Lucy NYC Reviews and Tickets

74%

(102 Reviews)

Positive

77%

Mixed

21%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Entertaining, Thought-provoking, Slow

About the Show

An overworked mother hires a nanny to look after her children, until things take an eerie turn.

Ashling is any swamped parent's dream-a professional nanny with warmth, experience, and a bright outlook. However, from the minute Mary hires her to look after her young daughter and infant son, things start feeling just a little odd. Could Ashling be an unstable, gaslighting troublemaker, or are Mary's stressful work commitments and sleepless nights playing games with her own sanity? Both humorous and harrowing, Erica Schmidt's new play examines the wild range of emotions that new parents go through, and questions if we can really trust others to have our children's best interests at heart.

Member Reviews (102)

Relevant, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if A professional single mother raising two young children with the paid help of a quirky nanny. Excellent acting with a well-written script.

Don't see it if If you prefer a musical then skip this one.

Mommy & nanny issues

See it if Tensions of money/employer/employee, "real" work vs child care, motherhood/nanny, parenting styles, sexuality, etc. between the mom & nanny.

Don't see it if Not a lot happens, no traditional plot, not has horror as might expect, slow / repetitive moments. 1 hour 55 minutes; no intermission. Read more

Thought-provoking, Relevant, Slow, Ambitious, Absorbing

See it if You want a fascinating character study of mother and nanny. Subtle but powerful. Great acting.

Don't see it if You need a lot of action or you’re not interested in family dramas.

Great staging, Disappointing, Confusing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if You want to see some great performances in a psychological thriller that will, initially, pull you in.

Don't see it if You dislike red herrings and disappointing endings. Read more

Thought-provoking, Masterful, Resonant, Relevant, Absorbing

See it if you have ever been curios about the REAL dynamic between a nanny and the family she is employed with and how that plays out.

Don't see it if you have ever had drama with the employment of a nanny, as this product with open up all those bad memories of your experiences. Read more

Suspenseful, Intense, Great set

See it if you're interested in an insightful and engaging play that deals with the delicate tension between parent and their children's caregiver.

Don't see it if you're expecting a play that delivers on its premise, building towards an over-the-top crazy climax that unfortunately never really come...

Great acting, Slow, Repititious, Disappointing

See it if you want to see two good actors performing in a play that is overlong and sonehow unfinished.

Don't see it if you want to see a play that develops rather than a series of scenes repeating the same point.

Intelligent, Relevant, Slow, Intense, Ambitious

See it if the topic--finding a Nanny interests you. I was curious. The set is excellent, a 5-year-old does a great job & 2 actresses do what they can

Don't see it if Where to begin? Situation made no sense to me from the beginning. Guess I am a stickler. It's almost 2 hrs with no intermission and seemed Read more

Critic Reviews (14)

CRITIC'S PICK "Written and directed by Erica Schmidt, 'Lucy' is seamlessly layered, extraordinarily entertaining and tricky to classify. A cleverly detailed exploration of child care as both a kind of labor and a primal instinct, it is a workplace comedy set at home, where boundaries are porous and personal stakes are exceedingly high."
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“The play sends up the absurd expectations of motherhood and child care, especially in the fishbowl of Manhattan, where moms have been known to treat one another with all the love and support of attacking betta fish.”
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"But Erica Schmidt’s drama, though well written, never fulfills its dark promise."
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“...that one blissfully beautiful moment, awash in vibrant pink lights, before everything rapidly devolves. For the characters and the audience, it is exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”
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“Despite its domestic setting, it's hard not to view Lucy as fundamentally a story about the conflict between labor and management — with the playwright coming down firmly on the side of the latter. “
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“It's a thin piece of writing, to be sure, but, in the hands of gifted actresses, it remains thoroughly engrossing, from the polite opening haggle over salary and insurance benefits to the final gloves-off settling of accounts. It's also fascinating for its presentation of motherhood as a largely solitary and anxiety-ridden affair; not once does Mary experience anything like joy in her kids, and, for all her sentimental extolling of the little tykes, Ashling is largely out for herself, Men, of course, are nowhere to be found. Is this the state of play in 2023?”
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“The stakes in ‘Lucy,’ though, are very low and as a psychological thriller, it is hugely disappointing. Plot points don't always make sense, and there are few clues as to why Ashling does what she does.”
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“The showdown will come accompanied by a couple of unanticipated revelations, held back too long and to less-than-staggering effect.”
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Trailer

Creative team