tear; it’s superbly performed by a cast of many Irish Rep regulars and directed with care...The play explores the joys and sorrows, the rise and fall, of a poor Dublin family...Pepe directs an outstanding cast. Both O’Reilly and Plunkett shine as the Captain and Juno. Ed Malone, who plays Tommy Owen, a silly character, in ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’, is a believably angry man as Johnny.”
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