Muswell Hill NYC Reviews and Tickets

78%
(74 Reviews)
Positive
81%
Mixed
19%
Negative
0%
Members say
Great acting, Funny, Entertaining, Absorbing, Great staging

About the Show

The Barrow Group and The Pond Theatre Company present this black comedy about friends discussing their day-to-day worries while a natural disaster is occurring halfway around the world.

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Member Reviews (74)

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520 Reviews | 107 Followers
86
Edgy, Great acting

See it if If you want to see a great play about really really bad people

Don't see it if If you need to have a good person to win in the end Read more

445 Reviews | 67 Followers
89
Great acting, Intelligent, Must see, Cliched, Great writing

See it if for its fantastic acting ensemble and intelligent writing and direction.

Don't see it if you're looking for a play with dramatic narrative.

414 Reviews | 59 Followers
85
Absorbing, Entertaining, Funny, Great acting, Great staging

See it if you enjoy an in depth character study of some flawed people. You won't like them, but they are complex & interesting in their selfishness.

Don't see it if you want a play with likable characters.

384 Reviews | 81 Followers
67
Banal, Cliched, Disappointing, Indulgent, Insipid

See it if A group of ego centered and emotionally damaged parade around while Rome is burning....never truly engaging.

Don't see it if Do not see if you perfer musicals or light dramas.

341 Reviews | 72 Followers
75
Uninteresting, Banal, Cliched, Disappointing, Slow

See it if you haven't seen or know enough self-absorbed people who are so obsessed with their own navels they don't see the world around them.

Don't see it if you're looking for something fresh and new or something that will justify the time you spend in the theatre.

255 Reviews | 85 Followers
76
Clever, Great acting, Fun set

See it if You like awkward dinner party plays. I do. Narcissistic characters but fun to watch. Jess had acting chops and good kitchen skills.

Don't see it if You have no patience for characters behaving badly or professor types overacting. I liked the set but my husband was thrown seeing backstage

178 Reviews | 22 Followers
65
Cliched, Dated, Slow, Intense

See it if You like combative dinner parties with rather stereotypical combatants who are somewhat overdrawn. Some dialogue is quite funny/embarrasing

Don't see it if You don't like 'kitchen sink' type drama with strange characters who don't seem to fit together in the same place

155 Reviews | 17 Followers
75
Funny, Absorbing, Entertaining

See it if You like contemporary comedy/drama ala the Mike Leigh school of drama.

Don't see it if You need to see strikingly original theater, or don't want to be right in the actors' faces.

Critic Reviews (12)

Theatermania
November 20th, 2017

“An old-fashioned drinking-and-fighting play…Playwright Betts interprets this tried-and-true genre better than most, while a top-notch production sends it over the top. The result is a night of laughter through clenched jaws, the kind that could only come from the recognition of something that hits a little too close to home…You may wince in recognition of the inhabitants of Muswell Hill — perhaps one of them even looks like you. You'll definitely laugh, if only out of uncanny discomfort.”
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Lighting & Sound America
November 22nd, 2017

"If ‘Muswell Hill’ tends to lecture rather than entertain, there is pleasure to be had in the crack ensemble, who mine every bit of the script's humor…Betts is clearly a talented writer. But this effort isn't sufficiently satirical or mordant to indict a way of life. It's just a really bad night out for six people, most of whom you'd cross the street to avoid. Chances are, you'll occasionally find them very funny, but my guess is you won't give a hoot about them.”
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Talkin' Broadway
November 21st, 2017

“The play's central purpose is to expose the hypocrisy of the presumably charitable liberal upper-middle class...Patterson does a generally good job balancing the play's twists and turns with the larger social themes. The cast is overall quite strong, and the actors push the characters to the brink of caricature without going over even when the play becomes a bit too farcical in Act Two...The space, however, poses some difficulty for both the audience and performers."
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CurtainUp
November 24th, 2017

“A play with interesting, well-played characters and a well-structured plot that holds your attention throughout but still doesn't seem to have or make its point with clarity...There is never a dull moment...All the actors have carved out distinct images of very real, if conflicted, people under the fine direction of Patterson. I hope we get to see more from this provocative playwright.”
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Front Row Center
November 21st, 2017

"The dinner party from hell is a tried and true theatrical device. Playwright Torben Betts takes full advantage of its potential...And while he does it most entertainingly, with a rapier sharp wit, there’s much food for thought...Director Patterson does a wonderful job of keeping the pace going...She keeps the audience eagerly waiting for the next shoe to drop without ever letting our interest wander for a moment. And the cast rides the line nicely between comedy and drama.”
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Stage Buddy
November 20th, 2017

“Often-trenchant…Betts has written some effective scenes (staged deftly by director Shannon Peterson), exposing the narrowness of these people’s lives…But I left the play not entirely sure about what all it was meant to add up to. Part of the problem is that the characters are almost uniformly unlikeable…On the plus side, the production boasts a talented cast, delivering performances that are well worth catching.”
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Theatre's Leiter Side
November 23rd, 2017

"Much of this should zing us sharply but Shannon Patterson's unexceptional production-on a wide, shallow thrust placed along one of the long walls in the small, rectangular venue-muffles the zingers. The audience laughed often but little of the humor landed where I was sitting… Insufficiently dynamic acting and interplay, often inaudible dialogue, and staging that favors two of the three sides surrounding the stage are of no help in hiding weaknesses.”
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W
November 21st, 2017

“Betts is a splendid observer. Every character feels authentic, every conversation true to its sources...Caveats are few. I found the piece one disposable scene too long and object to musically accompanied blackouts after every scene which impedes innate flow. We’re AT that party and should feel as trapped as its diners. I assume this was a decision made by Patterson who otherwise does a simply marvelous job...The entire cast is terrific.”
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