Mary Jane NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (178)
See it if you have ever been care-giver to a terminal loved one.
Don't see it if you like happy endings.
See it if you like watching very good actors tell an absorbing, touching story/slice of life.
Don't see it if you expect a show with a big dramatic climax.
See it if you appreciate a stellar cast of actors and a really knockout lead performance.
Don't see it if you can't handle focusing on the circumstances surrounding a terminally ill child.
See it if you like realistic shows, or even if you don't -- it's that good. A woman struggles to take care of her extremely disabled child by herself.
Don't see it if you want something upbeat and frivolous. You hate realism.
See it if You like your realism punctuated with trenchant, morbid humor.
Don't see it if The story of a single parent raising a severely disabled child will trouble you. Read more
See it if enjoy well written dramas about single mothers with children that have critical health issues. It deals well with some shared problems
Don't see it if plays that tug on emotional heartstrings are difficult for you.
See it if you want to see five understated masters of their craft onstage together. Also, if you like to empathize and ask yourself "What would I do?"
Don't see it if you need a break from family and situational dramas, particularly ones without a neat or clear ending. This piece carries emotional weight.
See it if Herzog's best work staged & acted with quiet beauty Decidedly feminist w/o preaching tackling serious moral issues evenhandedly Very moving
Don't see it if Pacing a bit slow due to medical issues/terminology Doesn't quite hit universal themes but stays in the particular Questionable ending(s)
Critic Reviews (42)
"Do women really want to sit through this heartbreakingly depressing play?...What makes no sense is the goodness and hope that fills Mary Jane. She has nothing...The whole play is waiting for the inevitable...Carrie Coon brings this play full throttle, with a subtly layered performance which is breathtaking...Anne Kauffman’s direction keeps us off balance...Herzog is saying much in this play, at times by saying very little."
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“Compact but wondrous...The focus is on his ultracompetent single mother, Mary Jane, played with crystalline, almost scary serenity by Carrie Coon...The writer’s mix of sympathy and showmanship is gorgeously ruthless...Kauffman’s clear-eyed production balances cool distance and precisely deployed humor and warmth to ratchet up the tension and stakes. Neither play nor staging pander to base desires for cathartic tears or medical miracles...An exquisite, bracing drama.”
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"Herzog captures the heroic nature of Mary Jane’s daily struggle without placing her on a pedestal. Coon’s naturalistic portrayal is immensely powerful. The other actors are strong as well. There are flashes of humor, but one does not expect a happy ending. The low-key final scene initially disappointed me, but, on further reflection, I decided that its tentativeness supported the play’s honesty...It was a heartbreaking, but also uplifting experience."
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"Shattering...By indirect means, Herzog, Coon, and director Anne Kauffman reveal the overwhelming details of Mary Jane’s stoic existence...The play unfolds with compassion, yet at the same time, it’s unsparing in its matter-of-factness...Coon delivers the most heartbreaking, yet un-theatrical performances in recent memory...A hyper-realistic, no-nonsense view of a tragic situation."
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“Heart-wrenching and bittersweet…Beautifully rendered…Carrie Coon is extraordinary as Mary Jane…Nothing is normal, anywhere, in this brilliantly realized world…'Mary Jane' is primarily about a single mother caring for her seriously ill child, yet it is also about so much more, particularly fear and faith…Coon plays Mary Jane with an intoxicating warmth...while the rest of the excellent actors each take on two roles that cleverly relate to each other."
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"The excellent Coon shows us the quotidian business of trying to move moment to moment as options are taken away and positive vistas diminish...Coon has a quixotic energy as Mary Jane, who can be in control, blasé, dry, and utterly desolate...'Mary Jane' ends on an intriguing and ambivalent note, and one which could signal life-altering tragedy for Coon’s character and for her vulnerable son, or a moment of supreme enlightenment. Or maybe both."
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"Buoyed by a radiant performance by Carrie Coon, 'Mary Jane' emerges as a sharply observed character study...Director Anne Kauffman’s skillful production reinforces the virtues of Herzog’s characteristic understatement...Coon is the perfect partner for Herzog’s unfussy naturalism, delivering an indelible performance of a woman pushed to the edge of her abilities, with no easy answers and no easy way out."
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"Herzog and director Kauffman opt for an ultra-naturalistic approach that draws us into the grueling monotony of watching over a child at imminent risk of death...All this quotidian patter, which never strikes a false or melodramatic note, is overlain by the mortal tension of the beeps coming from medical equipment...Anchoring that tale of irredeemable woe is Coon’s intense yet understated performance. Her Mary Jane holds the stage, sustained by a love that is both cool and relentless."
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