Life Sucks. NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (322)
See it if Love Chekhov and want to see a variation with hip, attractive people in this century.
Don't see it if Hate fourth wall breaks in plays. Hate anything over two hours. Read more
See it if you like modern spins on classic works. You are into philosophical questions about life. You enjoy high quality theater and entertainment
Don't see it if you don't like actors breaking the 4th wall. you need big productions or special effects. Character studies bore you
See it if you have ever seen an Aaron Posner play, you know he is an incredible writer. If you have never seen Aaron Posner, you are in for a treat!
Don't see it if You are offended by adaptations of Chekhov. But seriously, even the master would admire Posner's work. The actors were superb. Read more
See it if You know and like Vanya and appreciate a playwright who can build a new, beautiful thing onthat sound foundation. And you will laugh,
Don't see it if You only like musicals, have never heard of Uncle Vanya or loathe terrific acting.
See it if you like classics reconstructed by modern playwrights. Wheelhouse Theater's rendition of Aaron Posner's "sort of" Vanya is laugh-riot fun.
Don't see it if you don't like long shows, although the 2 hrs & 20 minutes (w/ 10 minute intermission) fly by. Also avoid if you dislike introspection. Read more
See it if you like extremely inventive, creative reimagining of Chekhov. Very alive and engaging. Great evening in the theater.
Don't see it if you want something traditional
See it if if you like Uncle Vanya and want a great fun evening in the theater
Don't see it if you do not like shows that break the fourth wall
See it if you want to see some amazing performers put on a 2 hour about the love and lust through multiple characters eyes.
Don't see it if you are looking for a musical. This is not for everyone, but I knew nothing about Uncle Vanya and still really enjoyed it. Not for kids. Read more
Critic Reviews (18)
"Bitingly funny, unexpectedly touching play...The characters and basic plot will be familiar to 'Uncle Vanya' fiends. But at the same time, 'Life Sucks,' will be familiar to just about anybody...Briskly directed by Jeff Wise for the Wheelhouse company, the production keeps finding perceptive ways to rejuvenate the story. As portrayed by Mr. Biehl, for instance, this Vanya is a tightly coiled ball of frustration and pent-up fury rather than the embittered truth-teller we tend to get."
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"Posner may have borrowed Chekhov’s kaleidoscopic love pentangle, but he’s updated events to the present day and salted the evening with postmodern hijinks, which include frequent check-ins with the audience and a theaterwide show-of-hands about regret...It helps that one could mount a superb 'Vanya' with this exact cast; it’s a dream team, warm and real and confident under Jeff Wise’s calm direction. And Posner's credo resonates beautifully with the 1898 play."
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"It’s a wild yet emotionally resonant work...Characters address the audience directly, they engage in sly wordplay, overlapping dialogue is common and absurdism abounds in this free-form yet faithful treatment...That the flawless ensemble is so easygoing and seamlessly connected is a testament to Wise’s great skills. Despite the piece’s excessive length, Wise succeeds at maintaining momentum while mining all of the comedy and emphasizing the reflectiveness."
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"Offers enough differentiation while staying true to the original that it's a welcome addition to the season. We already had a definitive Vanya in Jay O. Saunders, but Jeff Biehl proves that there is always room for more memorable portrayals of the character...The tight ensemble is so natural that at times scenes seem improvised (some credit for this must also go to director Jeff Wise)."
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"The abundant twists and turns in most narrative arcs ultimately boil down to a series of themes...There is no wall between the characters and the audience. The characters tell their problems, secrets and intentions to the audience and often ask for their advice and opinions which the audience has no problems sharing...The play is never boring, the language is funny. The situations are ludicrous. The best reason to go is to watch Austin Pendleton own the stage."
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"It’s a light and airy play made out of the building blocks of life, presented with doses of humor poking fun at the ridiculousness of our views of ourselves, our relationships, and our desires. Sometimes schmaltzy, farcical, sometimes a little pushy and redundant, you can’t but help to take what’s happening on stage in front of you and layer it on to your own precious life...The cast works together very well, especially in two-person scenes."
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"One of the best plays of 2019, Aaron Posner’s outrageously funny, irreverent reimagining...Wise controls the glorious chaos as the barriers between what is real and what isn’t break down in hysterical ways, but it’s key to understand that the characters are always the characters, never the actors portraying them...The cast is splendid...A 'Vanya' for the twenty-first century, a brilliant skewering of contemporary values and, in the end, a triumphant celebration of that little thing called life."
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"Aaron Posner spins an effective comedy out of these familiar characters and situations...There are plenty of laughs throughout this production...In between jokes, there is all the Chekhovian self-absorption, self-deprecation and self-torture one could hope for. This playwright knows it is always fun to 'watch privileged, arrogant people argue endlessly' about meaningless esoteric minutiae."
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