Linda NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (198)
See it if you like a modern story about a progression of a woman in a corporate setting.
Don't see it if you get upset when the rules change.
See it if You enjoy plays with a strong political message, well acted and staging that reinforces the circular arc of the play.
Don't see it if You can't appreciate a strong feminist theme or don't like political messages in your plays.
See it if you're interested in how being a women, esp in middle age, impacts one's experience of the world. You want to see Janie Dee, who's great.
Don't see it if you think gender & age don't matter (actually, then you should see it). You just want to be entertained (not a lightweight play). Read more
See it if Gaining insight into lives of ambitious women is important. Linda reminds us that women can't have it all without paying a high price.
Don't see it if You're not interested in women's issues, like frustrations working in a man's world, or dealing with the double standard.
See it if you enjoy great writing, good acting and a story about a woman unravelling at work and home.
Don't see it if you've overdosed on women's angst about aging in the workplace as well as a marriage becoming undone
See it if You are a woman over 50. A mid-life crisis that may be resonant to all women at a certain period of life.
Don't see it if You don't like feminist or aging issues. The play is too long and most of the characters are stereotyped. Act 2 is weaker than Act 1.
See it if You want to see a modern entertaining play.
Don't see it if You don't like swearing or want to see a brief scene with self-harm Read more
See it if You like plays with strong female leads or women who "seem" to have it all & how they deal with it. Janie Dee is great.
Don't see it if You don't like plays with strong female leads.
Critic Reviews (31)
“Skinner works hard to create an array of complex female characters in her often funny play…One of the most successful elements of Skinner’s provoking play is in the way language is weaponized against women…For all the messages Skinner may be delivering, she still manages to make the play both a satiric romp and a skewering drama. The play may lose some of its punch as it wends its way to a conclusion (with a couple of plot points a bit convenient and obvious) but it’s quite a ride there.”
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"Janie Dee is a whirlwind of talent and she adds just the right amount of narcism and warmth that we truly care about this women despite her flaws. The rest of the cast is also terrific, especially Ms.Ikeda, whose heartbreaking story tugs on your heart and soul...Director Lynne Meadow’s handles this material with a sensitive hand...Penelope Skinner’s play is hard to take but she is right...This is the glaring truth and 'Linda' does not back down, but shines a light glaringly at the facts."
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"Linda is the woman who has it all—until she loses it all. Dee gives an uncanny impression in looks and manner of Annette Bening’s go-getter realtor in 'American Beauty.' What’s missing is any sense of irony regarding Linda’s success in the phoniest and most exploitative of businesses...There’s not much arc to Skinner’s characters or Lynne Meadow’s direction. Most of the characters orbit around Linda so that Skinner can make points about 21st-century women."
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"Penelope Skinner’s sharp script does tend to wander a bit in the second act, but otherwise, it’s a spot-on dissection of the sexist trap ensnaring its heroine...The devastating mess that results indicates Skinner’s pessimistic view of women’s progress, but it’s frighteningly real. Dee deftly displays Linda’s energy as well as the shaking insecurity she keeps so well hidden...Meadow delivers a tightly paced production with immeasurable aide from set designer Spangler’s versatile set."
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“The play, even while touching on vital themes, seems overwritten...The cast members all make vital contributions, but it is Dee who holds center stage and commands our attention and admiration...She is consistently dynamic in a performance that epitomizes the problems women face in having it all…Skinner has written a pertinent drama, and Lynne Meadow’s direction skillfully accents issues touched along the way.”
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“The play is timely, sharp, and articulate, with a few immensely creative turns. Janie Dee is flat-out superb. Conviction is so palpable, blinders so believably habitual, her character’s disintegration jars with real impact…The rest of the company is well cast…Director Lynne Meadow is highly skilled with naturalism–each bit of stage business feels innate to character and situation, every pause and gesture has a reason.”
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"Janie Dee gives a fine, fierce, impassioned performance as a 50-something woman fending off her own impending invisibility. She brings to it a brittle sense of trying to control things that are fast slipping out of her grasp...Meadow brings both poise and feeling to a play that sometimes feels a little schematic. But Dee is surrounded by some strong performances, even if the accents don't always ring true...Skinner’s play is smart and thoughtful and well deserving of its New York outing."
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"Skinner writes smart captivating dialogue and rounds out even the slightest characters, yet the promising feminist social issues are compromised by melodramatic family problems...Lynne Meadow meticulously directs well drawn-characters and the brisk movement between work and home...While Skinner's feminist point of view is diluted by an over-stuffed plot, Janie Dee, in a dazzling performance, fiercely drives home 'Linda's' message that women can't do it all."
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