Private Peaceful NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (131)
See it if seeking a riveting, beautiful, heartfelt, simply stunning work of storytelling and acting. You won’t see anything as compelling on Broadway.
Don't see it if unwilling to be lured in by absolutely engrossing work; seeking spectacle. Note: may trigger strong emotions through war themes / gun shots. Read more
See it if You want to see an excellent solo show about a young man who enters World War I without thinking about the dire consequences.
Don't see it if I can’t think of a reason not to see this show.
See it if you like brilliant acting. This one man show is breathtaking. He assumes all of the roles and switches between characters flawlessly. SEE IT
Don't see it if you want a traditional play or you want a musical. This play is important and the actor is as good as it gets. Don't miss it.
See it if a brilliant one-man show playing 24 parts but mostly 16yo Tommo and his brother Charlie who sign up to fight WWl. phenomenal performance.
Don't see it if you don't like one person shows. like superficial lighthearted fare. Read more
See it if Powerful, well paced but sad exploration of how youth (thru nationalism, economics, their psychology, & manipulation) are led to war.
Don't see it if you don't want to see riveting one man show
See it if From the get-go, Shane completely draws you in and never lets you go. Such a tremendous performance. I felt like I grew up alongside him
Don't see it if Actor does have a noticeable Irish accent (quite tolerable however). Story itself does fall into typical wartime cliche. Read more
See it if If you love stories about life and the tough choices humans encounter.
Don't see it if you are not a fan of war stories.
See it if You want to see an exceptional actor, Shane O’Regan, brilliantly play over 20 roles in a heart wrenching tale of familial love and World War
Don't see it if You don’t like solo shows or have trouble understanding Irish accents. Read more
Critic Reviews (21)
"O’Regan attacks the various roles like he’s engaged in a full-body, full-spirit workout...This actorly excellence (and he really is excellent) is a kind of smoke screen — a gas attack, if you’re feeling nasty — for the cruelty, the unsparing feel-badness of the play. The original novel is a heart-tugger, absolutely, but Reade’s adaptation, which fiddles with an essential story point, leaves it pretty well devoid of hope...It’s clear what Reade’s adaptation is fighting against, but what is it fighting for?"
Read more
"The story may sound familiar, but you’ve likely never seen O’Regan, who makes a spectacular U.S. debut. It’s exhilarating to watch him inhabit the tale’s two dozen characters, switching accents and attitudes like Sybil on steroids. Even more impressive than his versatility is his ability to tap into your imagination as well as your emotions...He’s playing a private, but it’s a four-star performance."
Read more
"Morpurgo interviewed veterans of the First World War...His resulting young-adult novel, about a teenage soldier subjected to humiliation and violence at the hands of his bullying commanders, has echoes of ‘Catch-22’, without the comedy. In Reade’s excellent, dreamlike adaptation for the stage, the story unfolds as a dramatic monologue by the title character, played by the talented O’Regan, who, in the course of eighty-five minutes, also inhabits twenty-three other roles.”
Read more
"The scope of O'Regan's performance is impressive...His work is masterfully skilled and technically precise, but it's also vibrantly alive. He creates unique portrayals and tics for every person featured...Reade's production is swift, and he really knows how to raise the suspense...Simplicity is the name of the game...Sometimes all you need is one exceptional actor and a resourceful script to bring the fireworks to the stage.”
Read more
"Tommo and Charlie are only two of millions of anonymous soldiers, but what happens to them approaches the level of tragedy. That this is so can be attributed to Simon Reade's sensitive adaptation of Morpurgo's text...I'd happier if I could have reported that Reade's direction wasn't quite so busy, finding a fussy bit of stage business for each moment and character...Still, O'Regan, who is possessed of untold funds of energy, conjures up...a universe of characters."
Read more
"A taut, tension-filled 85-minute one-man telling...I haven’t seen the 2012 film—which marked the late Richard Griffiths’ final performance—but I’ll wager that this solo show, performed with great heart and ferocity by Shane O’Regan, is far more compelling...All of the detail—and there’s a surprising amount packed into such a lean production—comes from Morpurgo’s story, Reade’s script, and O’Regan’s finely shaded characterizations."
Read more
"O’Regan’s exceptional performance and Reade’s highly theatrical staging invigorates ‘Private Peaceful’, a familiar and formulaic World War I solo play...This dutiful treatment of the subject matter would perhaps be best appreciated by adolescent audiences. Anyone else could find it to be a by the numbers narrative with presentational flourishes...’Private Peaceful’ does have its virtues but is a relatively flat experience.”
Read more
"There are few more daunting theatrical challenges than making the familiar seem fresh, which is why one must salute solo performer Shane O'Regan's ability to keep the audience so attentive throughout most of the 80 minutes...Even if you've never read the novel or seen its film adaptation, this tale contains very little we haven't heard before. Yet O'Regan's incredibly committed and strikingly energetic performance almost makes you feel he's covering completely new ground."
Read more