Rooms NYC Reviews and Tickets

70%
(12 Ratings)
Positive
66%
Mixed
17%
Negative
17%
Members say
Thought-provoking, Intense, Great writing, Ambitious, Absorbing

About the Show

Irish Arts Center presents Galway International Arts Festival’s trio of installations exploring solitude, where each room frames a new voice from Tony winner Enda Walsh ('Once').

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Show-Score Member Reviews (12)

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154 Reviews | 31 Followers
90
Clever, Profound, Great writing

See it if like unusual thought- provoking theatre. it was wonderful to be immersed in these 3 separate worlds. beautifully done. moving experience.

Don't see it if you need a straight- forward story. this is something to immerse yourself in and allow yourself to be carried away.

398 Reviews | 120 Followers
85
Thought-provoking, Clever, Intense, Profound, Intelligent

See it if You like intense Irish storytelling in an unusual setting. The stories were beautifully written with clearly expressed points of view.

Don't see it if You want to see something uplifting or you are claustrophobic. Read more

688 Reviews | 116 Followers
84
Ambitious, Edgy, Great writing, Intense, Thought-provoking

See it if Immersive theatrical experience of travelling to 3 different installations (rooms) Each metriculously designed & enhanced by Walsh's prose

Don't see it if Could get claustrophobic w/maximum number of people viewing Monologues are a bit dense & fused w/Irish morbidity; very powerful nonetheless

73 Reviews | 25 Followers
78
Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Great staging

See it if You are in the mood to listen. You like Enda Walsh' non-commercial work.

Don't see it if you are claustrophobic or do not like darkness. You do not want to hear dark or depressing texts.

499 Reviews | 77 Followers
75
Ambitious, Resonant, More of an art installation than theater piece

See it if you saw and enjoyed "Arlington" and want to see more by Enda Walsh.

Don't see it if you expect traditional theater with actors, or if you can't climb the stairs to the installation.

66 Reviews | 16 Followers
70
Thought-provoking, Quirky, Disappointing

See it if You're interested in listening to monologues and testing out a mild immersive show. Also cool to check out the future new home of the IAC.

Don't see it if You are expecting to interact much with the environment or be very invested in the stories.

62 Reviews | 8 Followers
56
Clever, Disappointing, Confusing

See it if You have super sensitive acute hearing. This is a brilliant, engaging concept that is hampered by muffled sound in each of the three rooms.

Don't see it if You want to hear every word.

196 Reviews | 51 Followers
30
Disappointing, Confusing, Dizzying, Insipid, Slow

See it if you are a theater warrior and you go all the way in experimental stuff.

Don't see it if you expect a play. Read more

Critic Reviews (5)

The New York Times
May 10th, 2017

“A haunting installation…A distinct, self-hypnotized voice fills each room, describing its environment as a limbo where life is frozen, even as it drifts into nothingness. The voices belong to Charlie Murphy, Eileen Walsh and Niall Buggy, and they are guaranteed to take up residence in your head, too. The contemplative ‘Rooms’ might be called disturbingly relaxing.”
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Lighting & Sound America
May 12th, 2017

"The effect is weirdly intimate, creepily insinuating, and oddly seductive—in short, a haunting...Murphy, like her costars, delivers the text as if her life depended on it...Walsh, who also directed, has created an experience that inexorably draws you in and shakes you to the core. The people who once inhabited these rooms may have vanished, but their souls have stayed behind, and are raging far into the night."
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Stage Buddy
May 16th, 2017

“Each of IAC’s 'Rooms' allows immersive rifling and snooping before and during the audio...It is Room 303 that is the standout piece. A dying man in a poky hotel room focuses on the futility of his lot, personified by an annoying fly. Buggy’s delivery of Walsh’s words is beautifully poignant and droll, a playwright’s dream.”
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The Huffington Post
May 11th, 2017

"More of an installation than a show...While the sets were perfectly fine in capturing the shabby anonymity of a hotel room from afar, for example, there was literally nothing of note in any drawers or anywhere else. Why encourage people to explore a kitchen when most cabinet doors were glued shut?...Each monologue charted a drab life with a modest twist towards the end that I won’t spoil. They were ably performed but the overall effect was a lot of bother for very little effect."
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New York Irish Arts
May 16th, 2017

"The attention to detail in the creation of the rooms is marvelous, with many items that have obviously been brought over from Ireland to give authenticity to the place, especially in the kitchen room. Lighting and sound are used to great effect to punctuate the pieces. The recorded vocal performances are haunting and, with the poetry of Enda Walsh’s script, paint vivid pictures of these three individuals."
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