Little Gem NYC Reviews and Tickets

79%

(102 Reviews)

Positive

88%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Entertaining, Funny, Slow

About the Show

Equal parts comic and poignant, Irish playwright Elaine Murphy’s debut play about three generations of North Dublin women won the top prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008.

From the show:
One year can bring extraordinary change; just ask Amber, Lorraine, and Kay, three generations of North Dublin women who find themselves suddenly facing the unexpected. Young Amber’s case of indigestion – or perhaps it’s a brutal hangover? – grows into something more, while her mother Lorraine discovers salsa dancing after an incident at work leads to therapist-suggested self-care. Grandmother Kay, on the wrong side of sixty, but not dead yet, struggles to take care of a personal itch while adjusting to life as a caretaker for her beloved Gem. As the year moves forward, the women confront their individual challenges with courage and humor, finding strength in one another and discovering the beauty and complexity of family.

Member Reviews (102)

Well acted, Slow, Banal, Not a "gem," but not a lump of coal

See it if you want run-of-the-mill entertainment. Don't want to think much; just laugh a bit. Superficial; easy resolns. Actors don't look related.

Don't see it if you want depth, insight. Teenager's baby sh not solve problems. Meh jokes (old lady/vibrator). Mason's accent uneven. Familial love prevails

Slow, Entertaining, Great writing, Great acting

See it if you like family themes. All great actresses and roles. Mason is so great!

Don't see it if you don't like plays that are mostly narrated and want interaction between the actors. Read more

Critic Reviews (11)

"Motherhood Masters Dysfunction in ‘Little Gem.’ In Elaine Murphy’s play, three women from one Dublin family tell a slice-of-life story through interwoven, interlocking monologues."
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“Three Generations of Irish Women Live, Laugh, and Love in ‘Little Gem.’ Elaine Murphy's 2008 play returns to New York City in a new Irish Repertory Theatre production.”
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"The gift of gab reigns supreme in this beguiling triptych of contemporary Irish womanhood dealing with the sheer bloody business of living…Under the sensitive, highly alert direction of Marc Atkinson Borrull, three fine actresses keep one under the spell of their unbridled candor."
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★★★★ "'Three Generations in One Family Work It All Out.' Elaine Murphy's engaging play features Marsha Mason, Brenda Meany and Lauren O'Leary."
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★★★★ “'Mothers and Daughters Tell their Stories at Irish Rep.' Marsha Mason anchors an intimate Irish drama that lives up to its title."
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"The play makes a gift of presenting us with well-conceived characters (even those we never actually see), realistic-sounding dialogue and relatable situations. Nothing here, admittedly, is remotely groundbreaking, but the work is consistently engaging, occasionally hilarious and sometimes heart wrenching."
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"Marsha Mason is superb as a salty Irish housewife coping with a neurotic daughter, a rebellious granddaughter and an ill husband in this engaging monologue play. It's an engrossing slice of life with biographical data, pivotal incidents and humane observations that's immaculately presented."
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"Elaine Murphy guides her fictional characters through the play with a prescribed sentimentality but it rings true to life in a very engaging way. The progression of time for them is charged by their irrepressible honesty and through unapologetically personal feelings, many of which are consigned to overlap the needs and longing of the other."
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"It is really about four time Academy Award nominee...Marsha Mason that drew me to the Irish Repertory Theatre...It's perfect in its Irish-ness, filled to the brim with funny whip smart asides and sexual frankness that when delivered with that accent rings true and charming, even in its drunken bold honesty...All three do a grand job, working overtime and not complaining, but it's Mason who pulls us to the end, cradling us in her outstretched arms.. If only we didn't have to try try so hard to ignore that mess surrounding her and her two costars."
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"Despite the challenges of the script, the three fine actors transcend the material to offer glimpses into the often-undisclosed problems facing three generations of women caught in restrictive matrices of expectation and oppression."
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"Murphy captures the inner thoughts of her characters with laser-like detail, expressing…the precise particulars of everything around them…Each actress offers a reality-based, theatrically heightened performance…The lack of true interaction and dialogue…creates a lack of tension."
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