Madwomen of the West NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (142)
See it if These women are icons and to have all four on stage is a rarity...their talent alone is the best reason to see the play.
Don't see it if You want a cavernous theater and a host of set changes. Read more
See it if A show about four older women kvetching on a set that looks like Golden Girls but showroom instead of wicker? Sign me up.
Don't see it if Some projection issues. The audience section was narrow, but deep, so those in the very back may have trouble hearing sections.
See it if You want to see female friendships with all the trappings of loves, lost money, and the search for identity. There are many good laughs.
Don't see it if You aren't interested in female relationships.
See it if listening to older women talk about what is really happening in their lives. great cast
Don't see it if you cant deal with mature women issues
See it if You want a very fun show that highlights post-menopausal life.
Don't see it if You're not interested in the lives of 4 post-menopausal women who get together for brunch.
See it if you enjoy shows such as Vagina Monologues, about personal moments in friendships that both men and women can relate to
Don't see it if You don't enjoy female banter
See it if you like your drama served with an equal amount of humor.
Don't see it if you want to see a really heavy play, or a musical.
See it if You like a play about 50+ women and their trials and tribulations. Great seeing these actresses!
Don't see it if You want a show with a real plot-this is banter
Critic Reviews (6)
“Thomas Caruso directs with a light hand, delivering a well-paced staging that mostly stays out of the way of the performers...As contrived as it is, ‘Madwomen of the West’ still fascinates with its unapologetic and humorous depiction of older women and their grievances, and would make an ideal post-brunch activity for you and your close circle of friends. It’s sure to get you talking.”
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“The conversation rambles wildly, allowing everyone to lament, at length, that they no longer occupy the center of the cultural universe. The script strains for relevance with lame jokes about sugar cleanses, trigger warnings, and crypto. But, mostly, it's the same old song: Men are dismissed as cheaters, gamblers, or targets for gunplay. Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem, and Eve Ensler are reverently invoked. Everyone worries about top surgery, pronouns, and cancelation. Really -- you'd never know the twenty-first century ever happened.”
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“Perhaps playwright Loh has modeled her stand-in characters so closely on the originals that they are already speaking as and for themselves — and as themselves are also representing women everywhere when talking candidly with no men present. One certainty: Playing either themselves or versions of themselves, they’re extremely convincing at it.”
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Playing women of a certain age, four women stars of stage and screen who became famous a while ago play friends of a certain age who meet for a birthday brunch in Sandra Tsing Loh’s "Madwomen of the West." The ensuing hilarity will be of most interest to baby boomers who still worship Gloria Steinem, Mary Tyler Moore and Hilary Clinton, but others will also find this an entertaining show as breezily directed by Thomas Caruso. The roles fit actresses Caroline Aaron, Brooke Adams, Marilu Henner and Melanie Mayron (returning to the New York stage for the first time in years) so well that one might think they were playing facets of themselves or of their screen personas.
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“Admittedly, Sandra Tsing Loh’s ‘Madwomen of the West,’... is not really a play in any structural sense of the word; it’s more like a barely blended mélange of one-liners, mini-TED talks, trenchant monologues, and idle chit-chat...More importantly, it provides a superb showcase for four actresses we don’t see enough of on stage.”
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“Throughout, the significance of the women’s stories is usurped by larger issues...It is ironic that a production so fueled by feminist power thus falls prey to two qualities that are anathema to the cause: an overeagerness to please and insecurity over how best to get its message across.”
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