Ripcord NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (73)
See it if you love to laugh! GO SEE IT!
Don't see it if your boring!
See it if You're in the mood for a comedy, and like sassy old ladies.
Don't see it if You want something big and epic.
See it if you don't mind seeing older actors dealing with the subject of aging, assisted living and you can laugh at the human condition.
Don't see it if You only want to see hot young actors onstage.
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 love to see great actresses perform with very witty script
Don't see it if You don't want to laugh
See it if you want a funny and poignant evening in the theater with two great actors
Don't see it if you don't like stories about old people.
See it if you are a Rachel Dratch, Holland Taylor, Mary Louise Burke, or David Hyde Pierce fan, you love old-school yet contemporary farce, like fun.
Don't see it if You scare easily, can't handle a little cheesy humor, don't like laughter.
See it if you love a good practical joke, and brilliant acting
Don't see it if don't like surprises
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."
Read more
"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."
Read more
"The night is not a waste by any means. We are surprised more than once as the plot and these two women pick up steam. And the performances, with the exception of a few blown lines, are pure pleasure. This is a play that entertains without making you think too much. David Hyde Pierce’s direction is solid and unaffected. Still, you may leave the theatre as I did, wanting just a bit more from these two complex women."
Read more
"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."
Read more
"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."
Read more
"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."
Read more
"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."
Read more
"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."
Read more