No Wake NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (33)
See it if You want to watch 3 terrific actors as they unburden their hearts + souls in a new drama about unexpected consequences of coping wi grief.
Don't see it if You can't deal with deep emotions sometimes expressed through physical fighting. The subject of grief is not one you want to see staged.
See it if you like shows about relationships.The acting was quite good. Writing was excellent.Interesting story of a love triangle at a funeral.
Don't see it if you want all the bells and whistles.The set is very good.Makes good use of a small black box space.I found characters & situation believable
Critic Reviews (10)
“Donnelly leaks out the details of his play in tantalizing microdoses… Director Brady and designer Buderwitz, perhaps constrained by the dimensions of 59E59’s miniscule Theater C, short-shrift the atmosphere by suggesting a generic motel in lieu of the country inn specified in the script. Still, the tight quarters make for a thrilling and ultimately hilarious physical tussle the morning after. Astutely threaded throughout ‘No Wake‘ is the intentionally sketchy tragedy of the lost child.”
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"An affecting drama, one that truly captures the emotions of people who are dealing with an indescribable tragedy...'No Wake' is an honest depiction of how people cope in the aftermath of death, yet it also shows the humorous moments that occur in everyday life...The actors are excellent in their portrayals of the play's complex characters...It is a show about relationships that is poignant, relatable, and very memorable."
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"'No Wake' begins just after a memorial service...But while the expected companions of grief, blame, and self-recrimination are certainly on hand, the play takes a surprising turn and becomes a funny, sad, messy love story...Thanks to excellent performances by the three cast members under Veronica Brady's knowing direction, the production does a fine job of bringing out both the pain and the human comedy of it all."
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"Constrained by their underwritten characters and banal dialogue, the charming and talented Stef Tovar and Tricia Small flail around earnestly. With such poor material and a confined playing area, all director Veronica Brady can do is skillfully position the actors and keep the pace up...'No Wake' is an off-kilter and dull blend of farce, tragedy and boulevard comedy."
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“It seems to take forever for the play's rambling dialogue to bring its crises into focus... Too much of Veronica Brady's direction keeps the intensity accelerator somewhere between tedious and plodding, despite occasional outbursts of (to me) inexplicable laughter. Perhaps a more magnetic cast might have drawn out the play's emotional truths better than this one. The unit set…helps not at all, with unadorned, two-tone walls painted in the dreariest of institutional colors.”
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“While neither the playwright or director Veronica Brady manage to make the glib banter and more painful undercurrents always mesh fluidly, there is a lot that's heart-touching and compelling...As Edward and Rebecca unpack their painful memories, and Roger lets us see the needy man beneath the glib exterior, Donnelly takes us deep into all their hearts and souls. To make all this work requires actors skilled at navigating between the darker and lighter interchanges."
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“As directed by Veronica Brady with an edge to humorous and real interplay, ‘No Wake’ is layered with authentic and touching moments flowing through the undercurrent. Even with the disappointment to come in the final ten minutes, the characters are soaked in authentic reactions and attachment…The three try hard not to be dragged out into the sea by the strong undertow, and through the actors solid and human approach to each other, they generally succeed.”
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"It’s difficult to fairly gauge the quality of a play when one of only three performers doesn’t weigh in. Though William Donnelly’s piece is predictable, it’s also well written and would certainly be more successful if otherwise cast...Except for brief parentheses, Tricia Small never inhabits the role. Even her listening is vague...Director Veronica Brady might have done more to alleviate this situation. As it stands, the actors reflect good direction, the actress does not."
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"'No Wake' lumbers through a harrowing situation of loss and humanity. The atmosphere is bleak...Their connection is still fractured after a difficult divorce and years of their only child's emotional instability and detachment from them, lonely battles with despair and relief, memories, and guilt...Ransom as Roger is the most likeable character, delivering Roger's discomfort with perception...'No Wake' presents the possibility of this lost couple moving on and taking risks, but will they?"
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“What could easily have been a Lifetime movie of the week, becomes much more in the capable hands of the show’s creative team. Donnelly’s text deftly switches from comic to dramatic and back again…None of the characters feel in any way contrived…Brady’s direction shows a real feel for the story. The moments, scenes, and emotions shift effortlessly from one to the next to the ending which feels totally right. Touching, powerful, and above all, honest.”
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