Plenty NYC Reviews and Tickets

68%
(153 Ratings)
Positive
54%
Mixed
34%
Negative
12%
Members say
Great acting, Disappointing, Confusing, Slow, Intelligent

About the Show

Oscar winner Rachel Weisz headlines the Public Theater revival of David Hare's WWII drama about one woman’s struggle to lead a liberated life in a repressive era.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (153)

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441 Reviews | 88 Followers
95
Absorbing, Clever

See it if Wonderful story by David Hare first produced 35 years ago. Still relevant today with Rachel Weisz

Don't see it if Only interested in light plays

65 Reviews | 10 Followers
91
Absorbing, Clever, Great acting, Intelligent, Thought-provoking

See it if You like character-driven, thoughtful, relevant plays. And if you like two-act plays with long time-lines.

Don't see it if You want more action than talk, light entertainment.

58 Reviews | 36 Followers
90
Absorbing, Masterful, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting

See it if fine production terrific acting from Rachel Weisz Corey Stoll Emily Bergl et al beautifully staged & costumed. Great play by 1 of the best

Don't see it if u have no familiarity with post WWII British social conditions & politics, or don't care. If you can't identify with mentally ill characters

324 Reviews | 70 Followers
89
Ambitious, Confusing, Great acting, Resonant, Profound

See it if Rachel Weisz inhabits Susan with intensity and pathos; wonderful supporting cast

Don't see it if Scenes can be so abstract that the timeline jumps are more confusing than the script allows

88 Reviews | 37 Followers
88
Absorbing, Great acting, Edgy, Intense, Resonant

See it if You are interested in serious themes of loss, PTSD, social isolation and self destructive behavior resulting from traumatic war experiences.

Don't see it if Nonlinear plots confuse or annoy you. Individuals struggling to find meaning and human connection in very damaging ways are not your thing.

305 Reviews | 60 Followers
87
Absorbing, Intelligent, Resonant

See it if you want to see a great play performed by an O/S cast that shows the transition in life of a WW11 agent in France & the toll it takes on her

Don't see it if you don't like plays that required full attention and have many layers.

95 Reviews | 19 Followers
85
Great acting, Ambitious, Confusing, Intense, Thought-provoking

See it if You want to see a great performance by Rachel Weisz & don't mind being a little confused.

Don't see it if N/A

92 Reviews | 14 Followers
84
Clever, Great acting, Great staging, Intelligent

See it if Like clever dialogue and a luminous leading lady

Don't see it if British post-war politics are not of interest, and clever wordplay is not your thing

Critic Reviews (37)

The New York Times
October 24th, 2016

"This 'Plenty' feels as artificial and remote as a Mayfair melodrama from the 1920s...Much of this has to do, surprisingly, with Ms. Weisz...She never really registers as a serious threat. Nor does she break our hearts...The performances by Mr. Jennings and Mr. Stoll embody what’s best in Mr. Hare’s play, the ways in which seeming archetypes surprise by not hewing to type...Yet the grayness that envelops this production is less one of moral ambiguity than of hazy dramatic uncertainty."
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Time Out New York
October 23rd, 2016

“Weisz is an absorbing and intelligent actor, and she traces Susan’s descent into mental illness with persuasive bitterness and glamour. Yet despite her fine work, 'Plenty' seems remote…Its urgency is at risk of losing force with the passage of time...Most of the creditable supporting performances fall into a similar trap; aside from the splendid Byron Jennings...The plenitude of Hare’s play is not well served by this production’s postures of austerity.”
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New York Magazine / Vulture
October 23rd, 2016

"The role’s hugeness demands a corresponding hugeness in the performer. Weisz clearly knows this, pushing hard and getting close to the mark...Susan needs to be a glamorous nightmare, and Weisz is only halfway there. In this she is not helped by Leveaux’s decidedly non-epic production...Without feeling viscerally how thrilling and ego-consuming Susan’s war was, the audience cannot properly grasp her ensuing boredom and monstrousness. Her wails of despair become little more than whines."
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The Wall Street Journal
October 25th, 2016

"It’s a signal event, a comprehensively satisfying production that features a blowtorch-hot performance by Rachel Weisz...Ms. Weisz’s blazing performance, like the play itself, is ambiguous enough to permit multiple interpretations...Mr. Stoll is no less adept at conveying Raymond’s mounting frustration, and the ever-satisfying Byron Jennings gives a beautifully nuanced performance...David Leveaux has staged “Plenty” with a supple fluidity."
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Deadline
October 23rd, 2016

"Neither Weisz nor her director David Leveaux meets that challenge in this revival, which in both her character and in the sense of overall emotional impact is somewhat chilly…Instead of a textured reading, the production glosses the content and is as chilly Mike Britton’s set…Least well served is Weisz. Her high-pitched, rapid-fire line readings conspire to keep Susan from getting under our skin…I left the theater not so much emotionally wrung out as merely shaking my head."
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New York Daily News
October 24th, 2016

"A sinking feeling immediately takes hold and doesn’t let go throughout David Leveaux’s sluggish production. The big issue: Oscar winner Rachel Weisz's star turn as Susan Traherne, a British secret agent who buckles under the stiff and stultifying banality of post-war England...A bleating Weisz proves surprisingly unconvincing in this tricky role."
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Variety
October 23rd, 2016

"Although the play’s original impact has been blunted with time, this slick revival directed by David Leveaux respects the historical moment...Weisz has a sweet quality that lends poignancy to the idealistic heroine’s bitter disillusionment with the cold realities of the modern age. She’s out of her depth, though, in the scenes that show Susan struggling to maintain her mental equilibrium within her social set...Leveaux’s strong production features solid supporting actors."
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The Hollywood Reporter
October 23rd, 2016

“Neither director David Leveaux nor Rachel Weisz in the lead role satisfyingly meets the challenges of this structurally complex drama...The precise reasons why the production packs so little charge are hard to define, but a dated text and a disconnect between director and material loom large among them...Weisz gives an oddly stilted performance here, wan and distant in the scenes of relative composure and artificial in the explosive rants."
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