Ripcord NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (73)
See it if you want to see two outstanding actors wasted on inferior material. Burke and Taylor are terrific, but the script is annoyingly insipid.
Don't see it if you require a funny/smart script. I was absorbed by the performances, but repelled by the story. Such a shame!
See it if You want a great play from Mr. Lindsay-Abaire!
Don't see it if you can't laugh at the absurd.
See it if You like cute, fluffy plays that are stupidly funny, but well acted.
Don't see it if You can't stand plays that don't have heft to them.
See it if you want to see a comedy that's truly funny, expertly executed.
Don't see it if you don't like to laugh.
See it if You like great acting, humor. A play about older women -- you'll view these characters very differently when you leave than at the start.
Don't see it if You don't like quirky characters.
See it if you are fans of the two actresses in the leading roles. Also, if you like a watered-down version of "The Odd Couple" for women.
Don't see it if you don't like sit-coms masquerading as theatre.
See it if you want to see two old pros show their mettle.
Don't see it if you require a profound message from a play.
See it if You enjoy a sneaky comedy that never fails to surprise. You enjoy great comic acting.
Don't see it if you hate watching fights between roommates in a retirement facility.
Critic Reviews (29)
"For a play centered on a seemingly irreconcilable conflict, 'Ripcord' sustains a low tension level...Some theatergoers may leave 'Ripcord' with a faint, nagging hunger for more substance. At one point, Marilyn, asked about why she never gets mad, says, 'It always leads to an ugly place, and I don’t care for ugly places.' For better or worse, this production seems to share that attitude."
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"The great fun of David Lindsay-Abaire’s tastily sweet-and-sour 'Ripcord' lies in watching the marvelous Taylor and Burke dig their heels into this stand-off. Solidly crafted, the play is not unpredictable, but it’s larded with moments of surprise...Beyond the high jinks, 'Ripcord' offers a compelling look at the pleasure of a challenge and the challenge of finding pleasure."
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"You expect more from the playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, and you get it. The author of comedy-dramas that toy with sitcom expectations but then veer elsewhere, he is obviously riffing on television templates like 'The Golden Girls...' Admittedly, this stuff goes on a bit too long. But after upping the ante on the women’s incompatibility for a half hour, the play is ready to take a surprising leap."
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"This is a lazy piece of writing without the freshness or bite of plays, recycling familiar situations while failing to settle on a definitive tone...While there's no shortage of funny lines and inspired moments in director David Hyde Pierce's production, there's also an air of fatigue about the script, giving the dispiriting impression that Lindsay-Abaire either banged it out in a hurry or rescued it from a bottom drawer."
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"Even as the script explores some strong reflections on reclaiming experiences that the women have put behind them, the razor-sharp barbs never stop flying at a clip worthy of 'The Golden Girls' – and Holland Taylor and Marylouise Burke play gloriously to type. Yes, 'Ripcord' feels too much like a sitcom, but it’s a sitcom where the live studio audience is genuinely laughing."
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"The writer has come up with an amiable if simplistic crowdpleaser, in the form of a duel of wits between 'odd couple' roommates in an assisted living facility. Although smartly directed by David Hyde Pierce, the slender sitcom hangs for dear life on the appeal of its engaging stars."
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"With 'Ripcord,' David Lindsay-Abaire adds a new odd couple to the long list of embraceable yous with the deeply satisfying and vastly entertaining story of Abby Binder and Marilyn Dunne, two elderly women thrown together by a comic cosmic force possessed of a wicked sense of humor...A show to treasure."
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"A bet that spins out of control is a sitcom staple and, now, the crux of 'Ripcord,' a non-essential and not very funny new comedy...That the author tries to wring chuckles out of senior citizen spewing profanity is shockingly uninspired. In the end in the play, a winner gets what she desires. Audience members hoping for substantial laughter and impact from 'Ripcord' are left wanting."
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