Mary Jane NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (175)
See it if You can get involved in a heart wrenching absorbing, life story.. Like insightful writing, and terrific acting.
Don't see it if You're looking for fun, lively light entertainment--and if you didn't like the staging of Marvin's room.
See it if Beautiful, touching story about a mother's love that knows no bounds. What a rewarding experience.
Don't see it if You don't want to explore suffering and sacrifice as a source of meaning in life.
See it if you like a drama that has also has humor and a show that explores the contradictions in medical care for serious conditions.
Don't see it if you can't deal with family illness.
See it if you love great actors doing justice to superb writing. This play is way more than the sum of its parts - I was profoundly moved.
Don't see it if You want a feel good play with a happy ending.
See it if You like theater that moves you even if it breaks your heart a little.
Don't see it if You get queasy about illness.
See it if you love great acting and specificity of detail. Great performances in service of a great script.
Don't see it if you're looking for more flash.
See it if a single mother dealing with a seriously ill child (cerebral palsy); her psychological reactions which start very upbeat; wonderful Ms. Coon
Don't see it if want more action & less psychological; want supporting characters to be more developed - they really only serve to show Ms. Coons reactions Read more
See it if At last! A play about caregiving that is unsentimental, probing, revealing and doesn't take any of the obvious paths (or pitfalls)
Don't see it if serious illness makes you squeamish; you want a feel good play or domestic drama about caregiving Read more
Critic Reviews (42)
"A flawless production…In one of the best performances of the new season thus far, Ms. Coon tries to maintain a facade of ease over an almost unbearable inner tension, tirelessly coping with her fate and hoping against hope...Each scene flows seamlessly into the next with a slow and even pacing that captures the audience. You know you are doing something right when even the smallest of laugh lines results in tension-releasing guffaws…The supporting cast, all in dual roles, also shine.”
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"Mary Jane is exquisitely portrayed by Carrie Coon....It’s a beautiful crafted construction...It’s clear the playwright understands this topic from a deep emotional and raw place, that causes the anguish to echo throughout the theatre. We give our heart over to Mary Jane, completely without question. The ending is complex, surprising, yet authentic, and we embrace a sense of clarity that comes from the unclear connection to peace and understanding. "
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"Herzog’s poignant new play, 'Mary Jane,' is timely...This is a heavy play with little respite from grim reality, except for some truly funny one-liners. Some rather over-detailed exposition in the writing and slightly fussy and fiddly direction from Kauffman can give the impression that this is a fly-on-the wall documentary film rather than a play...Will resonate with anyone who has ever had to deal with a medical crisis."
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"Jellinek’s set design here is closed in, cramped, claustrophobic – much like Mary Jane’s psyche...Coon’s multilayered performance counterpoints the rich layers of Herzog’s script which, under Kauffman’s razor-sharp direction, are peeled back with sensitivity and grace...Mary Jane experiences the breadth and depth of transcendence and catharsis at the play’s end in a scene rich in magical realism immersed in blessed redemptive release."
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"A series of casual, seemingly random conversations, interrupted by emergencies of greater or lesser severity...'Mary Jane' requires patience–more patience than some theatergoers might be able to muster. Mary Jane slowly reveals more about her life, her child and her hardship as the play progresses, and we gradually come to understand just how much it takes for her to remain both diligent and hopeful...There is great skill on display in the five-member cast."
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"An intelligent yet understated work that nonetheless almost blunts its own power...When Alex is rushed to the hospital, the story gains some urgency. Mary Jane begins to transform, and we finally see the pain and anger...There are no easy answers to be had, no deep revelations. In the end, Herzog leaves us with a delicate understanding that life, whether we are the mother of a sick child, a struggling college student or an overworked employee, is what we choose to make of it."
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"Amy Herzog's affecting play…reminds us that ordinary people can be saints and that religion has nothing to do with it…The…dramatis personae obviously has a feminist slant but that doesn't prevent the play from being an engagingly moving portrait of a particular mother's travails. Herzog's generally naturalistic dramaturgy sometimes seeps into theatrical contrivance…but it remains consistently involving and occasionally eye-moistening…The acting…is thankfully restrained and fully believable."
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"There can be no question about the seriousness with which Herzog has tended to her work...Bolstered by Kauffman’s stringently compassionate direction, Herzog more than competently gives three-dimensional life to what is a case history with full details, and as such occasionally slows down on the dramatic beam...Herzog doesn’t quite find the entirely satisfying ending to her 'Mary Jane,' but at least those glimpses do leaven a work effectively poignant and very personal."
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