Square Go
76

Square Go NYC Reviews and Tickets

76%
(61 Ratings)
Positive
85%
Mixed
15%
Negative
0%
Members say
Funny, Entertaining, Great acting, Quirky, Clever

About the Show

Direct from its Fringe First Award-winning run at the Edinburgh Festival comes this raucous and comic new play about playground violence, myths of masculinity, and the decision to step up or run.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (61)

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302 Reviews | 87 Followers
100
Resonant, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Delightful

See it if you enjoy intimate close up theatre in round, small cast, no set, physical action comedic drama about youths’ straight friendship/dad bond

Don't see it if you dislike extensive audience participation, close up male physicality, discussions of violence and homosexuality, 65 min with no interval Read more

251 Reviews | 116 Followers
97
Capital theater, Fast track through scottish schoolyard

See it if you enjoy solid actors in small-scale theaters, lots of laughter and audience interaction. Fantastic script, staging, choreography.

Don't see it if you can't understand Scottish brogue or dislike scripts that take bulls by the horns and play with them. Read more

Nic
561 Reviews | 99 Followers
82
Quirky, Great acting, Funny, Dizzying, Ambitious

See it if you enjoy minimal set/props and maximum reliance on the ability of two performers to create the world they describe.

Don't see it if you want something quiet and relaxing. This is vocal, in your face, and the actors race around you repeatedly. Read more

461 Reviews | 97 Followers
80
Great acting, Enchanting, Delightful, Clever, Absorbing

See it if You like your theater short and sweet. Brilliantly acted, funny, poignant, and smart.

Don't see it if If you can’t deal with accents or don’t like the fourth wall broken.

254 Reviews | 138 Followers
80
Quirky, Riveting, Resonant, Great staging, Entertaining

See it if A finely tuned two-hander that handily explores complex issues

Don't see it if Thick accents put you off

318 Reviews | 61 Followers
80
Great staging, Great acting, Funny, Confusing, Immersive

See it if You like wrestling 🤼‍♀️ or “The Game of Thrones”. It’s immersive, so be prepared to be picked on. Small theatre 🎭. 2 actors. 1 hour of fun

Don't see it if The only real issue, for me, was the Scottish/British/Welch/Irish accent (I’m not sure 🤔 which it was), but, I had to squint my eyes & ears

761 Reviews | 165 Followers
79
One-note, Great acting, A bit slight, Absorbing, Clever

See it if fan of Daniel Portman (GOT's Podrick), playground stories, adolescent struggles, friendship tales, audience participation, WWE tropes

Don't see it if no interest in adults playing 15-year olds, playground rivalries, contributing fan enthusiasm to show, teen vulnerabilities, loud yelling

283 Reviews | 77 Followers
78
Ambitious, Quirky, Great acting, Disappointing, Entertaining

See it if you are a fan of Podrick. The actors do a great job, but the story does not really resonate with the audience. Was good to be up close.

Don't see it if looking for a serious show. It jumps from time to time to different time frames and can be confusing as well as understanding the accents. Read more

Critic Reviews (12)

Theatermania
June 14th, 2019

“’Square Go’ is an unassumingly brilliant look at the impossible expectations we place on boys, and the role model gap that is being filled by all sorts of negative forces...Hertog creates a universe of adolescent anxiety on a stage approximately 10'x10'...It's the little details that make Hertog's production memorable...In just over an hour, ‘Square Go’ wrestles with one of the most urgent problems of today, and leaves us all in a puddle of sweat thinking about the solutions.”
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Lighting & Sound America
June 20th, 2019

"Nothing much happens...Even so, this catalogue of early adolescent woes effectively doubles as a perceptive study of youths struggling to learn how to become men. The script is loaded with details that are as precise as they are comic...'Square Go' is performed by a pair of thirtyish actors who bounce around the stage like human jumping jacks, plausibly and without caricature transforming themselves into boys ready to explode from anxiety and pent-up energy."
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Talkin' Broadway
June 14th, 2019

“Hurley and McNair's funny and perceptive play...If you've ever been the parent or the teacher of young teens, or if you can remember your own sojourn through that time of life, you will recognize that the writing and the performances and the directing perfectly capture in Max and Stevie the crazy social and emotional upheaval characteristic of that typically hellish phase of growing up...It's generally very funny stuff, though, of course, the boys take it all very seriously.”
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TheaterScene.net
June 16th, 2019

"Scottish playwrights Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair explore the murky pre-adult domain with candor and humor in Square Go, an appealing two-hander...featuring two fully adult actors, Daniel Portman and Gavin Jon Wright, portraying-respectively-Max and Stevie, a pair of 13-year-old besties who seem to transform, regularly, into each other's biggest enemy. There are hilarious moments in the play, but Hurley and McNair don't treat the characters in a condescending way."
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Theatre is Easy
June 16th, 2019

"An entertaining hour-long play that sneaks up on you with its perceptive observations about male adolescence. And to top it off, there are Scottish accents...These details add up to a picture of the pressure to be men that adolescent boys feel, and how dangerous it can be when they don't have the right role models...All of this is accomplished without 'Square Go' ever feeling like a message play."
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Theater Pizzazz
June 16th, 2019

"As the minutes tick down the hour, the inner conflicts within Max and the aggression Stevie holds against him explodes in a vibrance of action...This lightning-fast, audience interactive, hour-long show thrills and delights. It also surprises...Hertog’s direction of Portman and Wright, whose physicality and passion are stunning, remains the linchpin of the production."
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Front Row Center
June 18th, 2019

"A fast-paced sprint from the opening line to the finish with the only time to reflect being after you’ve left the theatre...’Square Go’ is a great portrayal of what boys everywhere go through in trying to understand what it means to be a man, giving insight to the mixed messages and unwritten law of peers that every boy has to interpret for themselves. It doesn’t go beyond that though...A minor insignificant quibble for a fringe show, but not for a run at an established theater.”
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Front Mezz Junkies
June 16th, 2019

"The hilarious but deeply moving exploration of teenage male posturing and ego shattering confrontation has far more wiseness hidden underneath that creative mask than anything we could have imagined. It pulses with inventiveness and an intimate connection...The recycled imagery of masculinity and manliness are paraded and pummeled forward with perfection by all, demanding the duel to be seen as the most important challenge to a young man’s ego and existence."
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