Sell/Buy/Date NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (140)
See it if you want to think, laugh, admire. SJ is masterful in her writing and acting. Looking back on sexual mores exposes their idiocy and danger.
Don't see it if The subplot is intrusive, disruptive. But this is a quibble. SBD is entertaining, enlightening, engaging; perfect for the small space.
See it if You want to learn more about sex workers and their clients, and think about the human condition. The writing and acting are excellent.
Don't see it if You are not interested in the topic. You don't enjoy one-person shows.
See it if you enjoy one person multi-character shows with a didactic twist. The subject is sex workers, pornography and exploitation.
Don't see it if you didn't enjoy lectures when you were in school. While each character is well portrayed, the concept is that the theater is a classroom.
See it if You enjoyed Bridge and Tunnel, like to see a major talent create variety of characters, enjoy sharp social comment about future of sex work.
Don't see it if You don't like one person shows, can't sympathize with plight of sex workers or take a joke about it, don't like shows resembling stand-up
See it if 4 Jones' unique ability 2 impersonate a variety of characters; brilliant satire of indignities of sex trade/sex industry normalized as Coke
Don't see it if /though fascinating lecture about the selling of sex in the future, efforts to personalize Jones as lecturer much less compelling
See it if You want to see a master solo theatrical artist at the peak of her career.
Don't see it if You're not interested in small, one-person shows that confront topical issues, albeit in a comedic manner.
See it if To see incredible acting in a fascinating one woman show. It was really astounding how convincingly she portrayed so many characters.
Don't see it if You don't like one person shows. Read more
See it if you want to see some of the best acting on any stage right now. Sarah Jones is brilliant.While the script is flawed, the performance isn't.
Don't see it if you are looking for a serious discussion of sex trafficking.There is a pointless subplot involving the main character and her mother.
Critic Reviews (20)
"Jones seems to slip into the soul of another person with the casual ease that most of us use to slide into a pair of flip-flops...Although the play’s subject matter is ostensibly dark, there is a lot of unexpected humor...Indeed, if 'Sell/Buy/Date' has a flaw, it is perhaps that the show is almost too entertaining, too slight, for the harsh subject underlying it...I do wish that she had delved a little deeper, and allowed the darkness of the details to come through with more grit."
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"Anyone who saw the performer's equally jaw-dropping 2006 turn, 'Bridge & Tunnel,' will know her ability to vocally and physically transform...Here, she does not disappoint, blending virtuosic mimicry with a sly feminist message that if erotic power relations do not evolve, it could be the death of us. Directed with maximum style and clarity by Carolyn Cantor, 'Sell/Buy/Date' shows the protean Jones staging a one-woman orgy of provocative ideas."
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"It’s a rococo frame, to be sure, and a bit rickety as well. Some of the writing in these sections comes off as bald reportage...At other times, she goes for jokey commentary...The characters are constantly being hammered into an argument rather than being allowed their full independent interest...But if there is some opportunism in the setup, Jones eventually makes it pay off...When the jokes and the argument merge into something much less easily classified."
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"Jones delivers characters who are vividly rendered and wittily written, making many insightful points about the complex subject matter in the process. And she displays an amazing ability to morph from one to the next...Still, despite all of Jones' linguistic and performing aplomb, the elaborate narrative structure proves needlessly distracting...There are so many powerful and real stories on display in 'Sell/Buy/Date'...that the fictional construct seems superfluous."
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"Even as the show expands, darkening the content and making the subjects more pitiable, Jones never entirely loses that cutting humor...Each character that Jones inhabits gives her a hook on which to hang some damning fact about contemporary sexual mores...If the show does get a bit preachy at the end, it helps to remember that Jones is a political activist...The theater community has previously awarded her with a Tony, and now, as always, our sincere admiration and undivided attention."
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"Writer-performer Sarah Jones is a human chameleon. In her new solo piece she summons a melting pot of characters in the blink of an eye, along with a shift in voice, posture and attitude. Jones is so spellbinding that you you almost — but not quite — don’t notice that the futuristic story about the commercial sex trade — buyers and sellers — adds up to less than the sum of her vivid characters. Carolyn Cantor’s sleek direction is a plus, a weak subplot isn’t."
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"Her performances go beyond convincing mimicry to get at something every genuine theater artist strives to achieve: profound empathy...Director Carolyn Cantor has smartly opted for simplicity, allowing the production to speed along at a breezy 85 minutes while Jones does what she does best...Beyond policy considerations, Sarah Jones is making a special kind of theatrical magic in 'Sell/Buy/Date' by taking a difficult issue and putting multiple human faces on it."
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"Though solo performer Sarah Jones is rightfully celebrated for her exacting skills that quickly morph herself into a seemingly limitless collection of characters of diverse ages, ethnicities, nationalities and personalities, she doesn't seem to get proper credit as a playwright...'Sell/Buy/Date' has a thin plot that connects ninety minutes worth of vividly realized character monologues. While each can stand on its own, they gather strength together as an exploration of the play's subject."
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