Mary Jane NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (173)
See it if You enjoy interpersonal relations, can use your imagination for unseen characters, want to see the strength of being a mother
Don't see it if You only like happy plays, don’t care about the struggles of others, are bothered by the same actor playing multiple parts
See it if Powerful, emotional story about a single mother trying to make a life for herself & her handicapped child
Don't see it if It's a very serious play about a very sad subject
See it if It's a wow,fabulous writing incredible acting.this is what the theater should be
Don't see it if .beyond intense,no one moved. You need to be in the right mood for this,if not wait till you are
See it if you want to watch a superbly written and performed work of art on a subject that matters. Right up there with Dear Evan Hansen
Don't see it if you would have a problem with the subject matter
See it if you want to see a marvelous ensemble of female actresses in what is destined to be one of the best plays of this theatre season.
Don't see it if you have problems dealing with a play about a chronically ill child.
See it if Masterful writing of single woman whose humanity beyond a bulletproof exterior is slowly revealed as situations prove burdensome
Don't see it if Production budget concerns require double casting from a talented cast that one may not expect from a first class production
See it if you're a fan of Carrie Coon. This may be her best work to date.
Don't see it if you want a light evening of theater. This definitely has its laughs, but expect to shed a few tears along the way.
See it if You want to see a play that builds beautifully in an artfully calibrated production building quietly to profound emotional resonance.
Don't see it if Issues of child illness are too close at hand. It is a sensitive portrait, but I imagine deeply challenging if the issues are nearby.
Critic Reviews (42)
"A heartbreaker for anyone human...The play, under Kauffman’s ideally detailed direction, is not out to answer any questions. In that sense 'Mary Jane,' with its ordinary name, is a character study, an Everywoman story..But 'Mary Jane' is nevertheless a very big drama, even if its conflicts are almost never between people. They are instead between Mary Jane and her unspoken ideas about life—that is, God. To me, this makes 'Mary Jane' the most profound and harrowing of Herzog’s many fine plays."
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"There are no villains here, only people doing their best under sometimes crushing circumstances. All are rendered in lovely detail by Herzog and the five women of the cast, directed by Anne Kauffman with characteristic attention to the importance of offhand nuance...Herzog shows the strain of Mary Jane’s situation—layered with beautiful reserve by Coon—but she also succeeds in dramatizing kindness, attentiveness, honesty, connection."
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"Though it’s meticulously crafted, 'Mary Jane' feels like such a recognizable slice-of-life that it’s difficult to get a sense of the urgent physical need at the heart of the piece, the thing that demands that it be a work of theater...It shows us a very hard life, and that’s pretty much all it does...What keeps 'Mary Jane' afloat is its ensemble...It’s a portrait of someone who deserves recognition, but whose story has yet to take full advantage of the power of its art form to make us see."
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"Herzog’s beautiful new play...Coon is an appealing performer, but at first I was put off by her characterization—sometimes it felt as though she was working on one level, until I realized that Mary Jane hardly ever deviates from her optimism because she’s a preternaturally optimistic person...I was much more taken by Colón-Zayas and Wehle...'Mary Jane' is Herzog’s most satisfying work to date because it has verisimilitude that many contemporary realistic plays don’t."
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"This beautiful new work is directed with ultra-naturalistic subtlety by Anne Kauffman...By virtue of its elegant structure, its expository economy, its gentle humor, fine-grained characterizations and knack for sharp observation cloaked in seemingly casual glimpses of a life, 'Mary Jane' sidesteps the banalities of the medical drama to become something richer...While the entire cast performs with real warmth and feeling, everything is understated and unerringly believable."
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"Amy Herzog’s devastating new work...is must-see theater for anyone with a heart...Mary Jane is a person of many parts–and Coon respects and relates to them all...The beauty of the character and the wonder of Coon’s performance is that, through it all, Mary Jane succeeds in maintaining her upbeat nature, her life-affirming optimism, her wonderful sense of humor. Believe it or not, this play is full of laughs. They just happen to be on the morbid side."
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"Ms. Coon’s new supporting cast is perfect, as is Ms. Kauffman’s discreetly compelling staging. As for the play, it is, here as in New Haven, overwhelming, a wrenching tale of everyday heroism that is all the more touching for its total lack of sentimentality. I’ve never seen a more honest portrayal of the day-to-day demands of caregiving, or a more moving tribute to a mother’s love. It might just be Ms. Herzog’s best play to date."
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"Coon's work in the title role of Amy Herzog’s slow burner of a play, 'Mary Jane'...coils, quietly and almost imperceptibly, to a climax that, like the death of a loved one, strips us to the core, no matter how well-prepared we think we are...Mary Jane threatens to be campaigning for sainthood, but every time she approaches a threshold, playwright and director conspire brilliantly to remind us how forcefully human she is."
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